The Portuguese reaction to the unveiling of the Stargate was to unflinchingly support their old ally with King Carlos declaring that the Treaty of Windsor included both earth and beyond. The Portuguese support for the Imperial Stargate program would pay off massively later down the line. The royal Portuguese navy is one of the Royal navies most important allies beyond the homeworld. Compared to many other nations Portugal thrived from the Imperial Stargate initiative.
-Extract from Michael Shanks book a History of Portuguese Exploration.
Kaiser Wilhelm II reaction to the Stargate program is notorious amongst alternate historians as he fainted, fell down hit his head in the wrong way and died. The procedure was followed Crown Prince Wilhelm was declared Kaiser Wilhelm III and changes were implemented. The naval build-up was reigned back as the new Kaiser realised that Germany could not hope to stand against Britain if they had the resources of an entire planet at their disposal. He also took less of a role in governance compared to his father while not as lax as Wilhelm I he walked a middle line. As Germany recoiled and was thrown on a different path the events that caused the changes were nearly forgotten despite the new Kaisers secret negotiations.
-Extract from George Hammond's book a history of the House of Hohenzollern
The French reaction was one of shock more than most other nations as their old enemy suddenly gained a massive power shift that propelled them even further then their already dominant position on Earth with the ability to exploit a world for resources and development that could be funnelled directly into the British military and expand the already powerful navy. The government declared their support in the hope of securing a stake in the venture the outroar in parliament and among the cabinet forced the government to resign and call elections. The right wing was fractured with the Democratic Republican Alliance dissolving two main forces emerged the 'patriots' and the 'Napoleons'. The patriots represented the section of French society who refused to work with Britain especially in something where in they would be the junior partners. The Napoleons represented the anti-German section of French society who were willing to work with the British in return for an alliance against the Germans.
The left wing was less fractured but still had divisions on whether or not to work with Britain. A majority of their voters supported waiting and acting on further developments in order for the full picture to appear and their undivided base allowed them to sweep to power shifting Frances entire course down another path.
-Extract from Richard Andersons book 1905 an interstellar year.
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the world leaders who adapted best to the Stargate in his case many believe that it fuelled him more than without it. Theodore threw himself into the work of negotiating anything that the United States could get out of this discovery. He was the first leader from outside the Empire to travel to New Windsor in August 1907 where he fell in love with the Stargate and launched the American Society for Interstellar research on of Americas largest academic organizations that has continued from 1907 to the present and hopefully onwards into the future.
-Extract from an informational video on the American Society for Interstellar Research.
The Russian and Japanese reactions were similar as both were worn put from the war that they had just fought and the revelation that interstellar travel was not only possible but easy shocked the leaders of both nations. Yet compared to some other nations they both had lighter views on it as the Japanese had an alliance with the United Kingdom while Tsar Nicholas II was related to the ruling house of the empire. While both had reservations, they both had reasonably positive relations with the British Empire and this can be seen today. While the Imperial Japanese Navy is not as large as the Royal Portuguese the wrath of Amaterasu can strike from the heavens across the Milky way and Pegasus.
-Extract from David Hewlett's book Heirs of the Sun Goddess: The Imperial Japanese navy and the Stargate.
While the people of Earth digested the announcement of the Stargate and New Windsor British forces moved in to expand their foothold and explore their new domain. Forces from the Royal Engineers moved in to reinforce the castle. As more men were sent through the Stargate to develop it more space was needed for the rapidly growing population and the first explorers were sent off into the wilderness of New Windsor. As the explorers hiked through the rocky hills that dominated the area around the Stargate, they began to find evidence of a battle with occasional skeletons being found dressed in archaic armour that was made from a material not found on Earth.
The most important discovery on New Windsor on those early days was the Staff Weapon. Found by a Tasmanian called Raymond Johnson who while bunkering down in a cave found the corpses of five warriors clad in broken armour holding long staffs with strange markings on them. The storm he was hiding from lasted for three days and by the end he had worked out how to use the weapons and immediately decided to return to the castle with the weapons. The reaction from the administration was to throw every researcher they could at the project and thus the Staff Weapons became the first direct benefit of the Stargate to the British Empire.
-Extract from Tony Robinsons book A history of Imperial Plasma Weaponry.
As New Windsor was explored the first site for a settlement was found a few kilometres down the coast from the castle in a natural harbour with the rocky hills fading out to a large plain that could easily be cultivated for crops and animals. When the report returned to London the decision was made across the United Kingdom advertising began to appear for the ability to escape the bounds of Earth and carve out a new life around a distant star. The response was large enough for the Stargate to be ordered south from the Highlands to a more easily accessible location. The Stargate was moved to Leicester where it has remained to this day.
The colonists would be transported to Leicester and sent through the Stargate where they would hike along the coast to the site that had been designated for the first settlement. As the settlers began to set up their tents and waited for the first batch of building supplies to arrive one problem arose what to name the settlement. Some suggested that they should just name it New Windsor as it most likely would become the capital of colony, others suggested New Salisbury to honour Cecil Rhodes and the colony named after him while others wanted to name it Balfour after the Prime Minister. After lengthy debate it was decided to name it Balfour and as one wit remarked the colonisation of the Olympus had begun.
-Extract from Peter FitzSimons book Balfour: A foothold in the stars.