The Race Invades In 1842

[Mister Abbadon]

What if the Race Invaded One hundred years earlier than they did in the books?
They will face the same confusion and panic as they did in the books, but they will probably win. What will happen?

 

[Brads]

Ginger, that's what will happen.

 

[The Red]

Most likely human serfdom.

 

[Polish Eagle]

What if the Race Invaded One hundred years earlier than they did in the books?
They will face the same confusion and panic as they did in the books, but they will probably win. What will happen?

Subjugation without atomic weapons. While the Lizards will be shocked at human progress in seven centuries, they'll overrun the world with little issue. Population densities in Europe, Asia, and much of America will be rather high, though, so colonization will be directed at the more sparsely-settled parts of the world, if only for the aesthetic concern of not having to live among Big Uglies.

As time goes on, humans will be integrated into Lizard society. Nationalisms, however, will still be around, as will human scientists. Armed with lizard technology and the status of subjects of the Emperor, I can imagine some humans, more resistant to Lizard domination, will set out to colonize the solar system, which the Lizards always considered in canon a waste of time and effort.

But the humans who stay on Earth will probably culturally become similar to Rabotevs and Hallessi.

 

[zoomar]

Pretty much what Polish Eagle says. The technological gap would be too great for the most technologically advanced human powers to reverse engineer any Race technology, or to effectively use it if captured. Also, as opposed to 1942, There are many fewer technologicaly advanced powers to deal with, and they are all much more localized.

Earth would still be a somewhat special case for the Race, because even at 1848 levels, it would seem we are much more advanced technologically than the other subject races were when they fell to the Empire, and our planet is much less hospitable to the Lizards climatically, and as noted, the ginger issue remains.

Assuming low Big Ugly level resistance continues (which it probably would), the Race might still decide Earth was a poor investment. As described by HT, humans are much less likely to accomodate to Rule by the race and it is not likely humans would become regular loyal subjects like the Rabotevs and Hallessi. It would become gradually obvious to the Race that, if not kept under an iron thumb or exterminated, humans would eventually pose a risk to the stability of the Empire. Once they came to this realization in 200-300 earth years, the Race might decide to just cut their losses and leave, and nuke the place to make sure the humans never become space faring.

 

[B_Munro]

Or humans simply take over the Empire from within, since Big Ugly intellectual skills and problem-solving simply make them too valuable to the managerial classes of the Empire to do without: whatever Lizard opinions on the Double Plus Ungoodness of rapid change, the department that uses Big Ugly services will outperform the ones that don't, and from that flows promotions, profits, etc.

Bruce

 

[Bureaucromancer]

I can imagine some humans, more resistant to Lizard domination, will set out to colonize the solar system, which the Lizards always considered in canon a waste of time and effort.

You know, that's my biggest problem with the whole concept of The Race. Everything about them would, to me, suggest that they would see colonization of marginal worlds, and especially terraforming, as just about the ideal way to proceed. They might still proceed with the conquests, but to not have colonized anything with potential for terraforming just doesn't seem to fit.

Really the ONLY explanation I can think of is Turtledove assuming that terraforming takes really exotic tech combined with the general lack of such in the TL beyond FTL, and that's a pretty thin explanation even as far as authorial blind spots go.

Or humans simply take over the Empire from within, since Big Ugly intellectual skills and problem-solving simply make them too valuable to the managerial classes of the Empire to do without: whatever Lizard opinions on the Double Plus Ungoodness of rapid change, the department that uses Big Ugly services will outperform the ones that don't, and from that flows promotions, profits, etc.

Bruce

I'd be interested to see what would happen when that trend started. We don't really get a good picture of how The Race deals with dissent and disruption internally, but they don't come off as particularly authoritarian (pretty easy though, seeing as they don't have to deal with a whole lot). I really do wonder how violently they would react... On the one hand they seems likely not to notice, or at least decide to stop it, before it's too late, but on the other it would be likely to happen so fast that it could well still be seen as a problem connected directly with the invasion itself, more a failing of the conquest than a cultural trend.