Throughout the 24th century the Cardassian Union grew convinced conflict with the their Federation
neighbours was inevitable and so launched a pre-emptive strike against Setlik III in 2347,
incorrectly believing the Federation was building up their military forces in the
area. Yet Cardassian Intelligence was wrong, and the resulting massacre of a civilian population
left close to a hundred casualties before the USS Rutledge responded with reinforcements to defend
the planet. Among the Federation troops sent into this early battle, some like Captain Benjamin
Maxwell and Tactical Officer Miles O’Brien, earned awards and adulation for their heroism,
but were nonetheless greatly scarred by the experienced, holding prejudice opinions about
all Cardassians going forward, with the term Spoonhead becoming a popular slur.
Possessing a roughly equivalent level of technological advancement, the
Federation-Cardassian war raged on for the next two decades, and while the United Federation of
Planets had a sizeable advantage in population and resources; most of their focus was on exploration
and scientific advancement, meaning they needed to update their ships, technology and crews to
reflect their new military needs. The massive size of their holdings also meant their forces could
never be entirely committed to a single cause, lest they leave their borders unsecure. Their size
also meant they were surrounded by many enemies or rival states, sometimes resulting in multiple
conflicts occurring at once. Oppositely, the Cardassian Union had a disadvantage in population
and more limited resources, but dedicated a far larger percentage of them towards a military that
was already highly experienced in combat and which had a far smaller border to protect. This dynamic
meant neither side could ever fully gain the advantage, fighting to a stalemate that resulted
in the Armistice of 2367 before a formal treaty in 2370, creating a new demilitarized border.
Yet the end of one conflict led to the start of another, when territorial concessions by the
Federation meant some of their citizens were now living on worlds held by the Cardassian
Union. Though some agreed to leave and were evacuated back to Federation Space,
others refused, hoping the Cardassians honored their pledge to leave the colonists alone. Yet
they instead began a campaign of oppression to try and force the colonists to leave. As a result,
some turned to rebellion and terrorism against the Cardassian Union, vowing to fight until their
planets were granted independence. Using the harsh environment of the badlands as cover for their
ships, the Maquis rebellion used guerilla tactics to become a persistent annoyance and embarrassment
for their enemies. Though the Federation was officially on the side of the Cardassian Union
as this rebellion violated the treaty they signed, some individuals were so sympathetic they left the
Federation to join the Maquis struggle. Among the most well known defections were Calvin Hudson,
Ro Laren, Chakotay and Michael Eddington. Relying on their military and intelligence to
deal with the Maquis, the Cardassian government used political subterfuge to exact retribution
against Bajor in 2370, secretly supporting the Alliance for global unity, or circle,
an extremist political faction promoting isolationism and xenophobia, rallying the
divided populace against joining the Federation and behind the idea of Bajor for Bajorans. Hoping
to one day reconquer Bajor, the Cardassian union wanted the extremists in power because it meant
they would break off relations with the Federation and lose their protection. Yet they ultimately
failed to seize political power and were abandoned by supporters when their connection to Cardassia
was exposed. With yet another ploy against Bajor foiled, the Cardassian Union signed a treaty the
following year, establishing formal peace and diplomatic relations between their governments.
Suffering humiliating defeats against the Bajor and unable to defeat the Maquis, Cardassia was
far from the height of its power, unable to keep up with the Federation throughout 2370s,
as their neighbours not only had an advantage in population and resources but had also surpassed
them in many areas of technological advancement. Though the Cardassian Union continued to excel in
areas like espionage and military subterfuge, they could not keep up with the other superpowers and
were even failing to conquer new planets for resource extraction, causing many to
feel that the military Central Command could no longer be trusted to rule, leading to the
formation of a civilian dissident movement which gradually gained support throughout the years.
It was in the midst of these civil tensions that the Alpha and Beta quadrants were invaded by the
Dominion, a gamma quadrant superpower travelling through a wormhole discovered near Bajor in 2369.
Ruled by a highly advanced species of Changeling shapeshifters, the Dominion was a vast empire
where the Changeling Founders were worshipped as gods by their genetically engineered creations,
namely the intelligent Vorta species who administered their holdings and Mighty Jem Hadar
who fought their wars. Originally creating the Dominion as a means to protect themselves from
outside threats, the Founders considered Bajor, the Federation and all others trespassing into
the Gamma Quadrant as an immediate and imminent threat, and so destroyed all
their colonies in or near their territory while pushing back and cutting off any further travel
through the wormhole. Though the Dominion remained in the gamma quadrant at this time,
a large-scale war with the Alpha and Beta Quadrants seemed inevitable, which then led
a faction of Romulans and Cardassians to launch a pre-emptive strike against the Founder homeworld
in 2371. Organized by Enabran Tain, head of the Obsidian Order espionage agency who allied with
their counterparts in the Tal Shiar of the Romulan Star Empire, their mission ultimately failed
because they were infiltrated by a changeling agent, who purposefully encouraged their efforts,
so the Dominion might plan a trap, resulting in a crushing victory for Gamma Quadrant Forces in
the Battle of the Omarion Nebula. Back on Cardassia, this devastating defeat led to
the fall of the Obsidian Order, allowing for Military Central Command to take full control
of the government. Yet after years of gaining influence, the dissident movement finally struck
and overthrew Military leadership to establish a Civilian Government under the Detapa Council.
Seeking to inflict further damage upon the Alpha and Beta quadrants before their invasion,
the Dominion infiltrated the Klingon government and manipulated them into
attacking the Cardassian Union, on the pretense that their recent civil upheaval
was a Dominion plot to take control of their government. Unprepared for a large scale war,
the Cardassians lost a number of systems but were able to rally their defenses thanks to
a warning from the former spy Elem Garak, to prevent the conquest of their capital.
Condemning this unprovoked invasion, the Federation angered Chancellor Gowron who
ended their decade’s long alliance, leading to the brief but destructive Klingon Cardassian
and Federation-Klingon Wars of 2372-2373, weakening these three superpowers significantly.
Eventually it was discovered that a changeling infiltrator replaced Gowron’s chief advisor
General Martok, and the wars ended, but the Empire refused to give up the systems conquered,
leaving tensions high between them. In 2373, the Dominion took the next step in preparing for their
invasion by negotiating a secret deal with the infamous Cardassian military leader Gul Dukat,
who formerly served Central Command before betraying them to side with the Civilian rebels.
Seeing an opportunity to seize power while restoring the strength and glory of their people,
Dukat agreed to ally with Dominion in exchange for their support of his government. Therefore,
when the Dominion fleet finally came through the wormhole, it was not as an invasion force,
but rather as friends sending troops to reinforce their Cardassian allies, giving
them time to set the stage for a larger invasion. Reinvigorated by this new alliance, Cardassia was
a superpower once more, able to crush the Maquis rebels in the badlands and reconquer
all their former holdings from the Klingons who retreated into their space and re-signed
the Khitomer accords, restoring their alliance with the Federation. Realizing they could not
allow the invaders to grow any stronger, it was ultimately the Federation who provoked the start
of the Dominion War by placing mines at the mouth of the wormhole, prevent further reinforcements
from the gamma quadrant. Unwilling to allow this, the Dominion readied their forces and launched an
attack against the Federation station Deep Space Nine to prevent the completion of the mine field
and gain control over the wormhole, with Gul Dukat placed in charge of their war effort, while the
more politically minded Vorta Weyoun advised and oversaw his efforts for the Founders and Dominion.
Though Dukat won the second Battle of Deep Space Nine, they were unable to prevent the mines from
activating and the station computer system was sabotaged, delaying their work in finding a way
to deactivate the mines. The Dominion Alliance then learned that while they were attacking DS9,
a combined Starfleet-Klingon task force crossed into Cardassian territory and destroyed the
shipyards at Torros III, dealing a significant strategic loss to the gamma quadrant invaders.
Even without their reinforcement, the Dominion Alliance was a formidable enemy that pressed
the attack, eventually bringing the Federation alliance to the brink of defeat. Suffering loss
after loss, the officer Benjamin Sisko soon learned Dukat was ready to disarm the mines,
restoring their access to the wormhole, which meant certain defeat for the Federation. Therefore
Sisko convinced his superiors to invest massive resources into Operation Return, with the goal of
retaking DS9 to regain control over the wormhole. Though greatly outnumbered and unable to prevent
the disarming of their mines, federation and Klingon forces created an opening in the enemy
line, large enough for Ben Sisko aboard the Defiant to pass through and enter the wormhole,
where he contacted a group of powerful non corporeal aliens with mysterious powers that had a
special bond with the planet Bajor and individual Ben Sisko. Worshipped as Prophets by the Bajorans,
they agreed to interfere this one time, causing dominion reinforcements to vanish while travelling
through the wormhole. Relying on those ships to complete their victory, Dukat and the Dominion
did not understand why but quickly realized no reinforcements were coming and so fled the
station, retreating back to Cardassian space. All except Dukat, who suffered a nervous breakdown
after witnessing his second in command Damar shoot and kill his daughter Zayel, when she sided with
the Federation and refused to leave the station. With Dukat gone, Damar was made leader of the
Cardassian Union, but their most recent failure meant a significant loss in prestige for all
Cardassians, meaning Damar was not granted the same kind of authority as his predecessor,
serving instead as a mere puppet for the Dominion. Turning to new allies for victory,
the Cardassian Union was forced to accept territorial concessions to the Breen Confederacy
in exchange for their entry into war. No longer the proud superpower they were when the conflict
began, the Dominion even started sacrificing large numbers of Cardassian troops for the sake of minor
victories, viewing their people as expendable. Damar, once a proud Cardassian and loyal soldier,
grew depressed from all he saw and drank to numb the pain, but after reconnecting with
his old friend Dukat, he got the encouragement needed to stop drinking and truly try to lead
his people towards a greater future. Betraying his Dominion colleagues,
Damar formed rebel movement which started attaching the enemy from within Cardassian space,
and even reached out to the Federation, which sent personnel and supplies to help their cause.
Unfortunately for the rebels, a traitor revealed their location and their forces were massacred,
but Damar refused to give up and went out into the streets, leading a citizens revolt
on Cardassia Prime. As Damar fought in the capital, the Federation-Klingon and now Romulan
alliance launched a final attack against Dominion forces which were defending well until news broke
that the government destroyed an entire city on Cardassia Prime, killing millions as a response to
Damar’s rebellion. Learning of the devastation, Cardassian forces turned against the Dominion
in the midst of battle, granting victory to the Federation Alliance who chased them back to the
capital. To retaliate against the Cardassians, the Founder ordered the citizenry of their homeworld
wiped out resulting in many more dead before Elim Garak, Kira Nerys and more of Damar’s rebels could
enter Dominion headquarters to kill Weyoun and capture the enemy leader, eventually resulting in
her surrender. Though Damar died in the fighting, he was remembered as a great hero who gave his
life for the liberation of Cardassia. Reaffirming their independence and prewar borders in the
Treaty of Bajor, Cardassia’s attempt to become the greatest superpower in the region ended in utter
ruin, as their planets, including the capital, were on the front lines of combat, enduring such
collateral destruction that by the end of the 24th century, the Cardassian Union was a shell of its
former self, a minor power forced to rebuild from the ashes of their fallen civilization.