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Humanoid
race that has been involved in a bitter, extended conflict with the United Federation of Planets. An uneasy truce between the
two adversaries was finally reached in 2366. During the negotiations, Ambassador Spock publicly disagreed with his father, Ambassador
Sarek, on the treaty. The following year, the treaty was violated by Starfleet
captain Benjamin Maxwell, commanding the Starship Phoenix. Although Maxwell's
actions were illegal, Starfleet authorities believed his suspicions of illicit
Cardassian military activity were correct . Captain Picard recalled that while in command of the
U.S.S. Stargazer in 2355, he had fled from a Cardassian warship, barely escaping
with his ship and crew intact. In the past, the Cardassians were a peaceful and
spiritual people. But because their planet was resource-poor, starvation and disease
were rampant, and people died by the millions. With the rise of the military to
power, new territories and technology were acquired by violence, at the cost of
millions of lives sacrificed to the war effort. In 2367, a historic peace treaty
established a fragile armistice between the Federation and the Cardassian Union. Starfleet captain Edward
Jellico was partially credited for the negotiations. Among other things, the treaty
provided that captives of either government would be allowed to see a representative
from a neutral planet following their incarceration. The Cardassians annexed planet
Bajor around 2328, and over the next several decades systematically stripped the
planet of resources, and forced most Bajorans to resettle on other worlds. In
2369, it was believed that Cardassia was developing a metagenic weapon and planning
to use it in conjunction with an incursion into Federation space. Enterprise-D captain Jean-Luc Picard, along with Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher and Security Officer Worf, were sent covertly into Cardassian space to investigate.
The reports were found to be a ruse, designed to lure Captain Picard into Cardassian captivity. Also in 2369,
the Bajoran resistance movement had forced the Cardassians from
Bajor after years of terrorist activity. In their retreat, they abandoned Terok Nor, an old Cardassian mining station orbiting Bajor.
This proved to be a major misstep for the Cardassians, as the station became of
major strategic, scientific, and commercial value when the Bajoran wormhole was
discovered shortly thereafter. Many Cardassian war orphans were left behind on
planet Bajor when the occupation ended. In Cardassian society, orphans are shunned
and not acknowledged by the populace. The Cardassian withdrawal included an agreement
to release all Bajoran political prisoners, per Supreme Directive 2645, although
some prisoners remained at the Hutet labor camp on Cardassia IV for nearly a year.
In 2371, the Cardassian government, represented by Legate Turrel, concluded a
historic peace treaty with Bajoran leader Kai Winn. In Cardassian society, the
criminal justice system served to enforce cultural norms, while reassuring the
public with the comforting notion that good did triumph over evil. Accordingly,
no criminal was brought to trial until authorities had already found the defendant
guilty. Trials were broadcast for viewing by the public, serving as a dramatic
demonstration of the futility of violating Cardassian society's norms. In Cardassian
justice, a defendant could not present evidence until the trail was underway,
in other words, until after a verdict of guilty had been rendered. Further such
defendants were required to testify against themselves. Cardassian citizens were
required to have one of their molars extracted at age ten so that they could be
kept on file by the Cardassian bureau of identification. In Cardassian culture,
advanced age is a sign of power and dignity. Cardassians men and women exhibit
overt irritability toward each other as an overture to a sexual relationship.
Family is very important to the Cardassians with some households being multi-generational.
Intense mind-training programs are given to their children as early as four years
of age perhaps contributing to the famous Cardassian photographic memories.
