"Consequences of HG Wells Martian invasion of England" Topic

I have been pondering what the consequences of H.G. Wells War of the Worlds Martian invasion of England might have been. At the end of the story, Wells states that they have been unable to successfully use the salvaged Martian tech. With England devastated by the invasion attempt but possessing what the Martian's left behind, how would our history have changed?

Would there have been a WW1 and if so would England have been in it?

Would the colonies rallied to devastated England or make bids for freedom?

I am wondering because I am trying to think how the Pulpy 1930's would look 30 plus years after the invasion.

What do you think?

Thanks
Amalric

The Empire is still better off than if the Martians won those first battles because they developed immunity to disease!

Than WW1 would be Earth versus the Martians. Advantage, Martians…

Gracias,

Glenn

In the immediate aftermath I think it would not have stopped WWI but may have delayed it. The problem with WWI is that the war had such a downstream, somewhat inevitable, domino causation that the events in England may not have been something that affected it.

On the other hand Serbian independence may have faded in importance next to the proof of aliens.

I don't think any of the colonies that wanted independence would have rallied behind Britain but I think that there wouldn't have been bids for independence without some external threat. It was the inability of Englad to defend them during WWII that really put the poke in the party pig even if the drift towards independence already existed.

Would the alien threat have been that prompt? Quite possibly. Although I think it would require a new invasion threat of some sort.

Perhaps there would have been some sort of Watchmen like consolidation of the world's powers in united defense of earth.

Never mind the Great War. What would have happened to property prices in Woking?

All the best,

John.

At the end of the story, Wells states that they have been unable to successfully use the salvaged Martian tech.

No, Well's POV character says so. The entire novel is told from the viewpoint of one random Englishman. He's not a government official, a scientific genius, or a captain of industry, he's just an evryday Joe – or Tommy, I suppose. You can make any inferences you like about what happens outside of his personal experiences, and what he knows about Martian tech salvage probably isn't anything more than what the newspapers and word of mouth have told him. If you want the Admiralty or Moriarty or German agents recovering and quietly reverse-engineering Marstech, go right ahead. The book does nothing to prove you wrong. The world is more interesting if the Brits can threaten to use secret alien tech on their enemies anyway.

One could have fun with this. An international group of scientists examine the wreckage to learn what they can and discover the reason why the technology doesn't work is because some key components were smuggled out as collectibles. It is feared the "collectors" include Dr. Moriarty who is rumored to be asking for bids. Armed forces across the world are on high-alert, but no one knows who has what items nor their hiding places.

In this dark hour, Sherlock Holmes, at the request of the Queen and with the support of governments from across the globe, has organized a band of international adventurers that include some of the greatest thieves he has ever known. They must recover the missing pieces before the evil Dr. M plunges the world into a second cataclysm!

Assuming the World's Greatest Detective is successful in a "Steam-Punk-Bond" Adventure, the story could then turn on what was recovered from the Dr. M's evil lair.

I would suggest the adventurers would copy all the research they could and smuggle it home, thus spreading this advanced science across the developed world. The eventual result could be whatever "Steam-Punk" world you wanted, for example "Aeronef" or "Martian Empires".

I thought he was a journolist, hardly an ordinary Joe at the time.

I suspect the Empire would have rallied, in much the way it did for WW1. The only one that might not is South Africa depending on whether this was pre or post Boer war as I can't offhand remember.

Certainly big chunks of the world would have looked to Britain for leadership against this new threat as they were the ones with first hand experience.

The steam punk aspects of War of the Worlds was covered pretty well in book 2 of league of extraordinary Gentlemen.

Its also never really clearly stated that Englad was the ONLY target of the invasion – just the first. If the Martians had also descended on Germany and France, chances are WW1 would have been FAR different, or never happened. If the martians had struck Germany, chances are the resulting chaos and reconstruction would have given the Marxists and even larger window of opportunity for revolution in Germany.

Beyond that, a German state and a Frecnh state preoccupied with reconstruction probably would have been less likely to participate in the series of mobilizations that started the Great War.

On the other hand, if the remnants of Martian technology were in fact potentially usable, its certainly possible WW1 might have started sooner, as various states acted to defeat their opponents before they could fully exploit MarsTech. Or if a single state mastered MarsTech, they might move against their traditional enemies before they gained such technology themselves.

Lots of potential scenarios to play with there!

Interesting thought – as noted, why would the Martians only attack England? While there would be a good rationale for wanting your bridgehead to consolidate and succeed, once it did (and your ground troops were on the move) it would be strategically wise to have other landings to disrupt communications, take advantage of opportunity and create new opportunities

So – one would guess that initial successful landings in England would be followed by landings in Europe and the Eastern US

I suspect that the inability to use Martian tech would not survive detailed scrutiny

As noted, lots of gaming potential here!

The world (even now) would go into massive R&D and defense spending mode. If England was the only place where Martian tech could be found, massive espionage efforts would be put underway by every other government that could afford to do so. If no other aliens were to show up for a while, the bunker mentality would wear off and be replaced by a high crusade/manifest destiny mentality which could be *very* unpleasant for any other intelligent species encountered.

From a gaming POV, I think the secret tech espionage thing with pulp secret agents might be cool.

One could possibly even suggest that WWI might have started earlier, if indeed it was only England that was invaded, and the only power possessing the remnants of advanced alien technology. That kind advantage could easily make foreign governments very nervous and jealous given the Empire's global reach.

The narrator is at an observatory when the Martians arrive so must be an astronomer. Later he is one of the first to identify the cylinder as from outer space. That would also back up his "scientific" knowledge of alien things.

IIRC the Martians pretty much conquer all of England cause of a reference made that all organized resistance has ceased.

With that second assumption, I would guess that England would need to rebuild its armed forces and may not be in a position to take part in WW1 when it begins, being weakened militarily.

The story doesn't say specifically, but if the Martians invaded, why only in England? With the assumption that it was world wide, all major powers are probably in the same situation: economies that need to restart,rebuilding of the infrastructure and weakened militaries. Thus there is no WW1 and no great depression, at least IMO until the mid 30's.

Just to play Devil's advocate:

Very little science was conducted or funded by governments at this time. It would be industrialists who would rush in to see if they could derive profit from the fallen Martians. Metallurgy was very big money. It might also be a science that was sufficiently advanced to understand some of the Martians artifacts. Power systems, electronics, would have almost no chance to made a dent as they would be too far down the learning curve. Hydraulics and chemistry might also make some headway.

Economic effects: Large number of people have be killed and productive parts of the world are now short on labor. If just England (unlikely IMHO, unless it was a test run at the world wide effort) then a rush of people from the Empire to fill the void. If world wide (more likely) then we expect the Martians would attack population centers around the world, with little regard to our political map. From this map link
we see the attacks would be directed at: China, India, Germany, USA, UK, Japan, France, Italy and Spain.
If they made similar progress is all these areas, the world economy would be nearly wrecked. Adventurism of all kinds would have to wait for a recovery from the losses of labor and infrastructure.

What about the Red Weed? According to the novel, seven years after the war of the worlds, the red weed is no longer present anywhere on Earth. But seven years of an all encompassing invasive plant would devastate both agriculture and natural areas. Its rapid growth and death could change atmospheric composition and soil chemistry. Thankfully it is eatable until it dies back. So at least mass starvation can be put off for most of those seven years. If the red weed disrupts the natural cycles too much, agriculture might never be reestablished. Would humanity have the foresight and discipline to save seeds for a future in which the Earth's systems can once again support agriculture? Or would the food shortages and lost of farming tech mean that after the red weed is gone that people will consume all seed and remaining animal stocks.
Perhaps all of the worlds remaining population would move to the ocean shores to harvest food from the seas.

Just a few thoughts.

DyeHard
The 15mm VSF Page:
15mmvsf.bagofmice.com

That the first round of Martian cylinders all strike England is pretty well spelled out in the novel.

We are told how many flashes were seen on Mars (10 iirc) we are later told where each cylinder impacts, all in England.

One of the chief dangers of the Martians learning to fly is that they would then be able to cross the Channel and invade Europe.

It is possible that there were other cylinders launched at targets in the Eastern hemisphere that went unreported in the West.

As for the consequences to future history, hard to judge. Certainly the Martian invasion would result in increased focus on weaponry and defense.

The Great War would likely still occur as tensions between the Empires would still exist. It would likely be a shorter war as England would not be able to fight in France and America would be unlikely to join. I can see Martians increasing US isolationalism.

As to why the Martians invade England, it had been noted that they were observing for some time before the invasion. And in 1900-1910 (Approximate time of the novel if I remember correctly) Britain WAS the world power, so cut off your enemies main head as your starting action.

Now look what I just found.

picture

I have been pondering what the consequences of H.G. Wells War of the Worlds Martian invasion of England might have been. At the end of the story, Wells states that they have been unable to successfully use the salvaged Martian tech. With England devastated by the invasion attempt but possessing what the Martian's left behind, how would our history have changed?

Lots of VSF games have started with the premise that we do reverse engineer the Martian tech. Some have us using it to take the battle to the stars. Others have the Martians coming back after having developed vaccines, but arriving to face an Earth reinforced by land-leviathans and battleships that now sport heat ray projectors.

As to the Empire? Unlikely that the colonies will rally to defend it. After WW2, the colonies quickly moved to break away from shattered France and reeling Britain, after all. Some by peaceful means, and some not.

I believe the reason that the Martians invaded England was to knock off the biggest world power and estbalish a toe-hold on an Island (which is alot easier to defend). I'd lean towards being able to use some of the Martian tech, just not duplicate it. Sure you have a Heat Ray but it takes a generating station the size of two city blocks to power it. A hanful of such weapons are nice but don't give you too much of an edge.

I do something similiar for Captain Nemo and flying warships. Yes, they exsisted for a while back in the 1870's and 1880's (the Age of Wonder) but they were very rare and dependent on a now unobtainable power source, fuel, anti-grav device. The British had the biggest fleet (nothing more powerfull than a Light Cruiser) but lost almost all of them in a High Altitude attack on the invading Martians. The few that survived were light Gunboats (Aphids) and all but one was destroyed in accidents or combat in WWI. The last remaining one has been undergoing a constant refit as they try to adapt it to the new world of conventional aircraft. A few anti-grav craft gives you a reason to advance the development of Zeppelins (start it seriously in the 1880's instead of circa 1900.

Lots of great ideas and food for thought.
Thanks all.
Amalric

They could try to retrofit it to use it. I like the idea personally. The alien-british tech that sometimes doesn't quite work the way it is 'designed'.

BTW Dyehard ever since I read your conversion of the starwars walker years ago I've looked for one to modify! You are one of the blogs that really got me fired up to write WTNW.

Check out "War of the Worlds: Goliath":

link
link

Dan

Somewhere I have a book on Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger and their contribution to the War of the Worlds.

Having absolute proof of an alien life form that uses humans as food existing in our solar system would make mass wars against other humans pretty pointless. Who would want to weaken those who might be your allies in a planetary fight to the death?

Britain, having beaten the Martians would probably see their global stature elevated even more.

On the other hand, some disgruntled country or political group might try to communicate and help the Martians. Excellent idea for a campaign.

I may need to buy myself a copy of "The Martian War":

TMP link

Dan

HarmonWard

Britain, having beaten the Martians would probably see their global stature elevated even more.

Now Britain stands alone against Mars? Sigh. Much like in a somewhat better known war, Britain would hardly achieve this alone. Remember that the Martians landed everywhere.

"Remember that the Martians landed everywhere."

In the original book by Wells only ten cylinders land in and around London, nowhere else. It is not known why they stopped but Wells suggests the gun that fired them from Mars may have ceased to work or the residual gasses from the numerous launches caused havoc with the Martian atmosphere. During the four weeks of their invasion the Martians only manage to consolidate their positon in London and the surrounding counties before they succumb to the bacteria that kills them.

In the George Pal and Spielberg versions the Martians do land all over Earth and it's a global battle which is probably where some of the confusion comes from.

Now that I think of it, I'm really not sure, but doesn't the original book mention them landing in Germany and France?

It's a war of WORLDS, right?

Dan

Well put.

I recall that there were landings in France Germany and the USA.

I run a senario using Wessex Games', Land Ironclads I call "2nd war of the worlds" where Earthling reverse engineer the Martian machines, but as they do not have Martian fuel sources have to power these with steam (ie Land Ironclads). The Martians return having developed antibodies to Earth's pathnogens.

Chaps, please dont shoot the messenger; just to stress I'm talking about Wells' original novel and trying to put it into context. I'm not talking about the later dramatisations.

The original novel is not about a global invasion. Wells clearly states only ten cylinders are fired from Mars, one lands roughly every twenty four hours for ten days then they stop. All of the cylinders land in and around London. Each cylinder contains the materials to build five tripods, one or two handling machinies and in some a flying machine. When Wells' character finds the Martian camp in the centre of London he finds almost fifty derelict tripods, pretty much the entire invasion force less those destroyed in earlier battles.

You have to bear in mind, other than the chapter on his brother, the novel is written from the narrators perspective and all he sees for two weeks is death, destruction and the ruins of London. He has no way of communicating to the rest of the city, country or world. For a while he thinks he is the only man left alive and mankind has been swept out of existence. He even considers the idea the Martians may have moved on to Paris and Berlin. Other than the curate and the artilleryman he rarely sees any other humans. The second half of the book is called 'The Earth Under the Martians' because that is what the narrator believes from his viewpoint and who would blame him. In the last chapter he is proven wrong when he finds the Martian camp in the centre of London and realises the invasion was limited to London and the south east of England. He goes on to say how the rest of the world comes to Britain's aid. To quote:

"Thence the joyful news had flashed all over the world; a thousand cities, chilled by ghastly apprehensions, suddenly flashed into frantic illuminations; they knew of it in Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, at the time when I stood upon the verge of the pit. Already men, weeping with joy, as I have heard, shouting and staying their work to shake hands and shout, were making up trains, even as near as Crewe, to descend upon London…… And for the food! Across the Channel, across the Irish Sea, across the Atlantic, corn, bread, and meat were tearing to our relief. All the shipping in the world seemed going Londonward in those days." (Chapter 9, Wreckage)

So the world feared a global invasion but it didnt happen, in the original novel anyway. As I said in my original post later dramatisations of the novel have developed the story into a global invasion which I think is where some of the confusion arises from. Not that its bad a thing I hasten to add, I'm a huge fan of most versions of War of the Worlds. I have spent years studying the original novel and was surprised myself when I realised the limited extent of the invasion.

Regarding the reverse-engineering of the heat ray: been there, tried that, got the booby prize--
"Neither is the composition of the Black Smoke known, which the Martians used with such deadly effect, and the generator of the Heat-Rays remains a puzzle. The terrible disasters at the Ealing and South Kensington laboratories have disinclined analysts for further investigations upon the latter."

I can just see it now, in one of the labs--
"Throckmorton, I'm about to open the casing. Have you made any progress on those blasted Arean hieroglyphs from the side of it?"

"Actually, Reggie, I have. But it's quite puzzling. What do you think they mean by 'anti-mat<BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!>"

Certainly canon, but I think that part of the fun of a science fiction campaign based on a book is that ALL THE AUTHOR KNOWS IS WHAT HE KNOWS FROM HIS OWN PERSPECTIVE.

Thus, of course Wells thinks that the Martian tech was never reverse engineered. What do you think the government would tell him? There may even have been some nasty disasters, but that doesn't mean they'd stop trying to figure it out. Consider that they have not only a world full of other powers that they can potentially get an advantage over, but also a looming enemy world that might very well try again.

capncarp

Regarding the reverse-engineering of the heat ray: been there, tried that, got the booby prize--
"Neither is the composition of the Black Smoke known, which the Martians used with such deadly effect, and the generator of the Heat-Rays remains a puzzle. The terrible disasters at the Ealing and South Kensington laboratories have disinclined analysts for further investigations upon the latter."

I can just see it now, in one of the labs--
"Throckmorton, I'm about to open the casing. Have you made any progress on those blasted Arean hieroglyphs from the side of it?"

"Actually, Reggie, I have. But it's quite puzzling. What do you think they mean by 'anti-mat<BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!>"

Lord Oglethorpe hears that loud explosion from the direction of the laboratory, which shatters the windows in his study. He sighs as he has so often before.

"I say, Hoskins!" he calls to his manservant, "Telegraph the home office and let them know we've lost another two engineers. Also, send the houseboy around to sweep up the glass. Again."

"I think we need another Timmy!"--Mr. Lizard/"Dinosaurs"

The question of Martian Landings elsewhere is ettled in this modern book -

link

Wikipedia summarises it here -

link

Thoroughly recommended reading for anyone gaming the period.

Pete

While it might be great fun to debate the text etc.

It is really quite beside the point. Pick your own poison and construct a back-story based on whichever set of events makes for a better game setting.

For example, if you think the Martians would know that the UK was the most powerful empire at the time and taking it down would put the rest of the planet inline. Then that is a great start. This can be used to for "tech rush" as each nation and some privet interests try to swoop in to take advantage of the broken British empire, stealing away with Martian artifacts and grabbing the odd colony. Sort of a Boxer Rebellion set in the UK with rag-tag shop owner militia and half mad nativist groups try and destroy all things "alien". A "55 Days at London" setting.

Or if you are a big time Anglophile, you can say the Martians attack just the UK and the Brits end up with all the fun high tech bits and try to set up the ultimate Pax Britannia. Just because the Empire is just not big enough!

Or if you don't think the Martian could even be bothered to try and figure out the petty political divisions of the Earth tribes (My personal take on things). Then cylinders land near population centers and a different dynamic plays out.

I personally think it would be most fun if the invaders did not even recognized humans as something to worry about. They slither up to a cow as demand "Take us to your leader", Moooo?

DyeHard

Guthroth

The question of Martian Landings elsewhere is ettled in this modern book –

War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches is indeed a fun read. My favorite was the send up of Emily Dickinson.