State of Galaxy under different rule

[Crewman47]

If Earth had never been the instigator in the founding of the Federation as we know it in the following years since it's founding then could we imagine any other Empire, such as the Romulans, Klingons or even the Vulcans if they had a different agenda branch out to create there own equivalent of the Federation but be slightly or completly different?

We do know how events turned out in the Mirror Universe what with the Federation as it was being over ruled by the Alliance but what would it mean if something similar happened in the normal universe. Also what if an Empire or Federation was formed in either the Gamma or Delta quadrant, like with the Dominion or whoever in the Delta Q, and expanded through to the Alpha and Beta Quadrant at an earlier date?

I could imagine that anything other the Federation we know of just now would be slightly worse off than now to live in as we can pretty much thank the combined efforts of the Federation for solving problems and maintaining order throughout the known Quadrants, more or less.

Any thoughts?

 

[Timo]

I would argue that the ability of any of the known players to actually control the galaxy is still centuries in the future. And if it's going to be done without the Federation, it may instead take millennia, as the Federation is supposed to be a powerhouse of technological invention thanks to its open, non-repressive structure and its attempts at letting young upstart species bring their own distinctiveness into the mix unspoiled. The Klingons or the Alliance might never have discovered transwarp or other superfast drive methods (a necessary ingredient for galactic control) before succumbing to internal strife, for example.

And if galactic control is to come through the efforts of a Federation-style player, it could be argued that it will be the sort of half-hearted, benign control that we have seen the UFP practice so far. That is, the same laissez-faire is supposedly being practiced by the Dominion (most of the member planets have never seen the Jem'Hadar enforcers, and the true rulers of the Dominion are just a myth to them), but it would still appear that the Dominion suppresses independent thinking and research on the member planets more than the UFP does, and thus might not have technological or adaptive edge on the long run.

Apart from that, it wouldn't be difficult to speculate that once galactic rule is established, there will be efforts to tighten it, no matter how benign the starting point. The ruling elements would do it simply to pass time if not for any other reason, now that they no longer had new worlds to conquer. In that sense, it might not ultimately matter whether the rulers were a Romulan elite, a Federation mix of species, or the Borg hive mind.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Sci]

Well, we know that between the 2000s and mid-2100s, the area that became the Federation's core worlds was essentially divided between Vulcan, Andor, and Tellar, with Vulcan being the most powerful of the three, and with all three tending to engage in small-scale cold wars and the use of wars on client worlds, such as Coridan, to sublimate their conflicts. We know that the First Minister of Vulcan was dismissed after Enterprise exposed the P'Jem spy station in 2151 from the episode "Home," which also establishes that that was when V'Las seized power. We know that by 2154, Vulcan had a Romulan puppet government under V'Las before Earth got involved and helped the Syrranites overthrow him. We know that they were trying to instigate a full-scale invasion of the Andorian Empire by Vulcan, and, later, that they were trying to instigate full-scale conflict between Andor and Tellar. We know that they were also trying to disrupt trade with the Rigel colonies. And we know from DS9's "Past Tense" that in at least one alternate timeline where Earth never developed warp drive and never recovered from World War III, there were Romulan ships orbiting Alpha Centauri.

And of course, we know from TOS onwards that the Klingon Empire was trying to expanding into the direction of Federation territory by the time of the 2220s.

I would tend to think, therefore, that without Earth getting involved to instigate the creation of the Federation, overthrow V'Las, and expose the Romulans' manipulation of the other states, that the Romulan-controlled Vulcan puppet government would have become an expansionist power. They probably would have succeeded at occupying the Andorian Empire, and I imagine that they would have come into direct conflict with Tellar, Rigel, and other worlds. From there, I think that V'Las and the Romulans would have arranged some sort of new "first contact" between Vulcan and Romulus to prepare the Vulcan populace for coming under the heel of the Romulan Empire. The Romulans would have moved in and assumed control of Vulcan and its conquered territories, and I rather imagine that Surak's teachings would have been suppressed so as to forcibly integrate Vulcans into Romulan culture.

By the time of TOS, the Romulans would probably have dominated the area that encompassed the Federation core worlds, and would have been THE Major local power coming into conflict with the Klingons.

 

[jgdst]

I think Earth would probably have been conquered by the Klingon Empire. I have a feeling this may get complicated, so I'm apologising now

If Earth hadn't formed the Federation, then the humans wouldn't have been introduced to the Borg by Q, the Borg wouldn't have become interested in Earth, and therefore wouldn't have set in motion the events of First Contact.

I assume that Zephram Cochrane still made his warp flight as was originally expected (without the assistance of the Enterprise crew), and still met the Vulcans.

The Suliban would've still chased the Klingon in Broken Bow, and I imagine Archer would still have tried to get him home. So the Klingon Empire is now aware of Earth.

Given the Vulcan's reticence to help Earth after the Xindi attack, I assume the same would be true for a Klingon invasion. The Klingons could've made a move to expand their borders and conquered Earth with little to no resistance - I'm guessing at this point the only ships available would be, at most, two NX class ships, and a handful of older vessels (like Intrepid). Possibly the Andorians would help, but I doubt they would be a match for a full Klingon invasion force.

So with the Klingons in control the only main antagonist would be the Romulans. It's possible the Romulans wouldn't like this branching out of the Klingons and start contesting sectors, including the Sol system, but I think given that the Romulans seem to want to keep themselves to themselves in Enterprise (apart from stirring up trouble for Starfleet with the holoship), they might be content to let the Klingons keep Earth and just orchestrate politics of worlds that don't already have a governing empire (eg Vulcan).

By the time the Romulans get around to attacking Earth, the Klingon Empire might be too strong, and so they'd keep control.

With Starfleet either destroyed or under Klingon rule, they wouldn't have found the wormhole, and the Dominion wouldn't be aware of the Alpha Quadrant, so they wouldn't be a threat.

In short: Earth would be annexed by the Klingons. After a lot of "what-ifs" and assumed politics

 

[Haytil]

If Earth hadn't formed the Federation...

...The Suliban would've still chased the Klingon in Broken Bow, and I imagine Archer would still have tried to get him home. So the Klingon Empire is now aware of Earth.

The problem is that the Suliban chased the Klingon in Broken Bow thanks to the events of the Temporal Cold War. If the Federation isn't formed, then the Temporal Cold War would likely play out very differently (if at all), given the fact that the Federation Timefleet is a natural creation of the Federation.

In the end, you're probably right - the Klingons would take control. But they wouldn't have been made aware of Earth early on (no Suliban), so their conquest would likely have taken place later.