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

Question

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 1

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).

Answer 2

Another near-miss, I'm afraid. Leslie F. Stone's 1934 novelette "The Rape of the Solar System" (first published in Amazing Stories, December 1934, available at the Internet Archive; reprinted in Science Fiction Adventures Yearbook 1970, also available at the Internet Archive) tells of a prehistoric interplanetary war. The earth, having been colonized by Lunarians, is invaded and conquered by Martians and Plutonians, who settle Lemuria and Atlantis, respectively. Martians and Plutonians sure sound like separate alien species, don't they? In Mrs. Stone's story, however, it turns out that we are descended from those Martians, Plutonians, and Lunarians. More precisely, the different so-called races of man are descended from the black men of Mars, the white men of Pluto, and the yellow men of Luna. Not the earliest story about Plutonians, but one of the earlier ones, the planet having been discovered only a few years before.

Answer 3

Would Greg Costikyan's First Contract count? It's more of an economic invasion than a military one, but it's still a hostile takeover, by a vast inter-galactic consumer-driven society with thousands of member species. ;)

from the Amazon blurb:

Johnson Mukerjii is a happy man; hes the CEO of a successful high-tech company about to unveil a newer and better technology. His beautiful wife greets him poolside every night with a drink and a sexy smile. Hes got it made. The alien landing changes everything. Suddenly, the company is worthless, and the lovely wife has become the lovely ex-wife, taking every single penny of liquid assets with her. His only hope to reclaim his life is to rebuild his connections with a strange science fiction writer whom the aliens seem to like and to find a product the aliens will buy.

Answer 4

C.C. MacApp's stories of Gree are set in a future where most humans are subjects of the Gree realm and and are taught to worship Gree as a god. Earth was conquered by the multi-species Gree realm long before the first story - at that time only a few humans are free and are part of the opposition alliance led by The Birds of Effogus.

I doubt that Earth was conquered early enough in Gree history for only one species to be in the invasion force, and the true ruling species of Gree are certainly not involved on the front lines or seen by lesser beings.

Thus the Gree stories have a multi-species invasion of Earth as a past historic event.

They were published mostly in If between the August 1964 and February 1967 issues.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke's "Publicity campaign" (1951) involves a large multi-species fleet from the Second Galactic Empire arriving at Earth, resulting in Armageedon.

Answer 5

In William Tenn's 1953 short story "The Liberation of Earth" (first published in Future Science Fiction, May 1953, available at the Internet Archive), earth is repeatedly invaded and conquered in turn by two alien races, the Dendi and the Troxxt.

From the Wikipedia article:

"The Liberation of Earth" is a science fiction short story by William Tenn, written in 1950, first published in 1953, and reprinted over a dozen times in various anthologies and in 1955 in the William Tenn collection Of all Possible Worlds. The story, which Tenn described as having been inspired by the Korean War, portrays Earth as the battleground between two powerful alien races, the Troxxt and the Dendi, who repeatedly "liberate" it from each other.

At the time the story begins, the Troxxt and the Dendi have long since abandoned the (literally) shattered remnants of Earth as being too dangerous for civilized people; humanity is nearly extinct, with the few survivors having descended into starving savagery as they struggle for air.

Some extracts from a nice long review by The Mumpsimus:

"The Liberation of Earth", written in 1950 and published in 1953, predicted the "we had to destroy the village to save the village" attitude. "Predicted" may not be accurate, since such an attitude has probably been a part of human history from long before the Vietnam war, but Tenn's story so perfectly elucidates that homocidal way of thinking that it was, he says, read aloud at protests during the war. (He also says he wrote it with the Korean war in mind, wanting to write something from the perspective of the people being "liberated", though he adds that "...recently I have come to the conclusion that if I had been a Korean, North or South, under those same circumstances, I would very much have welcomed the U.S. intervention. Am I growing old? Or just official?")

[. . .]

The history we get here is a history related by a devolved human, a human relegated to sucking whatever air he can get on an Earth that has been liberated nearly into oblivion by various alien visitors who used the planet and the people for their own purposes and then abandoned the place.

Answer 6

This is probably not the sort of thing you're looking for, but at the beginning of Poul Anderson's 1951 elves-and-aliens yarn "Interloper" (novelette, first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1951, available at the Internet Archive) the Earth is secretly ruled and exploited by aliens from several nearby stars

"Precisely what forms of exploitation are carried on here?" asked the Alf.

"Various ones, depending on the race," said Hraagung. "The Procyonites find Earthlings an excellent source of blood. The Altairians simply want to observe historical processes, as part of their project of mass-action study. The Arcturian economy depends on controlling the productive facilities of a great number of subject planets, skimming the cream off their industry and agriculture. We of Sirius find Earth a convenient military outpost and refueling station—also—" the thought was like a tiger licking its lips—"the natives serve other purposes."

who quietly invaded earth in ancient times.

"You must realize," thought Kane, almost conversationally, "that the exploitation of Earth is quite old. In fact, the first Vaettir arrived here—" he thought of a length of time which Beoric rendered as about four thousand years ago. "We began to colonize extensively about seven centuries ago, at which time the native civilization was less complex and it was very easy to pass oneself off as whatever one desired. Thus our organization is firmly established. Through the corporations we control on Earth, the governments which we influence—or run outright whenever it is necessary, through the old and highly reputable family connections of some of the Vaettir, through a number of other means which you can easily imagine, we can do exactly as we please, under the very noses of the natives." For a moment his iron features split in a grin. "The only ones who suspect that Earthlings are not their own property are labelled cranks—and generally the label is quite correct."

Answer 7

In the 1994 video game Reunion, planet-wide peace on Earth is disrupted by mind-controlling aliens who are part of a League. This League consists of at least four different species, from different planets. More info here.