Big Five

The Big Five was a cobelligerency of the only five human nations which resisted the initial invasion of the Race's Conquest Fleet in 1942: the United States, Germany, the Soviet Union, Britain, and Japan. These nations collaborated as closely as possibly early on in the invasion, holding periodic conferences in London--but their relationship was tense as many of them considered each other enemies, having just fought each other in World War II and discontinuing that war only because of the necessity of cooperating against the Race.

After several years, it became clear that the US, Soviet Union, and Germany, which built and used atomic bombs, were more powerful and more important than Britain and Japan, which did not. However, all five were represented when Atvar convened a peace conference in Cairo, and all five were granted recognition as sovereign entities by the Race, though only the Bigger Three were allowed full diplomatic relationships with the Race--until Britain and Japan developed their own atomic weapons after the war.