Was the Cardassian peace treaty a mistake?

[DonIago]

The treaty gave peace a chance, and without it, it seems entirely likely more people would have died. From that viewpoint, it wasn't a mistake, though I don't think anyone could have anticipated where it would lead (in part because the wormhole hadn't been discovered yet).

The Maquis were a thorn in the Cardassians' side and did destabilize them, but it was the Klingon invasion that was the real issue, and it seems likely that that would have occurred whether or not the peace treaty had happened.

One element that I feel the franchise neglected and that maybe needed to be shown more explicitly was what happened with the Cardassian planets that found themselves handed over to the Federation. I think there's a tendency to focus on "The Feds sold out their colonies!" without regard for the worlds the Federation gained in the process.

Also, while it's easy to say "Cardassia joined the Dominion", I don't think it's clear how much of the Cardassian people really supported that alliance and/or understood the implications. Given how things turned out, I'm sure many of the (surviving) Cardassians regret that it happened and possibly consider Dukat the worst thing that ever happened to them.

 

[Legate Duhmar]

If the Federation were really nothing but nice, no matter what, what are their ships doing with all those phasers and quantum torpedoes?

To quote Teddy Roosevelt, "speak softly and carry a big stick".

 

[Ragitsu]

If the Federation were really nothing but nice, no matter what, what are their ships doing with all those phasers and quantum torpedoes?

There are threats which are either unintelligent or of low intelligence.

 

[kkt]

To quote Teddy Roosevelt, "speak softly and carry a big stick".

I don't think Teddy was always nice...

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Creating a treaty with Cardassia wasn't a mistake. It wasn't the treaty that laid the groundwork for them joining the Dominion, it was the Klingons invading them and the Federation not being able to do much to prevent it. And the Klingons invaded them because of the Dominion.

Creating the treaty wasn't the problem, but the naive way they managed it was badly miscalculated. Thinking the Cardassians would follow the rules vis a vis the Federation colonies.

Without the Klingons backing them into a desperate corner, aside from the Maquis problems Cardassia was starting to head in the right direction. The treaty with Bajor, engagement with other cultures. But without the treaty, the Klingons would have still attacked them only without Sisko having the opportunity to warn them, and they would have fallen in with the Dominion even faster.

 

[at Quark's]

If the Federation were really nothing but nice, no matter what, what are their ships doing with all those phasers and quantum torpedoes?

Simple, if they didn't, they wouldn't have been around anymore but have been conquered long ago. There are species that will exploit and attack if they perceive you to be weak. The Federation may be naïve, but not so naïve they don't know that. The hope probably is they don't actually have to use those weapons too many times. (And yet, we see them used strangely often).

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Simple, if they didn't, they wouldn't have been around anymore but have been conquered long ago. There are species that will exploit and attack if they perceive you to be weak. The Federation may be naïve, but not so naïve they don't know that. The hope probably is they don't actually have to use those weapons too many times. (And yet, we see them used strangely often).

Rarely without first being threatened with deadly force.

 

[at Quark's]

Which still would mean they would have to get their weapons out and install them on their ships to defend themselves. Might as well do it without waiting for that to happen, preventing a few deaths, and perhaps even provoking less of said aggression in the first place if those aggressive races see you're well armed.

And some races might not even make such a threat but just attack immediately, depending on their ideology and circumstances (for example the Vidiians wouldn't bother with threats, they simply need organs. Though of course they are not an Alpha Quadrant race).

 

[Ferengi Prime 5]

It was not a mistake. The border had to be created but for some reason we gave away Federation colonies. I doubt these plants were under Cardassian control before the peace treaty. Why? What did the Federation gain in return?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

What did the Federation gain in return?

1) Some of their colonies.
2) Not being at war with Cardassia.

 

[fireproof78]

but for some reason we gave away Federation colonies.

I hope you voted that president out!

 

[dupersuper]

It was not a mistake. The border had to be created but for some reason we gave away Federation colonies. I doubt these plants were under Cardassian control before the peace treaty. Why? What did the Federation gain in return?

We don't know, which is why we can't say if it was a mistake.

 

[DonIago]

^Same goes for the Treaty of Algeron. It's shortsighted to accuse the Federation of signing bad treaties without knowing the content of them.

 

[Ferengi Prime 5]

We don't know, which is why we can't say if it was a mistake.

A mistake why? The border had to be settled and securing freedom for Bajor... The Fedaration got the wormhole as a bonus... The Fedaration should have cleared out their colonies once they went rogue or before ...

 

[Mrs. Silvercrest]

No.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The treaty wasn't a mistake. It was going well until the Klingons attacked them, which was done because a changeling infiltrated their government. Take away Dominion influence, the treaty goes just fine.

 

[somebuddyX]

No but also yes. The treaty was balls but maybe it was balls from stuff that happened way back when the war was on, like maybe it's like Finland and Soviet Union and the Winter War or something. The Feds probably shouldn't have built colonies right on Cardassia's border anyway but some dumb schmuck signed off on it. Cardassia probably should have had better communication when they pulled that coup to say everything's fine, we're all fine here, how are you. Poor bastards had their arab spring and got democracy for about five minutes before it all went to shit.

 

[flandry84]

Peace is never a mistake.

Personally I like to consider the UFP/Cardassian war as a long increasingly dirty campaign fought by small contingents very far from home(O’Brien seems to be the only one who has actually seen a Cardassian at the start of “The wounded”).

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I stand by the treaty was assuming good faith from those who had acted only in bad. There was already evidence as far back as The Wounded, the episode that introduced them, that the Cardassians, at least on a government level, didn’t care about abiding by any such treaty.

In that it forestalled war, was an attempt at peace, fine, I’ll agree it was a good idea. But to have gone in to this agreement, believed that an agreement that made no one happy could stand the test of time... It strikes me as unbearably naive on the part of the Federation.

 

[kkt]

I don't think it came to a surprise to anyone that the Cardassians broke the treaty. Expected it to be a temporary lull, and if it turned into a long term peace great, but no surprise that it didn't.