...In the five years following the signing of the peace treaty between the GTA and the 'Independents', Earth stagnated. Already a well used planet, it lacked the resources of the other bodies of the Sol system - and when it was cut off from the other planets and left to its own devices, all after fourteen years of first war against the Vasudans, then implacable Shivans, and finally its own kind, Terrans, it was all the GTA could do to keep people alive on the dying planet.

With terrible conditions brought on by the government losing a war with the rebels, it's a wonder the populace didn't turn on their masters like the other planets did on the Alliance. That said, in a way, they did - albeit in a non-violent manner. For come election time for the elected members of the Alliance, not one of the candidates from the previous administration made it through - and thus, not one of the appointed members of GTA's High Command remained unreplaced in the new government.

Instead, the population of Earth voted into office people with certain views that were not heard since the formation of the GTA itself. Before the nine planets of Sol had unified themselves under the banner of the GTA, there were a number of people who opposed any sort of Alliance and wanted the planets to remain independent, citing the old fears of 'communism' and 'loss of sovereignty'. When they lost the battle, they disappeared into obscurity - but come election time for a disgruntled Earth populace with bitter experiences about the other planets, they came back in force.

So, in 2336, the GTA government was replaced by extremely militaristic Earth nationalists, preaching death to all but Earth's citizens. With this government came new changes and new ideas - a subtle shift in culture to extreme patriotism, starting at the lowest levels of the education system, for example. Also, an increase in the distrust of non-Earth citizens, regardless of their actual allegiances, a willingness to use lethal military force for more incidents - most of our current societal habits date from this period, including the state of war preventing any new elections from taking place.
Obviously, the biggest change came in 2340, when the GTA initiated Operation Medusa's Gaze - an operation designed to weaken the Martian fleet with first a series of feints luring them into position, then smashing their fleet with their destroyer. Their destroyer being the GTD Tereus, built using new technology and ideas from the science enclave on Earth and the remains of the GTD Terra, the Orion-class destroyer of the Great War.

Operation Medusa's Gaze and the first deployment of the Tereus was a success, and the GTA quickly followed up with a strike against Mars. Conquering Mars allowed them access to resources both from Mars and the Asteroid Belt, and this was the turning point of the GTA's fortunes in this war. With this newfound wealth, work began quickly on producing new ships using the technology tested out on the Tereus. It was with this new fleet that the GTA conquered Mercury and Venus as well.

The inner colonies secured, the GTA turned itself to fortifying its position. Leaving Jupiter and the outer colonies well alone, it began securing the Asteroid Belt against Jovian attack, and ensuring its dominance in the inner planets. All last traces of the rebel governments were wiped out. Harsh punishments for going against the Alliance, even just as a rival political body running against the current pro-Earth administration, were meted out. Anyone who was not wholly patriotic and devoted to Earth was hounded out of society. The Alliance eventually managed to make Terran society its willing slave.
In a matter of weeks, the GTA had turned Earth around from a weak, isolated ex-superpower to the dominant planet in the inner colonies. The government had changed from a caring, accepting conglomeration of differing peoples to a harsh, nationalistic, semi-totalitarian pro-Earth dictatorship rivaling the Jovian Coalition.

'Five years of stagnation had been transformed into what would become thirty years of cold war...'

Excerpt from TP Andersen's 'The Sol System 2335-2372'
