The Klingons and Starfleet

[Airmandan]

I wonder how things would have gone if they show up at the great hall, Klanng demands honor and either commits ritualistic suicide or is killed, then the council still gets the info from his blood. That would have emphasized the vast social differences between the two cultures

 

[Oddish]

In "First Contact" (the TNG episode), Picard says that "disastrous" contact with the Klingons led to decades of war. It was bad enough that the Federation enacted a policy of surface reconnaissance of civilizations that were getting close to developing warp speed technology.

Not sure if Klang was a retcon of his words, or if the Klingons considered the Federation's saving him to be weak or dishonorable. Maybe it was later incidents, like when Archer escaped from prison or Duras got blown up.

 

[cooleddie74]

Klaang crash landing on Earth and getting shot by a human corn farmer with a plasma rifle seems like a pretty disastrous first contact.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Klaang crash landing on Earth and getting shot by a human corn farmer with a plasma rifle seems like a pretty disastrous first contact.

And everything that followed sure didn't help.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

Oh how I miss John's frequent essay questions for us. And yet they live on, well beyond the lifespan of his account.

Although the TOS Romulans were meant to evoke Roman-ness, the Klingons kinda took that mantle as Trek developed them further in at least 1 key way: Roman proconsuls/emperors were more-or-less defined by whether they expanded the borders of the Republic/Empire, and whether they gave Rome's enemies a beating. (Modern historians often cite this as the reason that Cicero couldn't stop talking about his oratory "victories" over Cataline, since Cicero was no general.)

Becoming buddies-as-equals wasn't an option for Rome (although they employed the "client" status often when talking friendship), and this was the depiction of the Klingons for much of Trek. So even though we can agree with Sisko's dad when he ponders the need for war when space is so vast for all, to some degree it does come down to some of those values which guide a society.

"Glory" isn't a word that gets brought up much these days, but when it is a driving force - for personal glory and the glory of one's empire - it basically requires action of some sort, and that may or may not be good news to their neighbors, whether that's the Federation, Carthage, or whomever.

 

[Jedi Marso]

The answers you seek are contained in the immortal novel, The Final Reflection, by John M. Ford. Mr. Ford wrote the definitive version of the Klingon Empire, species, and culture, and all other interpretations pale by comparison.

I have spoken.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Report and move on, dear sir.

Personally, I think it’s not a good look if one has been a forum member for about a week and has managed to accrue one follower… and it’s T’Bonz.

What about 20 years and only have like 5?

I have no friends.

Then again, I'm a Trek fan. Who needs friends?

 

[valkyrie013]

Sorry to dredge up an "older" thread. but does match for what I have to post.

Watched ST 6 the other day, in it Spock said that they had 70 years of hostility between the Federation and Starfleet. which puts it around 2220s or so when it started.
However, Discovery kinda bashes that abit with the klingons going in to "Isolation" like the romulans for 90 years or so.
So by that timing. After the Earth / Romulan war the klingons also left the newly founded Federation alone. ( Ah.. 90 years of peace and expansion) and not until 2255 with the Klingon war do they come out of isolation.

just a thought. Did some "rogue" klingons, like ones like Kruge just harass or poke the federation ocasionally from 2220 to 2255? Not a full mobilization.

 

[Oddish]

just a thought. Did some "rogue" klingons, like ones like Kruge just harass or poke the federation ocasionally from 2220 to 2255? Not a full mobilization.

Kruge believed that the Genesis device was a planet killer. I get the sense that his actions were sanctioned by the Empire.

 

[FederationHistorian]

just a thought. Did some "rogue" klingons, like ones like Kruge just harass or poke the federation ocasionally from 2220 to 2255? Not a full mobilization.

Canonically, issues between the Federation and Klingon Empire began in the year 2223.

The same source that introduces the Second Eugenics Wars occurring between 2026 and 2053 that’s references in the first season of SNW is the same source for the deterioration of relations between the Federation and the Klingons: the historical database on the USS Defiant.

While we can of course be critical of how it is written, since no one should know it would last 70 precisely in 2268 – though I suppose its possible for academics in universe to project that hostilities between the two powers will last that long – its canon.

Of course, beta canon suggests issues between the two powers began as early as 2218 with a couple of Federation ships disappearing in or near Klingon space. And the Klingons temporarily hijacking a maximum-security transport that they later destroyed in a major battle with the Federation circa 2227.

With the Klingons raiding Doctori Alpha in 2236 and killing Burnham’s dad, its safe to acknowledge that the early years were defined by Klingon raids and the occasional major space battle.