History 162: The Earth-Romulan War

Most courses addressing the History of the Federation tend to gloss over (or even ignore) a very important era of galactic history, the long and bloody war between the Humans (and their allies) and the Rihannsu, more widely known as the Romulans. Given recent events, most notably the conflict with the Dominion, the Earth-Romulan War is no longer the “Forgotten War.” But for a conflict that had such a great influence on the founding of the Federation, one would think that more attention would be paid to it.

This course is an intensive examination of the causes, conduct, and conclusion of the Earth-Romulan War, starting with the initial “phantom” contacts in the Vargot Expanse and the raid on Station Salem One to the war’s conclusion at the Battle of Cheron. We will also look at the internal political issues which Earth and Romulus faced, as well as the technological advances developed by the UESN during the war. Also discussed is the conflict’s direct effect on interstellar diplomatic relations, leading to the founding of the United Federation of Planets.

Author’s Note: This conjectural history is a work of fan fiction, based on a series of email discusssions between myself and Masao Okazaki, author of the Starfleet Museum. Because these discussions took place before Star Trek: Enterprise or Star Trek: Nemesis were released, there are a number of major discontinuities between later canon Trek and these articles. In this case, I have elected to tell my own story based on my own ideas rather than slavishly adhere to what the writers consider to be canon. As a result, this story can not be considered canon by any stretch, but in my own not-so-humble opinion, I believe that this history is much more realistic and richer than that developed for Enterprise. Of course, ultimately it’s left up to the reader to make their own judgments.

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