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history of - When was the first alien invasion to feature more than one alien species?


More often than not, when an alien species invades they do so alone. Or they do so and bring their pets/creations in.



I remember back when I played Xcom: Enemy unknown, you face an alliance of aliens all intent on invading and taking over earth.


Is this the first time an alien alliance or a group of separate alien species are seen invading earth?


For definition purposes:



Invasion (sometimes interchangeable with Conquest) is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a territory, forcing the partition of a country, altering the established government or gaining concessions from said government, or a combination thereof.



My emphasis on the important part.



Answer



I believe the earliest published visitation story by multiple alien species is Voltaire's Micromegas (1752) which can be found here in the Gutenberg Project files (also purported to be one of the first ever published science fiction stories). A "Sirian" and "Saturnian" jointly visit earth, discovering humans in the process. Perhaps one could call it an "invasion" (as you've defined in the question), as although they are impressed by the intelligence of humans, in the end they dismiss them.


The next closest example I can think of is William Dietz’s DeathDay/EarthRise duology (2001) which chronicles the invasion of Earth by Saurons aided by the Ra ‘Na, who are a slave race to the Saurons (the ‘pets’ are actively involved in the invasion, rather than being brought in later).



The following examples partially meet your criteria:


In CJ Cherryh’s Chanur series, there is imminent threat of several species of the Compact (notably the Kif, Knnn, and Stsho) taking it into their heads to invade and conquer Alliance-Union space (including Earth), however this never materializes. The first novel in the series was published in 1981.


In Clifford Simak’s Hugo-winning novel Way Station (1963), Enoch is faced with the question of whether to ask for intervention by the Galactic society (multiple species, unknown to Earthlings) to remove the capacity of humans to make war. Not necessarily invasion, but certainly interference (an aggressive act, with high probability of altering established government).


Hugo and Campbell award nominee Calculating God (2000) by Robert J. Sawyer depicts earth being threatened by a supernova, and a multi-species delegation arrives, but in friendship (altering the established government, though not aggressively).


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