Cardassians
From FEInfobase
The Cardassians are an Alpha Quadrant humanoid race from the planet Cardassia Prime, the central world of the Cardassian Union.
The Cardassians are well known for having an aggressive and bloody history due to the military dictatorship which ruled their society for many decades. They have been known to invade whole planets including their neighbour’s homeworld, Bajor and occupy the world as they drained it of its resources for the greater good of their union.
After first contact was made with them by the Federation open conflict began in the 2340s and didn’t truly cease until 2370. Through the three decades numerous cease fires occurs as well border skirmishes which didn’t result in either side gaining new territory. However due to the Federation war the Cardassians did suffer and were forced to abandoned Bajor as its resistances movement had became lethal.
In 2370 the Federation and Cardassians signed a full peace treaty which created a demilitarised zone along their borders, however several Federation worlds were put in this buffer zone and became the property of the Cardassians, this also happened for many Cardassian worlds. The demilitarised zone soon became a hot unstable region as colonists rebelled against both governments and open-warfare began. Those Federation citizens rebelling banded together and formed the Maquis. The Maquis became quite strong as many Starfleet officers and Bajorans who were still bitter from the previous conflicts with the Cardassians joined the cause to defend those Federation worlds in the demilitarised zone.
The Cardassians were later invaded by the Klingon Empire in 2372 after the Klingons believed the leaders of the Cardassians were taken over by the Dominion. The Klingons were wrong and this conflict brought the start of a second war with the Federation as well. During this time relations between the Federation and Cardassians improved slightly, however tensions remained due to the Maquis. The Cardassians were loosing not only to the Klingons but to the Maquis as well due to the Klingons providing the Maquis help in their fight too.
It wasn’t until late 2373 that the Cardassians under a new government (led by Gul Dukat) joined the Dominion as members. The Dominions quickly pushed the Klingons out of Cardassian space and destroyed the Maquis. The Dominion was able to re-enforce the Cardassian borders with their own ships and provide economical aid to the Cardassians who were suffering from disease, famine, and poverty because of the war with the Klingons and Maquis.
In 2374 hostilites between the Federation and Dominion errupted in to an all out war which lasted for two years. The Cardassians at the beginning played an important role in allying with the Dominion forces. By 2375 the Dominion was in a state of war with the Federation Alliance and loosing ground due to their unavailable access to the Bajoran Wormhole. The Breen Confederacy joined the Dominion which resulted in the Cardassians becoming second class citizens and later subjugated by the Dominion. The Cardassians rose up against their former allies and joined the Federation Alliance in fighting off the Dominion for good. The Dominion War paid a heavy toll on the Cardassians with over eight hundred civilians dead and a majority of the cities on Cardassia destroyed.
With rebuilding and relief efforts coming in from the Federation, Klingon and Romulan Empires the Cardassians began to restore what was lost. The once powerful militaristic dictatorship was gone and a new democratic government came to power lead by Legate Alon Ghemor. Cardassia also received aide from its former enemy the Bajorans.
The Cardassians didn’t have much of an affect on galactic affairs as they continued with their rebuilding and restoration efforts. Many Cardassian worlds were became protectorates under the Federation Alliance, while Cardassia Prime was shared with the Cardassian Government and the allies. By 2380, five years after the end of the Dominion War Cardassia as well as many other Cardassian colonies became independent from their Federation Alliance guardians. Legate Elim Garak became the leader of the Cardassians who now had found their ancestral links of art, religion and peaceful existence. The Cardassians military wasn’t as it was before the war and the Cardassians still counted on the Federation Alliance in protecting some of its space.
In May of 2380 the Federation and Klingons attended a peace conference in the Gamma Quadrant with the Dominion. They returned with the Alpha/Gamma Peace Accords which allowed for peaceful co-existence between the powers. Upon hearing about the treaty, Legate Garak was enraged. He felt that both the Federation and Klingons were turning their backs on the Cardassian people. The Federation tried to assure the Cardassians this treaty would benefit everyone, but Garek wouldn't hear it. He publicly criticized the treaty, finding support from two unlikely sources: the Romulans and the Breen. Garak then recalled all Cardassian ships serving in Starfleet units on exchange training missions, and cut off diplomatic relations.
Five years later and hostilities with the Borg broke out in the Beta Quadrant. The Cardassians were not indirectly affected as they continued to rebuild. However the Detapa Council did order the increase in their defence budget. Every single Cardassian system was filled with orbital defence platforms that were used during the Dominion War. Cardassian Dreadnought Missiles were stockpiled and the construction of Keldon Class cruisers were increased.
The Cardassians got their first major battle with the collective on October 3rd 2385. A fleet of 79 ships intercepted the Borg Cube. A majority of the ships were of Keldon Class and the Cardassians were successful in fighting back the Cube, with only a loss of twenty three ships. But no Borg drone stepped on to Cardassian soil. The Cardassians agreed to aide in the fight with the Borg. An alliance treaty was signed with the Federation on Deep Space Nine a week later.
The Cardassians continued to prosper from minor skirmishes with Borg ships, and they used several of their Dreadnought Missiles to take out the collective’s forces. This tactics worked several times and the Borg found it hard to adapt to this strategy. The Cardassians sent more then fifty ships to help in defence of Bajor to return the favour after the Bajorans helped them in rebuilding from the Dominion War. The Cardassians under their alliance with the Federation agreed to help in providing whatever technical assistances Starfleet needed in keeping Deep Space Nine and Twelve active. Some of the best engineers and station designers from Cardassia developed with Starfleet Corps of Engineers plans to refit the stations to be better in defending themselves. The projects were a success and both former Cardassian stations became fortified platforms for the Federation. In return the Federation provided the Cardassian Military all the intelligence on the Borg.
In 2396 the Cardassians provided the Klingon/Romulan task force sent in to Borg space to destroy Unimatrix Zero One and other Borg star systems, with ten enhanced and modified Dreadnought Missiles. The missiles again were successful in defeating the Borg and destroying a number of their bases and star systems.
It wasn’t until two years later did the Federation loose contact with the Cardassians. It would take Starfleet until 2401 to re-establish contact with the Cardassians. When communication was made again Legate Garak was still leading the Cardassians but the Cardassian people were suffering again. The Borg had launched a massive assault the Cardassians (this had been predicted due to the Borg using Cardassian space as a foothole in the Alpha Quadrant) which left them crippled and on the point of being extinct from the galaxy.
Once again aide from now the independent Bajor began to help the Cardassian people until 2403 when a few hostilities broke out when Starfleet annexed Empok Nor. For fear of aggression against the Bajorans the Federation Council urged the Bajorans to cease with their aide until their re-admission to the Federation was complete.
Intelligence reports provided by the Bajoran Starfleet indicate the Cardassian society remained in its post-Dominion War state of returning to their ancestral routes of art and religion. The civilians also have a more powerful control of the Union more then ever.