The invasion of the Netherlands and neighbouring countries was a completely different situation.
No, it isn't.
When the question of resettling the colonists in the border areas arose it was because of a treaty and not because the Cardassians were invading. This treaty was the result of long negotiations and to negotiate a peace treaty is never easy. I'm not saying that this was a great result and as a settler I would have been far from overjoyed but I would understand and accept it.
After the treaty the Cardassians had the legal right to these colonies.
They did not have the legal right to arm their Cardassian colonists and help them invade and murder Federation ones. That's an invasion, and the Federation settlers went to defend themselves.
Secondly, as I said the Federation offered them help. This wouldn't be like a single person or family moving to a different place (although according to my personal experience that isn't so bad either - it depends where you're going to) but the entire settlement would go to a different place. If the settlers were clever about it, they could stay close to their friends and families when they got to the new place.
The Federation didn't offer them help, the Federation told them to pack up and leave, or else they'd pack them up and move them for them. In most cases, this probably happened - I highly doubt every captain given similar orders to Picard, and the counter Cardassian Gul like Madred hacked out an agreement with the settlers, they were simply moved. The precedent of that agreement though, may have allowed similar things elsewhere.
Most of the Federation settlers remaining though, had no such problems. They were living, and remained living, what even according to the Cardassian and Federation treaty was their property. The only thing about it, was that no military ships and installations of Federatoin and Cardassian origin could remain. "Demilitarized Zone", remember?
They did not bother anyone, they weren't even armed. Then the Cardassians went to arm their citizens and told them to go attack and kill Federation settlements.
In short, it was nothing less than the Cardassians saying: "Treaty? To hell with the treaty. This territory, including the entire demilitarized zone is going to be ours anyway. And where going to have our settlers do the fighting for us. This way we nicely circumvent that annoying treaty and Starfleet."
What did the Federation do initially? Nothing, they let the Cardassians happily perform their plans for annexing the Demilitarized Zone.
Then the Federation settlers decided to rightly defend themselves.
And what did the Federation do? They went to fight the people just defending themselves, in essence helping the Cardassians conquer Federation territory.
And what did the Federation settlers fighting back, the Macquis, do for years? They only attack Cardassians, leaving Federation and Stafleet ships who are essentially helping the Cardassians out killing Federation citizens and evicting them from their rightful homes - alone, to the point of allowing themselves to be captured if they couldn't escape.
That's a level of restrained, and being good and nice about it, that I wouldn't have. I would have been destroying Starfleet ships a whole lot sooner.
^No, I don't support terrorists. They crossed a line in "For the Uniform" when they attacked the Defiant and Malinche.
And when they even *suggested* using biogenic weapons against
Cardassia itself. I know that was only a ruse, but come on.
In general, I view the Maquis as terrorist pricks who were, even not intentionally, trying to start a war between the Federation and Cardassia. "But we don't want to abandon our homes"? Bullshit! They knew full well what they were getting into. They *knew* they would be living in Cardassian territory. It was their fucking IDEA in the first place! Don't like that? Shut the fuck up and MOVE!
Most of them, were NOT living in Cardassian territory, they were living in the Demilitarized Zone. Which does not Cardassian territory make. And it has nothing to do with liking or not liking to live in Cardassian territory (which they weren't in the first place), they didn't like to be attacked and killed by Cardassians and went to defend themselves.
There is a near-infinite amount of living space in the Federation. There is absolutely no justification for turning into a terrorist just to defend a home that can be easily and immediately replaced.
First, hey weren't terrorists.
And second, I suppose when I come to your home and tell you it's time to leave, because I want it, you'll go move to another place where there's more place, right? I remember that, tell me, what's your address, because I wouldn't mind a free house.
If, for example, my city government took my home (via eminent domain) for whatever reason, would I turn into Osama bin Laden just to defend it? Shit no. I would take the government's offer of compensation - which they are legally bound to provide me; they have to BUY my home from me and, AFAIK, help me relocate - and MOVE. Same story here.
No, it's not the same story. You have the right to challenge the decision in court, and you can a very generous offer. Not such event occurred with the Macquis. Cardassians armed with weapons came to attack and kill them, and they went to defend themselves. THAT is what happened.
And I definitely don't buy into that asshole Eddington's Jean Valjean complex. "No one leaves the Federation"? Look, Mikey, if that shit pile you're spewing got any bigger, you could *fertilize* the Federation. Not only do planets leave the Fed, sometimes they aren't even allowed in to begin with! The Federation isn't even in the same league as the Borg. Comparing the two is an insult to every UFP citizen who died at their hands (or, worse, was assimilated).
Nope, nobody's ever left the Federation before the Maquis.
And to compare the Maquis to the Rebel Alliance in SW is equally insulting. That isn't seriously suggesting that the Federation is on the same level as the Galactic Empire, is it?
Nope, the Rebel Alliance is worse. They were rebelling against their rightful government and attacking it. The Maquis only defended themselves from unprovoked attacks and never attacked Starfleet until they had no other choice left.
How would any of you feel if your government told you that your town now belonged to Al Qaida and you could either GTFO or let them murder you?
That's not even close to what happened here.
It wasn't a case of the Federation just giving the colonists to Cardassia without asking. Not only were the colonists fully aware of the situation,
IT WAS THEIR IDEA IN THE FIRST PLACE to do it.
No, it wasn't.
Of course, it wasn't their idea to have a peace treaty between the UFP and Cardassia (which is what started this whole thing to begin with).
Nope, it didn't. Cardassians attacking the Federation settlers DESPITE a peace treaty is what started the whole thing.
But any peace treaty is preferable to open warfare. Without the treaty, there'd be war. The Maquis didn't want that...
Wrong. Some people only understand killing, conquering and war. They do not react to peace treaties as if it is a settling of things. They consider the peace treaty a way to rebuild and start the war again - and even use the treaty to slip past defensive arm of their opponents. The Cardassians were such people. They only thing they understand is conquest. So you conquer them, it's that simple.
The colonists KNEW there was a UFP/Cardassia war.
Nope, when they settled there, there was no UFP/Cardassian war. Hell, they didn't even know there was such a thing as Cardassians.
They KNEW that a treaty ended that war. They KNEW that the terms of that treaty involved, among other things, the colonists either moving out or agreeing to live under Cardassian jurisdiction.
Nope, that's just one colony we saw in TNG filled with native Americans. The rest of the settlers in the DMZ had no such things going on.
They SHOULD have known what living under Cardassian rule would entail. To use the current geopolitical situation as an example: If you agreed to live in, say, Iran, knowing full well what that would be like, what right would you possibly have to complain later?
This didn't happen, but let me get this straight. They should have said, "Hey! We knew Iran was going to kill us (which they didn't, but...), so instead of defending ourselves from attack and murder, we should go meet them, kneel down, and go, 'Oh, great Iranians, go ahead and chop off our heads.'"
That is the single most ridiculous bullshit that I've ever heard.
No I don't think that "any peace treaty is preferable to open warfare". Sometimes peace treaties which have been made over the heads of people have lead to an even worse situation.
Don't you get it? NO treaty was made "over the heads" of ANYONE in this case. Everyone knew exactly what the treaty was, who signed it, and what the consequences were.
Fine. You don't believe me? Just watch TNG's "Journey's End".
Yeah, go watch it. You'll find that the settlers knew nothing about what this treaty entailed until the Enterprise showed up and told them to pack up and leave.
They refused.
However, that's just one colony, which has nothing to do with the other settlers in the DMZ.
