Hypothetical precedent for Klingons to join UFP by 26th Century?

[Sumghai]

As part of some fanon I'm working on, I'm examining the hypothetical scenario of the Klingon Empire becoming part of the Federation by the mid 25th to 26th Centuries.

I'm familiar with some similar threads on these forums, although I felt that my specific query would be better answered in its own thread.

Established points

• It has been noted by various Trek fans and canon that as a warrior race, contemporary Klingon attitudes and politics are incompatible with that of the Federation (e.g. glory in battle, subjugating servitor species like Kriosians, distinct caste system)

• In ENT: "Judgment", Archer's Klingon advocate Kolos spoke of how Klingon society was once based on "honor [that] was earned through integrity and acts of true courage, not senseless bloodshed". Kolos also spoke of his parents, a father who was a teacher and a mother who was a biologist, who were from a generation that encouraged him to pursue law, whereas by the time of "Judgement" the warrior class had become dominant.

• ENT: "Azati Prime" depicts a possible future timeline where in the 26th Century, Klingons and Xindi were members of the Federation fighting against the Sphere Builders in the Battle of Procryon V.

• Andorian are technically a warrior race themselves, although they also had various other cultural features that made them founding members of the Federation.

• TNG's season one had some off-handed dialogue regarding Klingons as part of the Federation, although this was quickly retconned into having Klingons as merely close allies.

Since I'd rather this thread not devolve into a debate as to whether Enterprise was a poor series / whether the Federation still exists by xth Century,I am going to assume that, for the purposes of my fanon, the first four points stand.


In which case, the big question is:

What events (or series) of events could lead to a fundamental shift in the Klingon Empire that would set them on the path to eventual Federation membership by the mid-25th to 26th Centuries?

My current working idea is essentially a Klingon version of the Vulcan Reformation / Syrranite / Kir'Shara, in which contemporary Klingon warrior culture is in reality a warped interpretation of Kahless's (or a predecessor's) original teachings about integrity and courage.

Possible subideas include:

• At the start, a brief state of war in 2409/2410 between the Federation and Klingons following allegations that a certain Klingon Ambassador was involved in nefarious schemes to topple the Federation (an allusion to B'vat from Star Trek Online) as well as the Klingon's outrage at the Federation refusing to help them fight Undine infiltration (again, from STO)

• The crew of a Klingon battlecruiser discovering a colony of Klingons who chose to live by the ancient ideals.

• The discovery of an artifact that contains the "true" teachings of Kahless by a group of Klingons alongside their Starfleet acquaintances

• Members of the Klingon High Council attempting to suppress said discoveries to preserve the status quo.

• Worf getting involved in some capacity, given his own interpretation of what it means to be a "true" Klingon - possibly involving the death of then-Chancellor Martok and Worf's own rise to the leadership of the Klingon people.

• As a result of the discovery being validated, Klingon-Fed tensions ease somewhat from the brief period of war over B'vat and the Undine to a renewed detente.

• Decades into the future where relations have greatly improved, the Empire beginning to emancipate its subject worlds and eventually culminating towards Worf's successor attending the signing ceremony for Klingon admittance to the Federation.

As this is hardly refined, thoughts and ideas would be much appreciated.

[T'Girl]

Sumghai wrote:

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Kolos also spoke of his parents, a father who was a teacher and a mother who was a biologist, who were from a generation that encouraged him to pursue law, whereas by the time of "Judgement" the warrior class had become dominant.

In The Troubble with Tribbles, there was this:

Chekov ... one side or the other must prove it can develop the planet most efficiently.
Kirk ... And unfortunately, though the Klingons are brutal and aggressive, they are most efficient.

It's hard to see warriors "developing a planet," so other aspect of the Klingon culture do exist, along side the warriors.

In the Houses of Quark, it's revealed that the various Klingon aristocratic houses have complex property, financial and trade dealings with each other. Again, not simply warriors.

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Given the strength and (presumed) size of the Klingon Empire, would it really be the Empire joining the Federation? Or would you see instead more of a merging of the two into a whole? Why would the Empire with hundreds of star systems become a member of the Federation council where they are on equal footing with species/races than have only a single planet?

The Federation might be more inclined to merge with the Empire if the Federation itself were in some kind of desperate straits, and were ready to "lower their standards."

[t_smitts]

Although the idea of some "lost" teachings of Kahless being rediscovered is intruiging, it's a bit too close to "Kir'Shara". Nothing against those episodes. I actually really liked them, but been there, done that.

Setting aside whether one considers ST:O canon or not, I could see a greater emphasis on honor under Martok. Given his own humble background, I could also see him less concern with maintaining aristocratic traditions and being more open to appointing those from a "common" standing to important positions (assuming a chancellor has the authority to do that).

If the Empire is prosperous under his rule, it might make it easier for more progressive Klingons to gain support.

[-Brett-]

Is there any criteria for what exactly defines a "warrior race"? Because even the supposedly "evolved" humans of the Star Trek universe seem to have this tendancy to wage wars pretty regularly.

[Mars]

I think Klingons should be reserved as Star Trek's Orcs, if you civilize them too much there is no point to the race. Any good Star Trek show needs a race of bad guys, just as Tolkein needs his Orcs, Star Trek needs its Klingons.

[Bry_Sinclair]

I'm not sure why the Klingon Empire would join the UFP. They have their own system, rules and codes of conduct, many of which just don't fit in with Federation principles. They have a massive expanse of space with is older that the Federation, and their alliance to the UFP has proven to be both mutually beneficial (SEE: Dominion War 2373-2375) as well as being a hindrance to their warrior mentality (SEE: Federation-Klingon War 2372-2373).

I think there would be a few more Klingons sign up for Starfleet, a continuation of the alliance with many partnership operations, but I would think the two would remain separate entities.

But that's just me.

[The Wormhole]

Honestly, when I heard they became memebers of the Federation in Azati Prime, I just assumed the Klingons suffered a serious enough defeat and the KDF was in shambles. So they sought Federation membership to guarantee that Starfleet would defend them.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Klingons are the Federation's best allies but I don't see them ever actually joining.

[Timo]

Klingons themselves probably couldn't see it ever happening, either - but they might one day find that their alliance with the Federation (and possibly with other local star empires) against some major external threat has grown so close that they have ended up being de facto and perhaps even de jure UFP members! I doubt Vulcans and Andorians believed they would end up losing their independence when entering the ENT alliance, either...

Back in the 22nd century, the UFP was built out of small blocks, such as the fledging "Empire of Earth". In the 24th or 25th century, the building blocks might simply have become larger, the size of the Klingon and Romulan Empires.

Timo Saloniemi

[E-DUB]

Well, Let's look at actual Earth history as a guide. The Klingons, when Trek was started, were supposed to represent the Commies, the Reds, you know, the "evil empire". As times changed on Earth, so did the relationship in Trek. Praxis was Chernobyl, Gorkon was Gorbachev. (And I can't believe I never realized it till just now despite the same 3 first letters.)

So the likliest scenario that I see is that some Klingon planets will break away and perhaps join the Federation individually, just as some former Warsaw pact members are now in Nato. You might even get some "erosion" at the core, but I doubt that the empire proper would ever join or merge with the Federation absent some common and ongoing threat that would force a generations-long cooperation between them.

[neozeks]

T'Girl wrote:

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Given the strength and (presumed) size of the Klingon Empire, would it really be the Empire joining the Federation? Or would you see instead more of a merging of the two into a whole? Why would the Empire with hundreds of star systems become a member of the Federation council where they are on equal footing with species/races than have only a single planet?

Well, most of those star systems are probably conquered worlds. If the Federation was ever to let them in, the Klingons would have to relinquish all those worlds and then it would be just Qo'noS and the Klingon-populated colonies joining the Federation.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Unless by that time, the 'conquered' systems have evolved their own forms of government and no longer consider themselves conquered.

[T'Girl]

E-DUB wrote:

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The Klingons, when Trek was started, were supposed to represent the Commies, the Reds, you know, the "evil empire".

I always saw them as more the Mongol Horde. Started small, just kept growing and spreading, until they came up against the Europeans (the Federation) and they couldn't expand that way, so they continued to conqueror in other directions.

neozeks wrote:

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Well, most of those star systems are probably conquered worlds.

While they never came right out and said it, I would agree.

If the Federation was ever to let them in, the Klingons would have to relinquish all those worlds

It would depend on how badly the Federation needed to incorporate with the Empire. If it's the Empire that needed the Federation, then the conquests get released. If the Federation were the one needing the Empire, then the Klingons keep the conquests, and represents them on the Council.

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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^ Unless by that time, the 'conquered' systems have evolved their own forms of government and no longer consider themselves conquered.

Or if the conquests were far enough in the past, the conquered worlds might self-identify as being Klingons themselves, maybe second or third class citizens, but still Klingons.

The English invaded and conquered the Welch, now they're both "The UK."

[R. Star]

This is even assuming the Federation exists in the 26th century. A lot can happen in 200 years and it's frankly arrogant to assume that a given power will still be dominant for that entire time span.

[MacLeod]

FYI: That would be Welsh.