Why didn't the Federation liberate Bajor when it was at war with Cardassia? It seems to me that the Border Wars were localised, and at that time the Romulans were hidden/in isolation, and the Klingons were not allies, but at least not enemies as in Kirk's day. There was of course no Borg and no Dominion, so Starfleet couldn't have been spread thin.
Should the Federation have freed Bajor during the Border Wars?
- Thread starter indolover
- Start date
The Federation was probably more concerned with protecting its own terrority and not with terrority they viewed as "rightfully" Cardassian.
Even though it was a relatively peaceful time (no Romulans, no Klingon threat, no Borg, no Dominion - but they did still fight wars with the Cardassians and the Tzenkethi), the Prime Directive would probably have prevented the liberation of Bajor.
Even though it was a relatively peaceful time (no Romulans, no Klingon threat, no Borg, no Dominion - but they did still fight wars with the Cardassians and the Tzenkethi), the Prime Directive would probably have prevented the liberation of Bajor.
I also think it was a matter of the PD. Cardassians took Bajor, so it was their internal matter. I'm sure Bajorans weren't the first ones for Cardassians, and that Cardassians were not the only power with aggressive politic toward others. Klingons, Romulans - they probably had subjugated some worlds too. The Federation couldn't go from one system to another to liberate everyone.
If they had, Ensign Ro would never have been made and we'd never have heard of the Bajorans!
ProtoAvatar
Fleet Captain
That would be a truly draconian - and unjustified - application of the prime directive:
The bajorans were an interstellar species, so relations with them were permitted as per the prime directive;
The bajorans (whatever passed for a bajoran government) asked - or would have asked - help from the federation.
Not liberationg Bajor because it's 'an internal' cardassian matter is akin to recognising that Cardassia's conquest and occupation of Bajor is legitimate:
That the cardassians had the right to conquer Bajor and have the right to keep it occupied by violence - which contradicts basic federation values such as liberty.
Last edited:
This. Imagine if they started liberating the worlds conquered by their allies Klingons... Hm...
I imagine that the citizens of the Federation weren't taken with the idea of going to war in the first place - I can't imagine that they'd love the idea of prolonging and provoking wars in order to liberate planets all over the system.
They were at war. Any territory therefore was free to be attacked.
In the pre-TNG 24th century, the Romulans were in isolation and the Klingons were new allies. so there was no real pretext to liberate worlds.
We don't know much about this war. It was long. There were many minor skirmishes. Maybe the Federation had to take care of their own colonies (some of which they gave to Cardies after the war), instead of worrying about someone else's problems. The Fed-Cardassian war is called Border Wars, and it didn't necessarily mean that "border" was anywhere close to Bajor. Bajor was still Cardassian internal matter, regardless of the Border Wars. They had their own people to worry about.
In Trek lit the Feds refused to help the Bajorans, in spite of the fact that the Bajorans asked for help. They didn't want to help.
In Trek lit the Feds refused to help the Bajorans, in spite of the fact that the Bajorans asked for help. They didn't want to help.
Perhaps the Federation didn't have the manpower to do so. Wresting a planet from the control of an empire that has occupied it for years is a difficult thing, and it seems as though the Federation just barely won the war on their own terms. The resulting peace treaty wasn't overwhelmingly friendly toward the Federation victors, after all.
Exactly...it would be like going to war against the Nazis and then allowing them to have a treaty with them still in control of Poland. It would be like saying they were entitled to it.
Personally, I think that it means one of two things: the Federation lacked either the power or the will to take the war to its true conclusion. I suspect it was a matter of will, personally--they seem to have very little in the way of a stomach, until someone actually hits Earth or the core worlds and then they give a damn. Maybe the Cardassians should've raided Earth--THEN the Federation would've actually gone all-out.
I think they should have forbade further Klingon conquests as well. That they ally with the Klingons with the atrocities that they continue to commit on other worlds is another example of Federation hypocrisy. They talk a big talk about "values" but they use the Prime Directive to hide behind, so as not to actually have to get involved and DO anything.
Now, IF the Cardassians had militarily overwhelmed the Federation, I might understand why they were unable to press the matter. But I strongly doubt that was the problem.
We don't have any real reason to think that the Klingons do commit atrocities on worlds, we hear about some rebellions but that can happen even when there aren't any atrocities involved.
It's not really hypocritical, it's pragmatic. They can either ally with the Klingons and not do anything to pressure them into basically giving up their Empire, or they can throw out the treaty and risk a massive war that would kill billions on both sides.
It's not really hypocritical, it's pragmatic. They can either ally with the Klingons and not do anything to pressure them into basically giving up their Empire, or they can throw out the treaty and risk a massive war that would kill billions on both sides.
Bajor was very close to Cardassia. And I got the impression that, had they really wanted to, Starfleet could have turned it into an all-out war and easily defeated the Cardassians. Instead, they kept it to a simmering border-level war of skirmishes. Invading Bajor — a system entrenched with Cardassians and close to Cardassia — would've turned it into a full fledged war.
For some reason, the UFP didn't want that. Maybe it was unpopular politically.
For some reason, the UFP didn't want that. Maybe it was unpopular politically.
I always figured the Cardassians won the war. You don't hand over colonies to a loser.
I also figure that this broke the Cardassian economy's back, and that the Feds didn't care enough to really prosecute the war to its foregone conclusion if they dedicated all their resources to it, but still that the Cards won in the short-term.
Then their whole empire fell apart because of the economic contractions and they had to give up Bajor, etc. One also wonders if the war with the Federation didn't provide something of a jumpstart to the Bajoran resistance. There might even have been active assistance--it would certainly go far to explain how a conquered planet was capable of fighting space aliens.
I also figure that this broke the Cardassian economy's back, and that the Feds didn't care enough to really prosecute the war to its foregone conclusion if they dedicated all their resources to it, but still that the Cards won in the short-term.
Then their whole empire fell apart because of the economic contractions and they had to give up Bajor, etc. One also wonders if the war with the Federation didn't provide something of a jumpstart to the Bajoran resistance. There might even have been active assistance--it would certainly go far to explain how a conquered planet was capable of fighting space aliens.
If you think appeasement buys peace, then you might hand over colonies regardless of whether you won or lost. And that is what I believe the Federation did...they naively believed they could buy the Cardassians' eternal gratitude and quietness. Riiiiiiiiiight.
Were the Federation helping in the background with weapons and other supplies?
Does anyone consider that it might be really, really difficult to take over a whole planet? I mean, conquering a country is hard enough, but a planet? Oh boy! Not something you do unless you really have to.
Anyway, it would be so out of character for the Federation and so un-Star Trekky that it really doesn't bear thinking about.
Anyway, it would be so out of character for the Federation and so un-Star Trekky that it really doesn't bear thinking about.
I think that the Cardassians annexed Bajor prior to the Border Wars and that the Federation rose a big stink about it--to which, the Cardassians told the Federation to "mind your effing business" as it transpired within what was now Cardassian territory. Respecting the sovereingty of another nation is a double-edged sword, IMO, and is one of the drawbacks of the Federation's ideals at times...
ProtoAvatar
Fleet Captain
The term is 'liberating', NOT conquering.
And in this case, 'liberating' would have actually applied.
The Federation is under NO obligation whatsoever to recognise Bajor as being legitimate cardassian territory just because the cardassians said "mind your effing business".
We don't know when first contact with the Cardassians happened, it's possible it may have been after they conquered Bajor officially. By the time first encounter happened Bajor would've been no different a situation than any of the worlds conquered by the Klingons or Romulans before either made contact with the Feds.
I would say that, at the very least, the UFP should have engaged in a sort of "Reagan Doctrine" with Bajor, during the Wars.
That is...supply arms, provsions, and advisiors to the Bajoran Resistance. That sort of thing.
That is...supply arms, provsions, and advisiors to the Bajoran Resistance. That sort of thing.
Similar threads
