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| result=Surrender of Minbari at the [[Battle of the Line]], destruction of major [[Earth Alliance]] colonies and most of [[Earthforce]]
 
| result=Surrender of Minbari at the [[Battle of the Line]], destruction of major [[Earth Alliance]] colonies and most of [[Earthforce]]
 
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| side1=*[[Earth Alliance]]
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| side1=[[Image:EAS wiki.png|center|40px]]<br>
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*[[Earth Alliance]]
| side2=*[[Minbari Federation]]
 
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| side2=[[Image:Wiki minbarifed.png|center|35px]]<br>
| commanders1=*[[President]] [[Elizabeth Levy]]
 
 
*[[Minbari Federation]]
 
| commanders1=*[[EA President]] [[Elizabeth Levy]]
 
*General [[Robert Leftcourt]]
 
*General [[Robert Leftcourt]]
 
*General [[Fontaine]]
 
*General [[Fontaine]]
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**Satai [[Coplann]]
 
**Satai [[Coplann]]
 
*[[Shai Alyt]] [[Bramner]]
 
*[[Shai Alyt]] [[Bramner]]
|casual1=*Massive.
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|casual1=*250,000<ref>[[And Now For a Word]]</ref>.
|casual2=Heavy
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|casual2=*Light to medium
 
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The '''Earth-Minbari War''' began in [[2245]] when an [[Earthforce]] expeditionary fleet damaged and destroyed vessels in the [[Grey Council]]'s fleet, killing [[Dukhat]].
 
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{{Quote box|...Unless we find a way to defeat the Minbari, the Human race ends with the current generation.|[[General]] [[Robert Lefcourt]], [[2245]]}}
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{{Quote box|This has gone beyond retribution, Morann. This is madness. It is genocide!|[[Satai]] [[Delenn]] to Satai [[Morann]], [[2247]]}}
  +
 
The '''Earth-Minbari War''' began in [[2245]] when an [[Earthforce]] expeditionary fleet destroyed and heavily damaged other supporting vessels in the [[Grey Council]]'s fleet, killing the Minbari leader [[Dukhat]].
   
 
The [[Human]] fleet commander misinterpreted the [[Minbari]] warrior caste's tradition of approaching a ship with gun ports open as hostile action and fired on the Minbari vessels without provocation, from the Minbari's point of view.<ref name="beginning">[[In the Beginning]]</ref><ref name="atonement">[[Atonement]]</ref>
 
The [[Human]] fleet commander misinterpreted the [[Minbari]] warrior caste's tradition of approaching a ship with gun ports open as hostile action and fired on the Minbari vessels without provocation, from the Minbari's point of view.<ref name="beginning">[[In the Beginning]]</ref><ref name="atonement">[[Atonement]]</ref>
   
The war lasted for two years and ended with the unexpected Minbari surrender at the [[Battle of the Line]].<ref name="stars">[[And the Sky Full of Stars]]</ref>
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The war lasted for three years with Earth outmatched by an enemy driven with a relentless genocidal zeal and ended with the unexpected Minbari surrender at the [[Battle of the Line]]. Earth made the Minbari fight for every inch of space, and the Minbari inflicted many losses in the three years of bloody conflict.<ref name="stars">[[And the Sky Full of Stars]]</ref>
   
 
==First shots==
 
==First shots==
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{{Main|Earth-Minbari First Contact}}
   
The war was provoked by an [[Earth Alliance]] task force led by Captain [[Michael Jankowski]] aboard the warship [[EAS Prometheus|EAS ''Prometheus'']]<ref>[[A Late Delivery from Avalon]]</ref>, engaged on a mission to investigate the [[Minbari]].<ref name="beginning" /> During the expedition, the ''Prometheus'' and her escorts encountered three Minbari cruisers, one of which was carrying the [[Grey Council]], the highest echelon of Minbari society. The Grey Council was en route to investigate reports of sightings of their ancient enemy, the [[Shadows]]. Although Jankowski had been given strict orders to not do anything which might be perceived as hostile, Jankowski arrogantly disobeyed the orders and refused to jump to hyperspace when the Minbari spotted his fleet. He thought that by waiting to the last possible moment to jump he could gain valuable sensor information about the Minbari cruisers, and this would lead to a promotion and medals from a grateful [[Earthforce]] Command. When he finally did decide to flee, it was too late.<ref name="beginning" />
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The war was provoked by an [[Earth Alliance]] task force led by Captain [[Michael Jankowski]] aboard the warship [[EAS Prometheus|EAS ''Prometheus'']],<ref>[[A Late Delivery from Avalon]]</ref> engaged on a mission to investigate the [[Minbari]].<ref name="beginning" /> During the expedition, the ''Prometheus'' and her escorts encountered three Minbari cruisers, one of which was carrying the [[Grey Council]], the highest echelon of Minbari society. The Grey Council was en route to investigate reports of sightings of their ancient enemy, the [[Shadows]]. Although Jankowski had been given strict orders to not do anything which might be perceived as hostile, Jankowski arrogantly disobeyed the orders and refused to jump to hyperspace when the Minbari spotted his fleet. He thought that by waiting to the last possible moment to jump he could gain valuable sensor information about the Minbari cruisers, and this would lead to a promotion and medals from a grateful [[Earthforce]] Command. When he finally did decide to flee, it was too late.<ref name="beginning" />
   
Upon seeing the [[Earth Alliance|Earth]] vessels, the Minbari cruisers opened their gunports as a sign of respect and strength - even though Humans would have no knowledge of such a tradition.<ref name="beginning" /> [[Dukhat]], leader of the Grey Council, realized the error and ordered the gunports closed - but too late. Captain Jankowski misinterpreted the gesture as a sign of hostility, an impression compounded by the fact that the powerful sensors of the Minbari cruisers accidentally disabled the ''Prometheus' '' jump engines, thus preventing the ship from jumping to hyperspace and escaping. When told by his first officer that his vessel's jump engines had malfunctioned and that the weapons on the Minbari cruisers were "hot" (active), Jankowski panicked and opened fire on the Minbari ships. Dukhat was killed and his protege [[Delenn]], in a fit of rage, cast the deciding vote on the Council to wage a war of vengeance against Earth.<ref name="atonement" /> However, the war of vengeance quickly turned into a holy crusade by the Minbari to exterminate humanity.
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Upon seeing the [[Earth Alliance|Earth]] vessels, the Minbari cruisers opened their gunports as a sign of respect and strength - even though Humans would have no knowledge of such a tradition.<ref name="beginning" /> [[Dukhat]], leader of the Grey Council, realized the error and ordered the gunports closed - but it was too late. Captain Jankowski misinterpreted the gesture as a sign of hostility, an impression compounded by the fact that the powerful sensors of the Minbari cruisers accidentally disabled the ''Prometheus' ''jump engines, thus preventing the ship from jumping to hyperspace and escaping. When told by his first officer that his vessel's jump engines had malfunctioned and that the weapons on the Minbari cruisers were "hot" (active), Jankowski panicked and opened fire on the Minbari ships. After the Earth ships opened fired they completely tore apart the Minbari Sharlin, ripping through the hull of the Sharlin and killing their leader Dukhat. This scene showed that EarthForce ships had enough firepower to easily destroy a Minbari Sharlin, but getting within firing range was very difficult, and the only real issue for EarthForce ships when fighting the Minbari. After Dukhat was killed, his protege [[Delenn]] cast the deciding vote on the Council in a fit of rage to wage a war of vengeance against Earth.<ref name="atonement" /> However, the war of vengeance quickly turned into a holy crusade by the Minbari to exterminate humanity. This decision proved to be costly to both sides, as a bloody two-year long war ensured.
   
The Earth Alliance made frantic efforts to present official apologies to the Minbari through all possible diplomatic channels, and tried to obtain help (military or diplomatic) from neutral alien races such as the [[Centauri]]. However, no alien race wanted to incur the wrath of the awesome Minbari military, and so Earth was left to fight alone.<ref name="beginning" />
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The Earth Alliance made frantic efforts to present official apologies to the Minbari through all possible diplomatic channels, and tried to obtain help (military or diplomatic) from neutral alien races such as the [[Centauri]]. However, no alien race wanted to incur the wrath of the Minbari military, and so Earth was left to fight alone.<ref name="beginning" />
   
 
== The War ==
 
== The War ==
 
{{quote box|The humans, I think, knew they were doomed, but where another race would surrender to despair, the humans fought back with even greater strength. They made the Minbari fight for every inch of space. In my life, I have never seen anything like it. They would weep, they would pray, they would say good-bye to their loved ones, and then throw themselves, without fear or hesitation, at the very face of death itself, never surrendering...|[[Emperor]] [[Londo Mollari]], [[2278]]}}
Hoping that they could prove to the Minbari they were a power not to be trifled with, Earth launched a strike against a Minbari mid-range military base. Earth's intentions were to strike with a fleet of forty starships and destroy the Minbari base, thus proving to the Minbari that they were powerful, and force the Minbari to the bargaining table.
 
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Immediately following the destruction of [[Jericho 3]], the [[Minbari]] struck at half a dozen [[Earthforce]] bases in the space of just a few days, leaving no survivors and accepting no surrender. Although EarthForce was losing in space combat, the war was far from over and Earth had a clandestine plan to exterminate the Minbari race, although it was never carried out.<ref>[[In the Beginning (Novelization)]] (p.97)</ref> During battles, Minbari would even target ships no longer capable of fighting and destroy them. All attempts to communicate-including an offer to turn over [[Michael Jankowski]]-were rebuffed.<ref>[[In the Beginning (Novelization)]] (p.101)</ref>
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[[Image:Jericho3station.jpg|right|thumb|The destruction of the Jericho 3 station.]]
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In contrast to human concepts of total war, the Minbari fleet moved methodically through the outer colonies, eliminating defence structures and moving on, leaving civilian structures mostly untouched. At the time, [[Earthdome]] believed this behaviour was linked to the Minbari caste system, which targeted human "warriors" first; it was assumed that after destroying Earth, they would return to exterminate the now disorganized and defenseless civilians. Thus, by the end of the war, most of Earth's colonies and outposts were still intact, and Earthforce was able to recover quickly. Indeed, many believed that Earth was even strong enough to fight the Minbari on equal terms ([[And Now For a Word#Act II|Ep: And now for a word]]<ref name="beginning">[[In the Beginning]]</ref>).
   
  +
Earthdome had thought of a new way to fight and very likely even defeat the Minbari - ''biological warfare''. Earth's plan was to unleash bio-weapons on the Minbari thus exterminating the Minbari race. This plan would have worked, but Dr. Franklin, the only man with access to the Minbari's complete DNA sequence,  burned all of his notes to prevent his work from being used to be used to annihilate an entire race. Without access to this data, as well as the refusal of other top medical scientists to participate, Earth could no longer use bio-weapons to defeat the Minbari.[[Stephen Franklin#cite note-B5Mag21p39-9|1]] Fortunately, the Minbari later surrendered.
This was to be the first major battle of the war. The Earth fleet entered the Minbari star system of ShLekkTha ([[Vega]]) and slowly entered weapon range of a waiting Minbari fleet. The Minbari fleet consisted of only twelve War-Cruisers, to the Earth Alliance's forty starships, which consisted of Heavy Cruisers and Dreadnoughts. Despite being well within range of the Minbari's weapons, the Minbari ShLekkTha fleet allowed the Earth vessels to close into range and fire the first shot. The battle lasted only twelve seconds. In these twelve seconds the Minbari destroyed every one of the attacking Earth vessels, allowing only one fighter to survive, so it could return home to tell its people of their impending doom.<ref name="beginning" />
 
   
  +
Although EarthForce ships did have the firepower to destroy a Minbari (as seen in the first encounter), Minbari steath technology foiled attempts to acquire a weapons lock, and thus, human ships were forced to fly in dense formations to come into firing range for a manual lock. Attempts to acquire more advanced weaponry from their long term trading partners, the [[Centauri Republic]], were rebuffed, as the Centauri had no intention of siding against the Minbari by aiding their enemy. The [[Narn Regime]], on the other hand, proved more than willing to do business; the weapons that they sold were reverse-engineered Centauri weapons, which raised Narn hopes that the Minbari would turn on their enemies for siding with humans while considering the risk of the Minbari instead attacking themselves acceptable.<ref name="beginning" />
While Earth ships had enough firepower to cripple or destroy Minbari vessels, the Minbari warcruisers were equipped with highly advanced stealth systems which prevented [[Earthforce]] warships from achieving target lock.<ref name="stars" /> The Minbari, on the other hand, had no such problems, and had weapons capable of destroying their enemies in single hits. In addition, their ships had considerably greater maneuverability and acceleration. Furthermore, Minbari sensor systems were capable of overloading the shielding on Earthforce power systems, rendering their jump drives inoperable - thus eliminating the possibility of escape.
 
   
Victories were few and far between, the Alliance losing an average of five ships for every Minbari ship destroyed. The only battles won by the Alliance were Pyrrhic victories, as the cost in ships and manpower always averaged a 3 to 1 loss in the Minbari's favor.
 
   
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[[image:Black star 04.png|thumb|left|[[Battle with the Black Star|Destruction]] of the [[Drala Fi|Black Star]].]]
Despite suicidal bravery on the part of Earthforce, the Earth Alliance found itself being annihilated, losing soldiers at an appalling rate, with the war itself progressing in favor of the Minbari. Attempts to acquire effective weapons from friendly powers such as the [[Centauri Republic]] were rebuffed for fear of the Minbari turning on them for aiding their enemy. While other races like the [[Narn]]s were willing to do business secretly, the supplies available were insufficient for Earth military needs.<ref name="beginning" />
 
  +
Engagements weren't restricted to outposts and colonies; in [[2247]], two dozen Earth warships were lost to hit-and-run attacks in the space of only three weeks. Though no personnel had survived an attack, word at the time was that there was some kind of ace cruiser on the prowl. That theory was proved correct when a small fleet led by the ''[[EAS Lexington]]'' was attacked in the asteroid belt between [[Mars]] and [[Jupiter]]. The ''Lexington'' itself was crippled in the opening salvo as the Minbari flagship ''[[Drala Fi]]'' (Black Star) [[jump point|jumped]] into the middle of the fleet, killing its commander, [[Captain]] [[Roger Sterns]] and left to drift while the ''Black Star'' engaged to remainder of the fleet. Thinking fast, John [[Sheridan]] had his crew seed several nearby asteroids with a trio of two-megaton [[Thermonuclear device|tactical nuclear warheads]], then sent out a distress call to lure the ''Black Star'' back to their position. As the Minbari cruiser moved into range for a clear shot, Sheridan remotely detonated the two nukes in range and obliterated the ''Drala Fi''. Earthdome wasted no time in capitalising on what was to date the only victory in the entire war, broadcasting the footage throughout the Alliance. For their part the Minbari were less than impressed, the [[Warrior Caste]] in particular were affronted at being defeated by such "dishonourable" tactics and Sheridan would become infamously reviled as "Starkiller".<ref name="beginning" /><ref name="points">[[Points of Departure]]</ref>
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[[Image:Epsilon system1.jpg|The last hope for peace lost in the [[Epsilon System]]|thumb]]
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In the midst of all this, the Minbari [[Anla'shok Na]] [[Lenonn]] secretly made contact with the [[Narn]]s at the behest of [[Satai]] [[Delenn]] in hopes of opening peace talks. Cautious and understandably suspicious, [[EarthGov]] agreed to an initial meeting in neutral territory, sending [[Sheridan]] along with a Dr. [[Stephen Franklin]] and [[G'Kar]] of the Narn Regime to make sure the offer was serious before sending in the negotiators. Travelling aboard a [[G'Quan class heavy cruiser|Narn ship]], the team arrived at the agreed upon rendezvous; a nameless abandoned [[Drazi]] colony and a one-time Earthforce listening post in the [[Epsilon System]].<ref>[[In the Beginning (Novelization)]] (p.177)</ref> The meeting was cut short when an unknown party destroyed the Narn ship in orbit and bombarded the surface, killing Lenonn and any hope of peace in the process. The Minbari soon arrived and retrieved Lenonn's body, though Satai Delenn chose to simply release the two Human prisoners rather than execute them. Both the [[Minbari Federation]] and the [[Earth Alliance]] assumed that the attack had been perpetrated by a rogue faction of their own government. It wasn't until decades later that the truth was [[The Chronicles Of Londo Mollari|made known]]. The attack had in fact originated from the [[Centauri Republic]], ordered by [[Londo Mollari]] who had learned of the Narn mission though his sources close to the [[Kha'Ri]] and assumed it had been an arms shipment.
   
  +
By this point in the war, somewhere between fifty to sixty thousand Humans had been killed. With the one hope for peace ruined, the war escalated. Over the next six months 200,000 more would die (official military casualities).<ref>[[In the Beginning (Novelization)]] (p.213)</ref>
The war was brutal, yet precise. The Minbari pursued a strategy of swift advance, jumping into a system in force, crippling whatever Earth Alliance military assets were present, then moving on to the next system, leaving the civilian targets intact. After they had driven to Earth and destroyed the last of the Earth Alliance's defenses, they would burn the planet, and proceed back out into the Alliance, destroying every human planet until no humans would be left alive. This was, for the Minbari, a war of genocide.<ref name="atonement" /><ref name="beginning" /> However, the humans made the Minbari pay a steep price in blood for every step forward. In the [[Battle of Scimtar]], a damaged Earth cruiser deliberately rammed a larger Minbari warcruiser, destroying both ships in the process. At the Flinn colony, ground-based human weapons forced the Minbari to land soldiers on the planet, and massive hand-to-hand combat raged across the planet's surface. In the end every human on the Flinn colony was killed, but the Minbari suffered heavy casualties in the fighting.
 
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[[image:EAS Schwarzkopf-B.png|thumb|left|Battle of Sinzar]]
 
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Even as more and more outposts and colonies fell, the humans made the Minbari fight for every inch of space. In the [[Battle of Sinzar]], a crippled [[EAS Schwarzkopf (B)|Earth dreadnought]] deliberately rammed a damaged Minbari warcruiser that was attempting to escape, destroying both ships in the process. At [[Flinn Colony]], ground-based weapons forced the Minbari to land warriors on the planet and incredible hand-to-hand combat raged across the planet's surface. Though the Minbari were always victorious, they more often than not came away from these battles battered and bruised. Indeed, though the humans could hardly appreciate or be aware of it at the time, word of their repeated noble "last stands" spread to almost every Minbari. In the early days of the war, the humans were perceived as cowards and savages, as evidenced by their unprovoked assault and murder of [[Dukhat]]. However as this demonised image of humanity proved more and more to be false, many Minbari, particularly in the [[Worker Caste|Worker]] and [[Religious Caste]] began to doubt the justification for war, though few could see a way to stop the madness that had engulfed them.<ref>[[In the Beginning (Novelization)]] (p.215)</ref>
There were secret contacts through hyperspace transmissions, and a meeting was arranged between human and Minbari representatives, with the support of the Narn diplomatic corps. The peace attempt failed when Centauri warships ambushed the meeting; the recriminations over that event should have sealed Earth's fate, as both the Minbari Government and the Earth Alliance presumed that the disruption of the peace talks were related to internal factions unfavorable to the peace, and, for pure inertia, the hostilities went on, more ferociously than before, up to the inevitable conclusion.
 
 
Only one battle was a real victory for Earth, involving the destruction of the Minbari flagship ''[[Black Star]]''. An Earthforce task group was ambushed by the ''Black Star'' in an asteroid field, leaving all ships destroyed or disabled. The damaged [[EAS Lexington|EAS ''Lexington'']], under the command of first officer Commander [[John Sheridan]], acutely aware of the Minbari policy of exterminating all enemy combatants without mercy, even when they were legitimately surrendering, mined several nearby asteroids with nuclear devices as a precaution. The Lexington then issued a distress call, which attracted the attention of the ''Black Star''.<ref name="points">[[Points of Departure]]</ref><ref name="beginning" /> The mines completely vaporized the ''Black Star'', giving Earth a much-needed morale boost. The Minbari considered it a despicable act of cowardice, and named Sheridan "[[Starkiller]]" in loathing and disgust; the Earth Forces justified the desperate tactic by noting that the Minbari policy of total annihilation was just as abhorrent.<ref name="points" /><ref>[[There All the Honor Lies]]</ref>
 
 
{{quote|The humans, I think, knew they were doomed, but where another race would surrender to despair, the humans fought back with even greater strength. They made the Minbari fight for every inch of space. In my life, I have never seen anything like it. They would weep, they would pray, they would say good-bye to their loved ones, and then throw themselves, without fear or hesitation, at the very face of death itself, never surrendering. No one who saw them fighting against the inevitable could help but be moved to tears by their courage, their stubborn nobility. When they ran out of ships, they used guns. When they ran out of guns, they used knives, and sticks, and bare hands. They were magnificent. I only hope that when it is my time, I may die with half as much dignity as I saw in their eyes at the end. They did this for two years! They never ran out of courage. But in the end, they ran out of time.|Emperor Londo Mollari}}
 
   
 
== The Battle of the Line ==
 
== The Battle of the Line ==
 
{{Main|Battle of the Line}}
 
{{Main|Battle of the Line}}
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{{quote box|...No one who saw them fighting against the inevitable could help but be moved to tears by their courage, their stubborn nobility. When they ran out of ships, they used guns. When they ran out of guns, they used knives, and sticks, and bare hands. They were magnificent. I only hope that when it is my time, I may die with half as much dignity as I saw in their eyes at the end. They did this for two years! They never ran out of courage. But in the end, they ran out of time.|[[Emperor]] [[Londo Mollari]], [[2278]]}}
 
The Minbari, frustrated by the futile but persistent Human resistance and their pride wounded by the handful of Earthforce victories, were determined to utterly annihilate the younger species by the time their fleet finally reached the Human homeworld. To give Earth's civilian population time to flee to neutral territory, military and civilian leaders on Earth desperately organized a grand last stand, "to hold the line against the night". Nearly all of the Earth Alliance's remaining warships, fighters, and personnel were combined into a vast armada of more than 20,000 vessels (many of which are fighters). They were placed in near-Earth orbit and waited for the Minbari to strike.
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The Minbari, frustrated by the futile but persistent Human resistance and their pride wounded by the handful of Earthforce victories, were determined to utterly annihilate the younger species by the time their fleet finally reached the Human homeworld. Knowing that nothing less but the total annihilation of Earth's populace and later all colonies will be going on Earth Alliance started to evacute people from Earth. To give Earth's civilian population time to flee to neutral territory, military and civilian leaders on Earth desperately organized a grand last stand, "to hold the line against the night". Nearly all of the Earth Alliance's remaining warships, fighters, and personnel were combined into a vast armada of more than 20,000 vessels (most of which are fighters). They were placed in near-Earth orbit and waited for the Minbari to [[File:StarFuryTakenOutbySharlinClass.png|thumb|A Starfury under fire, during the Battle of the Line]]strike.
   
 
Though a noble gesture, the defense was to no avail. In the engagement that came to be known as The [[Battle of the Line]], an enormous fleet of Minbari warcruisers jumped from hyperspace and attacked the human armada with overwhelming firepower.<ref name="stars" /><ref>[[The Gathering]]</ref> They swiftly destroyed almost all of the Earthforce defenders, with the desperate Human pilots reduced to desperate kamikaze tactics. But then, just on the cusp of a total Minbari victory, came the most unexpected twist in the war - the Minbari ceased fire and surrendered unconditionally to Earth.<ref name="stars" /><ref name="points" /> The entire galaxy reeled at news of this impossible reversal, and a great deal of wild speculation was voiced about what could have caused this drastic capitulation. However, the Minbari's governing [[Grey Council]] never revealed the official reason, even to their own people.<ref name="points" /><ref>[[All Alone in the Night]]</ref>
 
Though a noble gesture, the defense was to no avail. In the engagement that came to be known as The [[Battle of the Line]], an enormous fleet of Minbari warcruisers jumped from hyperspace and attacked the human armada with overwhelming firepower.<ref name="stars" /><ref>[[The Gathering]]</ref> They swiftly destroyed almost all of the Earthforce defenders, with the desperate Human pilots reduced to desperate kamikaze tactics. But then, just on the cusp of a total Minbari victory, came the most unexpected twist in the war - the Minbari ceased fire and surrendered unconditionally to Earth.<ref name="stars" /><ref name="points" /> The entire galaxy reeled at news of this impossible reversal, and a great deal of wild speculation was voiced about what could have caused this drastic capitulation. However, the Minbari's governing [[Grey Council]] never revealed the official reason, even to their own people.<ref name="points" /><ref>[[All Alone in the Night]]</ref>
   
 
==Aftermath==
 
==Aftermath==
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{{Quote box|Together, we stood on the eve of destruction as a result of a terrible, terrible mistake. A mistake which none of us can afford to make again. The Babylon Station is a place to work out our problems peacefully. It is, we believe...our last best hope for peace.|[[EA President]] [[Elizabeth Levy]], [[2248]]}}
With the war over, the Earth Alliance pledged to build a diplomatic space station in neutral territory to promote galactic peace and prevent such misunderstandings in the future; the fifth and final station was known as [[Babylon 5]].
 
 
Ironically, the Earth-Minbari war is a good example of the Shadows' philosophy; which claims that only through conflict comes evolution and growth. At the start of the war, the Earth Alliance was well behind both the Minbari and Centauri in military strength and technological prowess, and probably behind the Narns as well. Having survived the Minbari assault, the Earth Alliance began an incredible effort to improve and develop advanced technology and weapons to avoid such a disaster again. At the end of the series, only 15 years after the Earth-Minbari war and after the near-destruction of [[Centauri Prime]] by a combined Narn-[[Drazi]] fleet, the Earth Alliance was second in power to the Minbari Federation, and was developing warships capable of fighting even the Minbari to a draw. Additionally, the Earth Alliance had also developed and placed a powerful planetary defense grid around the Earth. The defense grid consisted of orbiting platforms equipped with anti-ship missiles, particle-beam cannons, and plasma energy cannons.
 
   
  +
With the war over, the Earth Alliance pledged to build a diplomatic space station in neutral territory to promote galactic peace and prevent such misunderstandings in the future; known as the Babylon Project. After the first three stations were sabotaged while the fourth vanished without trace the final station was known as [[Babylon 5]]. Having barely survived the Minbari assault, Earthforce began an incredible effort to rebuild and to acquire more and more advanced technology and weapons to avoid such a disaster again.<ref>[[A Voice in the Wilderness, Part II]]</ref>
The real reason for the end of the conflict was that the Grey Council was present at the battle. They chose, for the first time, to take human prisoners to study. The study included scanning them with a [[triluminary]], the Minbari's most sacred religious artifact, which revealed that Humans had reincarnated Minbari souls - and that one prisoner, [[Jeffrey Sinclair]], carried the soul of [[Valen]] himself.<ref name="points" /> The Minbari leaders realised they were harming their own souls through this war, an horrific concept to them, and had no choice but to stop the war.<ref name="beginning" />
 
   
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
{{Reflist|2}}
 
{{Reflist|2}}
<br clear="all"/>
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<br clear="all" />
 
{{Conflicts}}
 
{{Conflicts}}
 
{{MinbariWarBattles}}
 
{{MinbariWarBattles}}
 
[[Category:Events]]
 
[[Category:Events]]
 
[[Category:Conflicts]]
 
[[Category:Conflicts]]
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[[Category:Earth-Minbari War| ]]

Revision as of 17:24, 30 June 2018


"...Unless we find a way to defeat the Minbari, the Human race ends with the current generation."

General Robert Lefcourt, 2245

"This has gone beyond retribution, Morann. This is madness. It is genocide!"

Satai Delenn to Satai Morann, 2247


The Earth-Minbari War began in 2245 when an Earthforce expeditionary fleet destroyed and heavily damaged other supporting vessels in the Grey Council's fleet, killing the Minbari leader Dukhat.

The Human fleet commander misinterpreted the Minbari warrior caste's tradition of approaching a ship with gun ports open as hostile action and fired on the Minbari vessels without provocation, from the Minbari's point of view.[2][3]

The war lasted for three years with Earth outmatched by an enemy driven with a relentless genocidal zeal and ended with the unexpected Minbari surrender at the Battle of the Line. Earth made the Minbari fight for every inch of space, and the Minbari inflicted many losses in the three years of bloody conflict.[4]

First shots


The war was provoked by an Earth Alliance task force led by Captain Michael Jankowski aboard the warship EAS Prometheus,[5] engaged on a mission to investigate the Minbari.[2] During the expedition, the Prometheus and her escorts encountered three Minbari cruisers, one of which was carrying the Grey Council, the highest echelon of Minbari society. The Grey Council was en route to investigate reports of sightings of their ancient enemy, the Shadows. Although Jankowski had been given strict orders to not do anything which might be perceived as hostile, Jankowski arrogantly disobeyed the orders and refused to jump to hyperspace when the Minbari spotted his fleet. He thought that by waiting to the last possible moment to jump he could gain valuable sensor information about the Minbari cruisers, and this would lead to a promotion and medals from a grateful Earthforce Command. When he finally did decide to flee, it was too late.[2]

Upon seeing the Earth vessels, the Minbari cruisers opened their gunports as a sign of respect and strength - even though Humans would have no knowledge of such a tradition.[2] Dukhat, leader of the Grey Council, realized the error and ordered the gunports closed - but it was too late. Captain Jankowski misinterpreted the gesture as a sign of hostility, an impression compounded by the fact that the powerful sensors of the Minbari cruisers accidentally disabled the Prometheus' jump engines, thus preventing the ship from jumping to hyperspace and escaping. When told by his first officer that his vessel's jump engines had malfunctioned and that the weapons on the Minbari cruisers were "hot" (active), Jankowski panicked and opened fire on the Minbari ships. After the Earth ships opened fired they completely tore apart the Minbari Sharlin, ripping through the hull of the Sharlin and killing their leader Dukhat. This scene showed that EarthForce ships had enough firepower to easily destroy a Minbari Sharlin, but getting within firing range was very difficult, and the only real issue for EarthForce ships when fighting the Minbari. After Dukhat was killed, his protege Delenn cast the deciding vote on the Council in a fit of rage to wage a war of vengeance against Earth.[3] However, the war of vengeance quickly turned into a holy crusade by the Minbari to exterminate humanity. This decision proved to be costly to both sides, as a bloody two-year long war ensured.

The Earth Alliance made frantic efforts to present official apologies to the Minbari through all possible diplomatic channels, and tried to obtain help (military or diplomatic) from neutral alien races such as the Centauri. However, no alien race wanted to incur the wrath of the Minbari military, and so Earth was left to fight alone.[2]

The War

"The humans, I think, knew they were doomed, but where another race would surrender to despair, the humans fought back with even greater strength. They made the Minbari fight for every inch of space. In my life, I have never seen anything like it. They would weep, they would pray, they would say good-bye to their loved ones, and then throw themselves, without fear or hesitation, at the very face of death itself, never surrendering..."

Emperor Londo Mollari, 2278

Immediately following the destruction of Jericho 3, the Minbari struck at half a dozen Earthforce bases in the space of just a few days, leaving no survivors and accepting no surrender. Although EarthForce was losing in space combat, the war was far from over and Earth had a clandestine plan to exterminate the Minbari race, although it was never carried out.[6] During battles, Minbari would even target ships no longer capable of fighting and destroy them. All attempts to communicate-including an offer to turn over Michael Jankowski-were rebuffed.[7]

Jericho3station

The destruction of the Jericho 3 station.

In contrast to human concepts of total war, the Minbari fleet moved methodically through the outer colonies, eliminating defence structures and moving on, leaving civilian structures mostly untouched. At the time, Earthdome believed this behaviour was linked to the Minbari caste system, which targeted human "warriors" first; it was assumed that after destroying Earth, they would return to exterminate the now disorganized and defenseless civilians. Thus, by the end of the war, most of Earth's colonies and outposts were still intact, and Earthforce was able to recover quickly. Indeed, many believed that Earth was even strong enough to fight the Minbari on equal terms (Ep: And now for a word[2]).

Earthdome had thought of a new way to fight and very likely even defeat the Minbari - biological warfare. Earth's plan was to unleash bio-weapons on the Minbari thus exterminating the Minbari race. This plan would have worked, but Dr. Franklin, the only man with access to the Minbari's complete DNA sequence,  burned all of his notes to prevent his work from being used to be used to annihilate an entire race. Without access to this data, as well as the refusal of other top medical scientists to participate, Earth could no longer use bio-weapons to defeat the Minbari.1 Fortunately, the Minbari later surrendered.

Although EarthForce ships did have the firepower to destroy a Minbari (as seen in the first encounter), Minbari steath technology foiled attempts to acquire a weapons lock, and thus, human ships were forced to fly in dense formations to come into firing range for a manual lock. Attempts to acquire more advanced weaponry from their long term trading partners, the Centauri Republic, were rebuffed, as the Centauri had no intention of siding against the Minbari by aiding their enemy. The Narn Regime, on the other hand, proved more than willing to do business; the weapons that they sold were reverse-engineered Centauri weapons, which raised Narn hopes that the Minbari would turn on their enemies for siding with humans while considering the risk of the Minbari instead attacking themselves acceptable.[2]


Black star 04

Destruction of the Black Star.

Engagements weren't restricted to outposts and colonies; in 2247, two dozen Earth warships were lost to hit-and-run attacks in the space of only three weeks. Though no personnel had survived an attack, word at the time was that there was some kind of ace cruiser on the prowl. That theory was proved correct when a small fleet led by the EAS Lexington was attacked in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The Lexington itself was crippled in the opening salvo as the Minbari flagship Drala Fi (Black Star) jumped into the middle of the fleet, killing its commander, Captain Roger Sterns and left to drift while the Black Star engaged to remainder of the fleet. Thinking fast, John Sheridan had his crew seed several nearby asteroids with a trio of two-megaton tactical nuclear warheads, then sent out a distress call to lure the Black Star back to their position. As the Minbari cruiser moved into range for a clear shot, Sheridan remotely detonated the two nukes in range and obliterated the Drala Fi. Earthdome wasted no time in capitalising on what was to date the only victory in the entire war, broadcasting the footage throughout the Alliance. For their part the Minbari were less than impressed, the Warrior Caste in particular were affronted at being defeated by such "dishonourable" tactics and Sheridan would become infamously reviled as "Starkiller".[2][8]

Epsilon system1

The last hope for peace lost in the Epsilon System

In the midst of all this, the Minbari Anla'shok Na Lenonn secretly made contact with the Narns at the behest of Satai Delenn in hopes of opening peace talks. Cautious and understandably suspicious, EarthGov agreed to an initial meeting in neutral territory, sending Sheridan along with a Dr. Stephen Franklin and G'Kar of the Narn Regime to make sure the offer was serious before sending in the negotiators. Travelling aboard a Narn ship, the team arrived at the agreed upon rendezvous; a nameless abandoned Drazi colony and a one-time Earthforce listening post in the Epsilon System.[9] The meeting was cut short when an unknown party destroyed the Narn ship in orbit and bombarded the surface, killing Lenonn and any hope of peace in the process. The Minbari soon arrived and retrieved Lenonn's body, though Satai Delenn chose to simply release the two Human prisoners rather than execute them. Both the Minbari Federation and the Earth Alliance assumed that the attack had been perpetrated by a rogue faction of their own government. It wasn't until decades later that the truth was made known. The attack had in fact originated from the Centauri Republic, ordered by Londo Mollari who had learned of the Narn mission though his sources close to the Kha'Ri and assumed it had been an arms shipment.

By this point in the war, somewhere between fifty to sixty thousand Humans had been killed. With the one hope for peace ruined, the war escalated. Over the next six months 200,000 more would die (official military casualities).[10]

EAS Schwarzkopf-B

Battle of Sinzar

Even as more and more outposts and colonies fell, the humans made the Minbari fight for every inch of space. In the Battle of Sinzar, a crippled Earth dreadnought deliberately rammed a damaged Minbari warcruiser that was attempting to escape, destroying both ships in the process. At Flinn Colony, ground-based weapons forced the Minbari to land warriors on the planet and incredible hand-to-hand combat raged across the planet's surface. Though the Minbari were always victorious, they more often than not came away from these battles battered and bruised. Indeed, though the humans could hardly appreciate or be aware of it at the time, word of their repeated noble "last stands" spread to almost every Minbari. In the early days of the war, the humans were perceived as cowards and savages, as evidenced by their unprovoked assault and murder of Dukhat. However as this demonised image of humanity proved more and more to be false, many Minbari, particularly in the Worker and Religious Caste began to doubt the justification for war, though few could see a way to stop the madness that had engulfed them.[11]

The Battle of the Line

Main article: Battle of the Line

"...No one who saw them fighting against the inevitable could help but be moved to tears by their courage, their stubborn nobility. When they ran out of ships, they used guns. When they ran out of guns, they used knives, and sticks, and bare hands. They were magnificent. I only hope that when it is my time, I may die with half as much dignity as I saw in their eyes at the end. They did this for two years! They never ran out of courage. But in the end, they ran out of time."

Emperor Londo Mollari, 2278

The Minbari, frustrated by the futile but persistent Human resistance and their pride wounded by the handful of Earthforce victories, were determined to utterly annihilate the younger species by the time their fleet finally reached the Human homeworld. Knowing that nothing less but the total annihilation of Earth's populace and later all colonies will be going on Earth Alliance started to evacute people from Earth. To give Earth's civilian population time to flee to neutral territory, military and civilian leaders on Earth desperately organized a grand last stand, "to hold the line against the night". Nearly all of the Earth Alliance's remaining warships, fighters, and personnel were combined into a vast armada of more than 20,000 vessels (most of which are fighters). They were placed in near-Earth orbit and waited for the Minbari to

StarFuryTakenOutbySharlinClass

A Starfury under fire, during the Battle of the Line

strike.

Though a noble gesture, the defense was to no avail. In the engagement that came to be known as The Battle of the Line, an enormous fleet of Minbari warcruisers jumped from hyperspace and attacked the human armada with overwhelming firepower.[4][12] They swiftly destroyed almost all of the Earthforce defenders, with the desperate Human pilots reduced to desperate kamikaze tactics. But then, just on the cusp of a total Minbari victory, came the most unexpected twist in the war - the Minbari ceased fire and surrendered unconditionally to Earth.[4][8] The entire galaxy reeled at news of this impossible reversal, and a great deal of wild speculation was voiced about what could have caused this drastic capitulation. However, the Minbari's governing Grey Council never revealed the official reason, even to their own people.[8][13]

Aftermath

"Together, we stood on the eve of destruction as a result of a terrible, terrible mistake. A mistake which none of us can afford to make again. The Babylon Station is a place to work out our problems peacefully. It is, we believe...our last best hope for peace."

EA President Elizabeth Levy, 2248


With the war over, the Earth Alliance pledged to build a diplomatic space station in neutral territory to promote galactic peace and prevent such misunderstandings in the future; known as the Babylon Project. After the first three stations were sabotaged while the fourth vanished without trace the final station was known as Babylon 5. Having barely survived the Minbari assault, Earthforce began an incredible effort to rebuild and to acquire more and more advanced technology and weapons to avoid such a disaster again.[14]

References