The Dominion War without the Romulans... guaranteed loss?
- Thread starter Praetor
- Start date
If we had the Federation essentially nuking the Dominion out of the conflict, DS9 would indeed be considered a much darker show and the moral decision of 'In The Pale Moonlight' would well... pale in comparison.
And of course there would be even more outrage from the traditional trekkies in how can the Federation commit such a barbaric act. Can't really claim to be heroic characters after using a doomsday weapon. It's not really shades of grey then, but more shades of black.
I can't really see any Trek doing an act without the trekkies going ape and writing off the entire series.
And of course there would be even more outrage from the traditional trekkies in how can the Federation commit such a barbaric act. Can't really claim to be heroic characters after using a doomsday weapon. It's not really shades of grey then, but more shades of black.
I can't really see any Trek doing an act without the trekkies going ape and writing off the entire series.
Set it on "racist Solid" for added effect.Genesis Device the bastards from orbit.
happydave said:
I'd have to figure the Feds probably have at least a stated policy of responding in kind to orbital bombardments, thalaron irradiation, and similar practices. To outrightly declare, or even to imply by omission, that no countervalue retaliation would ever be undertaken would be to invite just those sort of attacks. Then again, looking at the number of times Earth was threatened, maybe they did.
At any rate, the Admiralty certainly wasn't afraid of committing genocide against the Borg, and it's an open question how much Starfleet condoned the biological warfare that was undertaken in DS9 against the Founders.
It is not unreasonable to speculate that most of the interstellar wars in the Star Trek universe are less than total conflicts.
Certainly the Cardassian border wars of 2350s were not all-out drag-out fights, but rather the Federation playing local defense for a hand full of systems such as Setlik III.
The Klingon empire was more or less gutted by the destruction of Praxis(a single planetoid). Similar carnage was well with in the reach of the Federation in the 2260s a time of outright open conflict between the two powers perhaps only regulated by the awesome power of the Organians.
Before Enterprise enhanced the Romulan's backstory it was a reasonable assumption that Earth had won a decisive victory in the Earth-Romulan war, perhaps even to the doorstep of the Romulus itself. Federation mercy is the only explanation for the existence of the Neutral Zone.
You can still have satisying RD Moorish bloodletting with real world historical parallels. Neither the Germans or British used chemical weapons in their WWII bombing campaigns. Vietnam never went nuclear. These are both very real and bloody conflicts that no one would dispute.
The Dominion was less than dedicated to victory as well, signing treaties with Bajor, a less than total domination of Betazed. Theirs was an empire dedicated to ego, to "Dominion". By not respecting the enlightenment of humanity they quite nearly met genocide from the dormant and savage heart of man.
Certainly the Cardassian border wars of 2350s were not all-out drag-out fights, but rather the Federation playing local defense for a hand full of systems such as Setlik III.
The Klingon empire was more or less gutted by the destruction of Praxis(a single planetoid). Similar carnage was well with in the reach of the Federation in the 2260s a time of outright open conflict between the two powers perhaps only regulated by the awesome power of the Organians.
Before Enterprise enhanced the Romulan's backstory it was a reasonable assumption that Earth had won a decisive victory in the Earth-Romulan war, perhaps even to the doorstep of the Romulus itself. Federation mercy is the only explanation for the existence of the Neutral Zone.
You can still have satisying RD Moorish bloodletting with real world historical parallels. Neither the Germans or British used chemical weapons in their WWII bombing campaigns. Vietnam never went nuclear. These are both very real and bloody conflicts that no one would dispute.
The Dominion was less than dedicated to victory as well, signing treaties with Bajor, a less than total domination of Betazed. Theirs was an empire dedicated to ego, to "Dominion". By not respecting the enlightenment of humanity they quite nearly met genocide from the dormant and savage heart of man.
Very eloquently put.
On a side note, World War II was not entirely free of chemical or biological weapons, at least in China. Of course, the Japanese never dared use them against America, for the same reason Germany didn't use them--the fear of deterrence. Vast stockpiles of chemical weapons did exist for this purpose (iirc, a ship containing such chemical weapons blew up in an Italian port in 43 or 44 and poisoned many).
And it's because of deterrence that Vietnam didn't go nuclear--and Korea for that matter, despite serious contemplation of the option and significant infighting over the matter at the highest levels of command. If not for the fear of retaliation, governments tend to use whatever means seem relevant to the goal they've set out to achieve. In World War II's case, the Casablanca conference settled this as the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers--tall order.
And Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, most definitely would have involved the major use of chemical weapons. We didn't want another Iwo Jima. (Then again, what's the difference, we'd already killed and "dehoused" millions with conventional bombing anyway.)
Of course, the greatest examples are the nuclear bombings. In the only major war a nuclear power has ever fought against a nation without nuclear weapons of its own or allies possessed of such weapons, the nuclear power used its nuclear weapons with little hesitation. Food for thought.
The inference seems to be that the fear of retaliation keeps the Romulans from imploding Vulcan. In the prime universe, anyway.
And it's because of deterrence that Vietnam didn't go nuclear--and Korea for that matter, despite serious contemplation of the option and significant infighting over the matter at the highest levels of command. If not for the fear of retaliation, governments tend to use whatever means seem relevant to the goal they've set out to achieve. In World War II's case, the Casablanca conference settled this as the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers--tall order.
And Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, most definitely would have involved the major use of chemical weapons. We didn't want another Iwo Jima. (Then again, what's the difference, we'd already killed and "dehoused" millions with conventional bombing anyway.)
Of course, the greatest examples are the nuclear bombings. In the only major war a nuclear power has ever fought against a nation without nuclear weapons of its own or allies possessed of such weapons, the nuclear power used its nuclear weapons with little hesitation. Food for thought.
The inference seems to be that the fear of retaliation keeps the Romulans from imploding Vulcan. In the prime universe, anyway.
