Cardassian Union

Cardassian History

Cardassian history was perhaps one of the most brutal histories of any species inhabiting the Alpha Quadrant. Originally, the Cardassian homeworld was home to a deeply spiritual and artistic people, a peaceful society which fell into decay when famine and plague struck their civilization. Over the years, Cardassian society evolved to adopt a philosophy that sacrificed their individual freedoms for the greater good of the state and their society. For over five centuries, the iron fisted Cardassian military sought to solve Cardassia's problems through violence, leading to an era of expansion and conflict. This ultimately left Cardassian civilization in ruins once again after suffering the staggering losses of two major wars.

Early history

The ancient First Hebitian civilization was a highly-developed civilization which once thrived on Cardassia Prime. The Hebitian burial vaults were said to be magnificent and filled with many artifacts made of jevonite.

First contact with the Bajorans

First Contact between the Cardassians and Bajorans occurred as early as the 16th century. Using their lightships, Bajoran explorers traversed the space around Bajor and stumbled upon tachyon eddies, which accelerated them beyond the speed of light, taking them all the way to Cardassia Prime at a distance of five light years. Although the Cardassian government would later deny the story's plausibility, ancient crash sites of Bajoran lightships would be discovered on Cardassia 'coincidentally' at the same time Commander Benjamin Sisko and his son re-enacted the journey in late 2371, thereby forcing the Cardassians to acknowledge the achievement as a testament to the spirit of the ancient Bajorans who first ventured out into space.

Although the first crashes of Bajoran lightships onto Cardassia in the 16th century do not necessarily imply two-way communication between both civilizations, Akorem Laan, who disappeared from Bajor in the late 22nd century, knew about Cardassians, indicating that contact had been established by that time.

Cardassian Union

The Detapa Council, Cardassian Central Command and Obsidian Order were jointly established in the 19th century together forming what was eventually known as the Cardassian Union.

First Republic

The First Republic existed as of the early-23rd century and was known for its serialist poetry. This included the works of serialist poet Iloja of Prim, who was ultimately exiled on the planet Vulcan, however.

Military empire

Due to the planet's scarcity in natural resources, the Cardassian people eventually impoverished, suffering from famine and disease, leading to millions of deaths. The frail population then turned to a militaristic ideology. Having assumed a militaristic philosophy, Cardassians relied heavily on the military's expansion into the galaxy to obtain the natural resources which were scarce on their homeworld. In order to sustain the population, the military colonized numerous worlds to obtain the resources and in return had almost complete power over the people. This mutually beneficial arrangement reached an impasse, however, and in order to battle recurring famines on Cardassia, the military occupied additional nearby planets and subjugated their native people to work as forced laborers. Being located in a neighboring system only about five light years away, the Occupation of Bajor began in 2319 before it was formally annexed in 2328. The Occupation effectively ended in 2369 due to political pressure from the Federation on top of the constant terrorism and guerrilla warfare from the Bajoran Resistance.

Eventually their expansion brought the Cardassians into conflict with the Klingon Empire, causing the Betreka Nebula Incident which lasted for eighteen years.

Their expansion also caused them to clash with the Federation, resulting in the Federation-Cardassian War, during which the Setlik III massacre was a major incident. The war cost hundred thousands of lifes and severely weakened the Cardassian Union. It eventually ended with the signing of the Federation-Cardassian Armistice of 2367 and the creation of a Demilitarized Zone three years later due to the final peace treaty. This was a perturbed peace and minor conflicts continued between both sides from time to time, including the rogue Captain Benjamin Maxwell of the USS Phoenix who raided against the Cardassians, believing that the Cardassians were re-arming and preparing for a strike on Federation territory. Maxwell's fears were not unfounded, as Captain Jean-Luc Picard found out while investigating the matter: Cardassian supply ships were supplying with jamming equipment a research station too close to Federation sectors; although alerted, he opted to keep a vigilant peace.

Indeed, in 2369 the Federation was alerted when Cardassian forces relocated from the Bajoran sector towards the Federation-Cardassian border and feared for an incursion. Cardassians lured and captured Picard and then attempted to take Minos Korva by negotiating his release. The layout of the DMZ also contributed to the tensions. Due to the change in borders some Federation worlds became Cardassian territories and vice versa. Many of the people, whose worlds were turned over to the Cardassians, did not wish to leave and were granted permission to remain on their worlds. Disgruntled by the treatment they received from the Cardassians some of the citizens decided to revolt. This gave birth to the Maquis.

Degeneration

After exhausting much of their resources during the Federation-Cardassian War, the Cardassian Union was in no shape for renewed conflict with the Federation so soon after the peace treaty. To make matters worse the Maquis were located in the Demilitarized Zone, preventing the Cardassian military from launching a full-scale invasion to wipe them out. This enabled the Maquis to carry out numerous acts of sabotage and small military engagements against the Union. As the Maquis grew in size and strength, tensions grew higher between the Federation and the Cardassian Union with neither side having a concrete solution to the problem. Instead, the Central Command secretly armed their citizens in the DMZ to combat the Maquis while the Maquis procured weapons by raiding various vessels as well as receiving materials from the Klingon Empire in later years.

The Central Command attempted to deal with the situation in the DMZ by discrediting the Federation and providing evidence that they not only sanctioned the Maquis' actions, but were providing them with weapons to combat the Cardassians. An undercover operative secretly developed evidence that Miles O'Brien was shipping photon torpedoes to the Maquis from Deep Space 9. The plan was foiled when Central Command's agent was discovered by the station's senior staff, and the evidence against O'Brien was proven to be fabricated.

Another failed attempt by Central Command was to wipe out a Maquis' munitions base in the Badlands with the creation of their ATR-4107 missile. While the ATR-4107 effectively acted as a missile, it was also a fully autonomous warship capable of warp speeds and carried a wide range of defensive weaponry. The missile had successfully made it to the Maquis munitions depot after fighting its way through every Maquis defense. However, due to the Cardassians' use of an outdated kinetic detonator, the missile did not detonate as planned, but instead drifted in orbit of the planetoid. There, the Maquis reprogrammed the weapon to attack a Cardassian fuel depot on Aschelan V. The ATR-4107 inexplicably disappeared in the Badlands while on the way to its new destination, only to be found by the USS Voyager two years later in the Delta Quadrant.

Attempting to reestablish relations with Bajor after the end of the occupation the Cardassians secretly worked out a treaty with the Bajorans, with Legate Turrel representing the Cardassian Union following the initiative of Vedek Bareil. Five months of secret discussions began between the two, from war reparations to an official apology from the Cardassians. However, Bareil was injured on his way to Deep Space 9 to finalize the treaty so Kai Winn completed the negotiations, thus creating the Bajoran-Cardassian Treaty. The first joint Federation-Bajoran-Cardassian effort under the new peace treaty, called the Wormhole Comm Relay Project, was to create a Gamma Quadrant relay station to aid communications through the Bajoran wormhole. Yarka, A Bajoran vedek accused the participating Cardassian scientists, Ulani Belor, Gilora Rejal, and Dejar, to be 'three vipers that would destroy the Celestial Temple.' Although Dejar was indeed exposed by Ulani Belor as an Obsidian Order operative, who, as it turned out, was not only tasked with surveillance but to undermine Bajoran-Cardassian relations by sabotaging the entire project, the Wormhole Comm Relay was successfully completed.

The discovery of a large, hostile empire in the Gamma Quadrant in 2370 proved to be one of the most devastating events for the Cardassian Empire, as this so-called 'Dominion' would soon start to destabilize the Alpha Quadrant. By 2371, no major Alpha Quadrant power was willing to commit to a firm solution to the threat of a Dominion invasion. Enabran Tain, the retired leader of the Obsidian Order, took it upon himself to see Cardassia's involvement in preventing a major war. With the help of the Tal Shiar, Tain was able to develop his own small fleet in the Orias system which he would use later that year in an attempt to wipe out the Dominion's rulers; the Founders. His plan was ultimately foiled by a Changeling infiltrator, resulting in the disastrous Battle of the Omarion Nebula. The battle caused the Obsidian Order to completely collapse, allowing for the Cardassian Dissident Movement to overthrow the Central Command's authority the following year. The movement saw the restoration of the Detapa Council and civilian rule.

Having been suppressed for so long, the civilian population's ability to restore the Detapa Council was believed to be influenced by the Founders in the eyes of the Klingon Empire. Because of this, as well as Klingon Chancellor Gowron being influenced by an Changeling, the Klingon Empire launched an unprovoked and abrupt invasion of the Cardassian Union, thus beginning the Klingon-Cardassian War. The war devastated Cardassian infrastructure and crippled a large portion of their fleets. The Detapa Council, with the help of Gul Dukat and the Federation, was able to obtain asylum aboard Deep Space 9. After the Klingons were successfully driven away the war became a stalemate, with Klingon ships able to roam freely throughout Cardassian territory. Later that year, Dukat was able to procure a Klingon vessel with the help of Major Kira Nerys. Despite the substantial information he obtained from the ship's computer logs and status reports, the Detapa Council wished to find a diplomatic solution to the war as opposed to using the information for launching a new offensive. Dukat then began a one-ship war against the Klingons with his captured Bird-of-Prey.

With the Cardassian Obsidian Order no longer existing to keep the population in line, a fanatical separatist group known as the "True Way" began to unleash their frustration on the Federation and Bajor through terrorism and sabotage. Blaming the Federation for Cardassia's economic and political problems, and strongly opposed to the Bajoran-Cardassian Treaty concluded the prior year, the True Way was responsible for destroying the runabout USSOrinoco as well as a failed attempt at the life of Shakaar Edon.

Restoration

In 2373, the Dominion suddenly invaded the Alpha Quadrant with dozens of ships coming through the Bajoran wormhole. The Federation was preparing for the worst assuming the fleet was going to begin an interstellar war by attacking Deep Space 9. However, the fleet immediately changed course and headed directly for Cardassian space. Shortly thereafter, Dukat revealed that he had secretly negotiated an alliance with the Dominion over the past few months and made Cardassia an official member, only weeks prior to the Dominion's entry of the Alpha Quadrant. The Detapa Council became completely powerless with Cardassia formally annexed and Dukat as the designated leader of the Cardassian people. Dukat later justified his actions by stating the alliance with the Dominion would restore Cardassia to its former glory, promising to push every Klingon ship from Cardassian territory and wipe out every Maquis colony in the DMZ. Dukat made good on his promise, for within three days every Maquis colony was destroyed, with only a few members able to evade capture or death, and the entire Klingon invasion force was in full retreat.

Membership in the Dominion

Early success

With the Cardassian Union's borders returned to their pre-war state, Dukat had successfully raised the Union to again be a major power in the Alpha Quadrant. However, Dukat's personal ambitions, combined with the Founders' desire to bring order to the galaxy, meant that an interstellar war was inevitable. Since the Dominion required constant reinforcements of ships, supplies, troops and ketracel-white from the Gamma Quadrant to be able to conquer the entire Alpha Quadrant, the Federation decided to mine the entrance of the wormhole to prevent the strength of the Dominion from growing. This move was the provocation the Dominion needed to start a full-scale war against the Federation without coming across as the aggressors. The Dominion then sent a fleet of ships to capture Deep Space 9 and prevent the minefield from completion which resulted in Dukat retaking the station. Beginning the Dominion War.

For the first few months of the war Cardassia and the Dominion were unmatched on all fronts, constantly forcing the Federation and Klingon Empire to retreat. The utter failure of the Federation's Seventh Fleet at Tyra was one of the many engagements resulting in complete success for the Dominion. At the current rate of success it was only a matter of time before Earth and the rest of the Federation became completely conquered by the Dominion. However, an attack]] lead by Captain Benjamin Sisko saw the first major engagement of the war where the allies were successful. Conversely, this was only due to the help of the Bajoran Prophets which destroyed all 2,800 Dominion ships inside the Bajoran wormhole before they could enter the Alpha Quadrant. The sudden turn of events, combined with the death of his daughter Tora Ziyal, caused Dukat to have a mental breakdown. It was after this that Cardassians began to lose their status as equals with the Vorta and Jem'Hadar in the Dominion.

Puppet government, Occupation and Rebellion

After Dukat's subsequent capture earlier that year, Damar was placed as the new leader of the Cardassian people. However, Damar's position gradually became nothing more than a simple formality, with the Female Changeling and Weyoun running a de facto government. Shortly after Deep Space 9 was lost to the Federation, Damar was forced to call for peace by Weyoun, despite his personal objections. Over time, Damar was forced to obey Weyoun on almost all political and military decisions, including the order to reinforce the Son'a outpost on Devos II as opposed to pursuing the 2370, as Damar had initially ordered.
Damar gradually realized that he was simply running a puppet government under Dominion rule and that Cardassians were becoming second-class citizens within their own territory. When the Female Changeling negotiated with the Breen to join in a new alliance in 2375, she made territorial concessions on behalf of Cardassia. Damar, forced to sign the agreement as the designated leader of Cardassia without even knowing the exact concessions, realized his power had been completely usurped while seven million Cardassian soldiers had already died in the war. It was then that Damar began his rebellion against the Dominion oppressors by striking Rondac III.

His military rebellion was effectively destroyed when Gul Revok betrayed it and the Dominion gained the necessary information to locate and destroy their bases. However, Damar learned upon arriving back on Cardassia Prime that he had had more of an impact on all Cardassians than he thought. The general population eventually joined Damar's rebellion and was able to cause a planet-wide blackout during the Battle of Cardassia.

Fall of Cardassia

When the Dominion destroyed Lakarian City in retaliation for the blackout, the remaining Cardassian ships switched sides; this, coupled with the confusion and lack of communication with their main operations cetre among Dominion forces due to the blackout, helped the Federation Alliance defeat the Dominion forcing them to retreat for a final stand at Cardassia Prime.

While the war could be ended without a full-scale allied assault on the planet, by the end of the Dominion War Cardassia Prime was in ashes; devastated by orbital bombardment and Jem'Hadar raids by the Dominion, who had been ordered to wipe out the Cardassian species for their betrayal. Over eight hundred million men, women and children were slaughtered in this planet-wide genocide. The Cardassian military was reduced greatly from two years of total war against the Federation Alliance, and their economy was crippled. In the Treaty of Bajor, the Cardassian Union agreed that all Alpha Quadrant territories would revert to their status before the Dominion's entry into the quadrant.

Cardassia, a once proud, powerful and unrelenting force in the Alpha Quadrant, had once again become a planet plagued with famine, death, disease and destruction, leaving the remaining Cardassians to rebuild it and pick up the pieces amongst the ruins. A tragic ending for a once mighty peoples.