Cardassia's Final Fate

[The Overlord]

In the final episode, Garak said Cardassia deserved its fate in the aftermath in the Dominion War. Do you think that is a fair assessment, did Cardassia deserve its fate? Also what do you think happened to Cardassia after the war?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Probably a slow rebuilding process where the politicians pandered to the Federation because they're the only powerful political body in the universe who wouldn't destroy them.

Did they deserve their fate? There were billions of civilians on Cardassia who had nothing to do with military decisions, they certainly didn't. You could say the leaders of Cardassia definitely deserved their fate.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

You could say the leaders of Cardassia definitely deserved their fate.

Dukat...maybe, but Damar did not. In fact I'd say Damar redeemed himself as much as possible.

 

[The Overlord]

Probably a slow rebuilding process where the politicians pandered to the Federation because they're the only powerful political body in the universe who wouldn't destroy them.

Did they deserve their fate? There were billions of civilians on Cardassia who had nothing to do with military decisions, they certainly didn't. You could say the leaders of Cardassia definitely deserved their fate.

Good estimation, but do you think groups like the "True Way" returned to cause trouble in the post Dominion Cardassia, like they did in Star Trek Online?

Edit: Also do we know whether the military leadership were among the dead when the Jem'Hadar started slaughtering the Cardassian population? For all we know people like Gul Madred could survived the Dominion war.

 

[T'Girl]

Also what do you think happened to Cardassia after the war?

Cardassia would be stripped of any worlds obtained through military or political conquest over the course of Cardassian history. All the former contested worlds handed to the Cardassians in Journey's End would be return to their former occupants (any left alive).

Other contested (or former contested) territories with neighbors other than the Federation would also be turned over.

The Cardassian people might retain only their home star system.

I could see the Cardassians losing the majority of their armed starships, military or otherwise, certainly all the medium and large ones.

 

[Johnny]

Also what do you think happened to Cardassia after the war?

Cardassia would be stripped of any worlds obtained through military or political conquest over the course of Cardassian history. All the former contested worlds handed to the Cardassians in Journey's End would be return to their former occupants (any left alive).

Other contested (or former contested) territories with neighbors other than the Federation would also be turned over.

The Cardassian people might retain only their home star system.

I could see the Cardassians losing the majority of their armed starships, military or otherwise, certainly all the medium and large ones.

I like your thoughts on it. I've always wondered about this. There's a tonne of story available to expand the Star Trek universe in to by the sound of it.
Though, I'd be tempted to let the Bajorans govern them.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

You could say the leaders of Cardassia definitely deserved their fate.

Dukat...maybe, but Damar did not. In fact I'd say Damar redeemed himself as much as possible.

That depends on your views about whether a last minute change of heart negates a career of despotism. We don't know a lot about Damar's life prior to his appearance in the show, but if he was in the military he was a participant in the enslavement of Bajor.

I suppose you could say in his case he was just following orders then made the best of a horrible situation.

Ironically, the Bajorans probably ended up being the Cardassians' saving grace. A non-aggressive, charitable race right next to them that the Federation would never let any aggressive force make camp anywhere near.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Everyone deserves a chance at redemption. A last minute change of heart is still a change. Damar sure seemed sincere to me, in the end.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

^ Everyone deserves a chance at redemption. A last minute change of heart is still a change. Damar sure seemed sincere to me, in the end.

He was definitely sincere at the end. But what if it was a person who personally ordered the death of millions? Or, was directly and intentionally the cause of the death of somebody you loved?

On The Sopranos, when Carmela visited a psychiatrist he said that maybe if he ruminates on his crimes for years, in his cell, he can be redeemed. I kind of agree with that. Damar had a change of heart but he never served any time for his previous crimes. He never personally accepted the consequences for participating in slavery and genocide, and selling out the galaxy for his own planet's dominance.

 

[Timo]

Stripping Cardassia of ill-gained colonial possessions sounds fine and well, until one thinks what it actually means. Millions of innocents are going to be deported, their colonial lives replaced by ones of misery on some concentration camp or another until enough have died so that they can be resettled on the former homeworld in those horrid pre-conquest conditions. Or then all-new worlds are going to be allocated for the innocents, meaning Cardassia just swaps conquests.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[MacLeod]

The Romulans and perhaps even Klingons might not be willing to give up any Cardassian territory they are in control off. As for the Federation I would suspect any conquered worlds they were in control off, they would allow the populance to determine if they wanted to be free from Cardassian control or remain part f the Cardassian Union.

But like following many wars there would be a period of rebuilding, it is possible that just like following WWII, there would be trials set up (as indictaed in WYLB) to prosectute those who required prosecuting. And for a period perhaps the Federation Alliance would be in charge of the former Cardassian Union until such time as a more democratic government was in a position to run Cardassia.

But I suspect that Cardassia would become a minor power, and who knows perhaps at some point seek Federation membership.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Damar had a change of heart but he never served any time for his previous crimes. He never personally accepted the consequences for participating in slavery and genocide, and selling out the galaxy for his own planet's dominance.

Having to endure Cardassia being trampled underfoot by the Dominion is, in some way, 'serving time' for his crimes. And Damar did make up for "selling out the galaxy" since he organized and led the resistance against the very same Dominion he at first supported.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Did Cardassia deserve what it got? I'm somewhat indifferent. Over 800 million dead, many non-combatants, but looking at the society and structure of the Cardassians it doesn't feel right to call them 'innocents'. They have brought war at least twice to the Alpha Quadrant (against the Federation and the Klingons at separate times) before allying with the Dominion, plus what they did to Bajor (and who knows how many other worlds). The militaristic civilisation, posturing and overzealous ambition were all unsustainable and would've lead to a long and lingering demise.

As for what happened to them, I think that the Cardassian Union was divided up into four separate regions, each one under the control of the: Federation, Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians. The first three would all have larger sections of the Union, whilst the Cardassian controlled area (which would be heavily patrolled and monitored) would give them the means to feed and help with rebuilding their damaged homeworld. Some would comply but there would be elements that were still loyal to their old ways and seek to rid their territory of the intruders, which would lead to insurgents and guerrilla warfare. The Federation would be doing all the could to stabilise the region, though I don't see the Klingons or Romulans being just that helpful or understanding.

 

[UssGlenn]

You could say the leaders of Cardassia definitely deserved their fate.

Dukat...maybe, but Damar did not. In fact I'd say Damar redeemed himself as much as possible.

That depends on your views about whether a last minute change of heart negates a career of despotism. We don't know a lot about Damar's life prior to his appearance in the show, but if he was in the military he was a participant in the enslavement of Bajor.

I suppose you could say in his case he was just following orders then made the best of a horrible situation.

Do we know he was even ever assigned a post on Bajor? If not how could we say he was a participant in the enslavement of Bajor?

 

[vulcan redshirt]

Andrew Robinson's novel A Stitch in Time indicates a period of rebuilding under a civilian government with substantial federation assistance

 

[MacLeod]

^Also a decent read.

 

[Dukhat]

^Also a decent read.

That's an understatement. It's one of the best Trek novels I've ever read, almost at the same level of greatness as The Final Reflection.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I don't see it as a question of whether Cardassia as a whole deserved its fate. Obviously the Cardassian civilians didn't deserve to have their cities blown up just as they didn't deserve to be persecuted for centuries by the Cardassian military and streamrolled in fake trials.

But many of those in the military were war criminals long before they joined the Dominion. And I somehow doubt Damar would have had his change of heart if the Prophets did not interfere with the invasion of the AQ.

The judge who prosecuted O'Brien willfully participated in a television show designed to instill absolute fear and compliance in the population and sent hundreds of innocent people to death sentences and lifetimes of hard labor in the process. Would she be forgiven if she said "You know, maybe we should have held real trials" five seconds before her city got vaporized?

 

[Jono]

Dukat...maybe, but Damar did not. In fact I'd say Damar redeemed himself as much as possible.

That depends on your views about whether a last minute change of heart negates a career of despotism. We don't know a lot about Damar's life prior to his appearance in the show, but if he was in the military he was a participant in the enslavement of Bajor.

I suppose you could say in his case he was just following orders then made the best of a horrible situation.

Do we know he was even ever assigned a post on Bajor? If not how could we say he was a participant in the enslavement of Bajor?

I'm guessing he's basing that on the Terok Nor novels that placed Damar on Bajor during Dukat's prefecture.

 

[Timo]

But many of those in the military were war criminals long before they joined the Dominion.

By whose standards, though?

Cardassia was defeated by Klingons and Romulans in addition to the cultures behind the UFP Starfleet. What percentage of the victors would see anything "wrong" about what the Cardassians did before the war? What percentage would be interested in the concept of war crimes to begin with? I'd think more people on the winning side (regardless of whether we count just heads of state, generals, judges, soldiers, or concerned citizens) would feel that Cardassians have to be punished because they were weak enough to lose the war than that Cardassians have to be punished for something they did or failed to do before or during the war.

As for the Feds, they don't seem to agree on too many things between themselves. Their own laws, at least in the TOS era, are vague enough to allow for homicide and slavery even when general sentiment denounces the practices. The UFP as a whole is extremely timid about forcing outsiders to live the way they themselves do, even when several individual UFP member cultures whip their own citizens to submission over lifestyle issues. Accusing a foreign culture of "war crimes" would appear the peak of hypocrisy, yet choosing to declare war a crime in itself isn't any more fruitful an approach, as the UFP formally started this one...

I could well see the UFP pursuing justice to be served. I can't easily see them ranting about war crimes.

Timo Saloniemi