The Federation At War |
The United Federation of Planets is a coalition of worlds joined together in the name of peace and exploration. When these principles are threatened however the organization is quite prepared to go to war.
The United Federation of Planets, as a democratic nation state, 1s built upon certain guarantees and securities. Chief among these considerations 1s a pledge to keep the Federation`s citizens and territories safe from attack. The Federation. however, also stands for peace and cooperation - thus it is only in extreme circumstances that the organization will allow itself to be forced into war, and usually only then in order to fight for its survival
Starfleet vs Borg
First encountered by the federation when trust together by Q, a war was always inevitable with a race who only desire is to assimilate all other species, first battle at Wolf 359 was a disaster for Starfleet and the first conflict nearly ended in the assimilation of Earth before the Enterprise was able to deactivate the Borg cube. The Borg would again return in First Contact, below you can watch the battle between Star fleet and the Borg from First Contact.
The Federation will always try to seek a diplomatic solution to combative situations. leading some other races attempts at a non-violent resolution fail, however, the Federation`s military forces in Starfleet are willing and more than able to go head to head against threats to their territory and citizens. Blood origins Indeed, it can be said that the Federation itself was born out of war. Earth`s early and deadly contact with the Romulan Star Empire led to a protracted war circa 2160. After its eventual resolution, Earth was driven to form the United Federation of Planets with the sovereign worlds of Vulcan, Tellar and Andor, most likely out of the need for mutual protection, and to present a united front against any other would be aggressors.
As already noted, the Federation views the concept of open warfare as the final solution to any potentially inflammatory situation. Incursions and actions by outside forces that would meet with swift and brutal reprisals from such nations as the Klingon Empire for example are instead dealt with in a careful, controlled manner by the Federation. The Talarian skirmishes of the 2350`s over the Galen system the Tholian attack on the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 in 2268, and the Ferengi theft of a T-9 energy converter in 2364, are all met with a strong, but non-aggressive, Federation stance in order to resolve the conflicts.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - Battle of Khitomer - The Khitomer acords was the legendary peace treaty between the federation & the Klingon empire, while negotiations were ongoing battle was waged between two star fleet vessels and a renegade Bird Of Prey trying to derail the peace summit.
No love of battle
Species such as the Jem`Hadar and the Klingons may delight in finding new enemies to fight, but the Federation looks first to defuse tensions before any shots are fired. No matter how hard the Federation tries, however, peaceful and non-violent resolutions are not always viable options. As we I as fulfilling its scientific and exploratory functions, Starfleet is the Federation`s armed force within its borders; at many points in its history, Starfleet vessels and crews have found themselves on the sharp end of aggressive attack. A situation of undeclared war, but open hostilities, exists between the Federation and Tholian Assembly for many years, following an incident in 2268. Nearly a century later, in 2353 the Tholians attack Federation outposts, and the state of armed conflict continues well into the 24th-century before an apparent cessation. In their various encounters with the species known as the Borg, the Federation has also learned to its cost that some adversaries cannot be bargained or reasoned with.
Rival powers
The war with the Dominion was one of the most costly conflicts in federation history, watch below the battle from The Sacrifice of Angels, DS9 one of the largest battles in Star Fleet history.
Warfare on an open footing has been a sad - part of the history of the Federation Unlike the border conflicts with the Klingon, Tholians. and Talarians the organization has regrettably gone to war with its enemies on equal terms. In battles such as these, including hostilities with the Cardassian Union, the Tzenkethi, and the Dominion, the conflict is not merely a defensive action reacting to enemy attack and protecting established assets - it is also a plan of battle to defeat a foe as quickly as possible. Federation forces will target military and industrial targets, working to avoid collateral damage and the deaths of civilian non-combatants. Starfleet`s rules of engagement are quite clear. in the first instance, starship captains are ordered not to fire until fired upon, but once a state of war is declared, the enemy 1s to be neutral zone with all possible speed. As well as steering clear of non-military targets, the Federation also prohibits its forces from using certain classes of weaponry because of their deleterious effects; deadly munitions such as b1o-genetic agents and isolytic subspace devices are banned from Starfleet arsenals.
Starfleet ships are primarily constructed to perform patrol, defence, and exploratory missions, but during wartime those functions can be altered to purely military operation, refitting vessels with extra offensive and defensive systems Most Starfleet vessels, such as the Galaxy-class and Sovereign-class starsh1ps, are built to follow this multi-tasking mode, but the Federation is not without its purebred warships, such as the Defiant class, originally designed to combat the Borg, and the prototype Prometheus class, with its dynamic multivector assault mode capability that allows attack on three fronts.
Voyager aided the Borg in a war with Species 8472 as a pact to allow the federation ship to pass through borg territory, Species 8472 were a powerful race, below you can watch the attck by Species 8472 upon Voyager & Borg.
Galaxy Warfare
For many years, up until 2366, the Federation fights an ongoing and harsh conflict with the Cardassian Union over disputed territories; like the organization`s previous conflicts with the Klingon Empire, this confrontation is only ended by the ratification of a peace treaty, which even after its confirmation 1s considered shaky at best. The rivalries of this conflict rise again in 2373. when Cardassia allies itself with the Gamma Quadrant`s Dominion, thus plunging the Federation, and indeed the whole of the Alpha Quadrant. into the most protracted and costly war it has ever seen. This brutal conflict severely tests the mettle of the Federation`s peaceful ideals, leading some of its citizens to question its democratic principles and, 1n the case of Starfleet`s Admiral Leyton, even attempt to forcibly instigate a rule of martial law in order to strengthen it. By the close of hostilities in 2375, the Federation remains unbowed before the Dominion. but at a terrible cost to life and property. In this horrific fight. the entire Alpha Quadrant learns once more the harshest of lessons, one that the people of Earth learned during their savage history of conflict. In war, there are no winners or losers, only innocent victims and casualties.
