Spoilers United Earth (Disco spoilers)

[FederationHistorian]

Spoiler: ST: Discovery S3

So, in the episode “People of Earth” on Discovery, there was a huge revelation that Earth had left the United Federation of Planets in the aftermath of The Burn in the 31st century. It had been replaced by the United Earth Defense Force. It was also revealed that Titan - as a self-sufficient colony - had broken away from United Earth. Resulting in skirmishes between United Earth Defense Forces ships and dilithium raiders from Titan.

What are the implications of this in terms of understanding United Earth during the time of ENT? Since during Archer’s time, United Earth was weakly defended during the Xindi threat, only having a handful of ships present. And we never really got a sense as to the sphere of influence in regards to United Earth. It was likely that UE had influence over the Sol System, but they were never really the power players that the UEDF seem to be a millennia later.

Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Timo]

Spoiler

After a thousand years, the second United Earth is unlikely to be related to the first in any way other than the name.

Indeed, even the name is strange. Why put any emphasis on "United", as in "we sorta hope we won't be disunited"? After the said thousand years, it's pretty unlikely that anybody would remember what two-bit fiefdoms originally united into the single natural planetary government.

It's probably a PR trick, an attempt to rouse national spirits by referring to an ancient realm that no longer exists but once used to be pretty cool, at least in misremembered fairy tales.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tenacity]

Earth had left the United Federation of Planets

during Archer’s time, United Earth was weakly defended during the Xindi threat

Earth left the UFP, it took it's share of Starfleet with it. Division of community property.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Earth is one member out of 150+.

The UFP Council and Starfleet Command would relocate to secondary facilities likely on Vulcan or Andor or in the Rigel System. It's no big loss.

 

[Nyotarules]

no real thoughts except after 1000 years one should expect things to be very different, even unrecognisable

 

[Jedi_Master]

I would presume that UNITED EARTH also encompassed the entire Sol system, thus it would be able to maintain a high quality of life for it's citizens due to the fact that few resources were devoted to space travel.

 

[Nyotarules]

I would presume that UNITED EARTH also encompassed the entire Sol system, thus it would be able to maintain a high quality of life for it's citizens due to the fact that few resources were devoted to space travel.

By the TNG era everyone on Earth should be middle class and have a pool in the backyard lol

 

[Sci]

Spoiler: ST: Discovery S3

So, in the episode “People of Earth” on Discovery, there was a huge revelation that Earth had left the United Federation of Planets in the aftermath of The Burn in the 31st century. It had been replaced by the United Earth Defense Force.

To get pedantic, the Defense Force did not replace the Federation. The Defense Force replaced the Federation Starfleet as the guarantor of United Earth's security, but even there it's not really replacing Starfleet in a legal sense. If the Commonwealth of Virginia were to secede from the United States tomorrow and found its own Virginia Commonwealth Army, the VCA isn't replacing the United States Army in a legal sense, just a practical sense.

It was also revealed that Titan - as a self-sufficient colony - had broken away from United Earth. Resulting in skirmishes between United Earth Defense Forces ships and dilithium raiders from Titan.

More than that -- "People of Earth" seems to imply that United Earth's entire ability to project force is restricted to the altitude of its planetary shield in low-Earth orbit. In other words, United Earth doesn't even seem to control Luna, just the planetary surface and the atmosphere.

What are the implications of this in terms of understanding United Earth during the time of ENT?

I don't think there are many implications towards understanding United Earth during the 2150s. To make a comparison, if Scotland secedes from the United Kingdom next year, that doesn't necessarily tell us much about the Kingdom of Scotland in 1706 before the Acts of Union. All we can really say is: United Earth was founded some time in the 2100s; the last independent nation-state holdout(s) joined United Earth (according to Beverly in "Attached") in 2150; United Earth became a Member of the Federation in 2161; and United Earth seceded from the Federation some time after the Burn.

Since during Archer’s time, United Earth was weakly defended during the Xindi threat, only having a handful of ships present. And we never really got a sense as to the sphere of influence in regards to United Earth. It was likely that UE had influence over the Sol System, but they were never really the power players that the UEDF seem to be a millennia later.

Yeah, United Earth was not a great power during ENT's era. It became a regional power as a result of the effects of Enterprise NX-01 on the astropolitical scene of what later became the Federation core systems, but in 2151 United Earth apparently only controlled its star system and possibly Alpha Centauri and Vega.

Spoiler: ENT Novels

For whatever it's worth, the post-finale ENT novels established that Mars had achieved independence but was a sort of "Cosmic Canada" that was never as highly-populated or prominent as Earth, and that Alpha Centauri had also become independent. United Earth and the Alpha Centauri Concordium were two of the original founding Member States of the Federation (alongside the Confederacy of Vulcan, the Andorian Empire, and the United Planets of Tellar) in August 2161, with the Confederated Martian Colonies joining as the Federation's first new Member State in February 2162, and Vega Colony joining as a separate Member State alongside the United Rigel Worlds and Colonies in December 2164, with Arkhen and Ithen joining in 2165.