Throughout the Alpha and Beta quadrants, the Vulcan species became famed for their mastery
of the mind, suppressing emotions and devoting their lives to logic and rational discussion,
becoming a force for peace and diplomacy throughout the region.
Yet long before they helped found the United Federation of planets, the people of Vulcan
lived in turmoil and strife, developing weapons of mass destruction and bringing their civilization
to the brink of annihilation.
Although most agree Vulcans evolved on their homeworld, some believe it possible their
form of life was originally brought from another world, possibly by a race of highly advanced
humanoids who roamed the stars 4.5 billion years in the past, seeding life on many worlds,
or else perhaps they were the descendants of Sargon’s people, a species that thrived
600 000 years before the Federation, which grew so powerful they considered themselves
gods and started colonizing others worlds across the galaxy.
Much like the Humans of Earth, their people struggled with war and conflict for thousands
of years, with Vulcan emotions proving extreme, volatile and difficult to control.
Worshipping gods of war, death and peace, prehistoric Vulcans developed their own mythologies
like the story that all creation originated in an ancient paradise known as Sha Ka Ree,
and celebrated various pagan rituals such as the Rumarie, where they stripped and chased
each other around covered in rillan grease.
Yet as their civilizations progressed some started to address the problems of violence
and extreme emotion.
By the 4th century, Vulcan continued to be a plagued by violent conflicts, and with technology
advancing they were now capable of space flight and possessed weapons capable of destroying
their planet.
Many now understood something needed to change, and so a new philosophy began to spread throughout
the world, with the great scientist and philosopher Surak bringing about the age of awakening,
teaching his people to suppress their extreme emotions and embrace logic to guide their
lives.
Although many saw the value in Surak’s beliefs, others rejected them completely, refusing
to change their way of life.
This faction became known as those who marched beneath the raptor’s wing, and their conflict
led to an atomic war in which Surak was killed.
However his Katra, or consciousness lived on, as he’d found a way to transfer it into
a statue, where he remained until found in the 22nd century.
Eventually the dissidents were defeated and so left their homeworld, founding the Romulan
and Debrune civilizations.
Though they had little contact over the centuries, when they did interact it often proved hostile,
fighting a hundred year war at some point before the 21st century, though there was
secretly a powerful alien known as a Q who meddled in their affairs and was responsible
for initiating that conflict.
And while Surak’s philosophy prevailed and took hold across the planet, his exact teachings
were lost over time leading to various interpretations of his beliefs.
Yet over time the violence diminished and those who followed Surak were able to unify
the planet.
However as a consequence of their sucesss, they also became rigidly dogmatic, intolerant
of any Vulcans who disagreed with their exact beliefs.
And so conflict arose between other groups who came to interpret Surak’s work differently,
such as the V'tosh ka'tur or those without logic, who believed emotions needed to be
embraced and controlled rather than suppressed.
Feeling persecuted many of these people left their planet to find a new home or else to
wander the stars explore their philosophies in peace.
Later there were also the Syrannites who believed Surak’s teaching were being distorted and
that most Vulcans as well as the government had lost their way.
Nevertheless, the teaching of Surak had a largely positive effect on their species,
becoming known as beings of exceptional intelligence, with great physical strength, resilient bodies,
and powerful minds, able to speak telepathically and suppress their emotions.
Ancient rituals like rumarie were cast aside, while others like Koon-ut-kal-if-fee, meaning
marriage or challenge were kept alive.
Although Vulcans were capable of mating at other times as well, they were biologically
driven to mate every seven years, during a time known as Pon Far.
If a Vulcan waited too long to satisfy these urges, they started to lose their mental control
and became enraptured by a blood fever, prompting them to mate or kill.
Similarly, their marriages which were often arranged at a young age, could only be terminated
through Kal-if-fee, in which 2 men could fight to the death over the right to marry a female,
or in which a female refused to accept her betrothed, fighting herself or naming a champion.
And while their marriage customs retained some connection to their ancient past, in
most other ways Vulcans changed drastically, training their children with rigorous academic
standards, while also teaching them to meditate and supress emotion.
As a result, they eventually brought peace and unity to their planet, once again making
great technological progress so that by the 19th century they were a prosperous, space
faring civilization.
In the 20th and 21st century, Vulcans went on to make contact with many other species
like the Andorians, Telarites, Klingons and many others, establishing peaceful relation
with most, though they found conflict almost immediately with the.
However with the Andorians relations grew strained over time eventually leading to conflict
and war over border disputes.
The Vulcan government’s most productive relationship developed with the Humans of
Earth whom they observed for many years, until 2063 when they finally developed warp drive,
the final technological achievement necessary to approve first contact.
Based largely on a system of meritocracy, the government of Vulcan was theoretically
comprised of the best diplomats and leaders on their planet, becoming known as the High
Command.
This government entered into a partnership and alliance with the united earth government,
helping them advance their technology to become a part of the galactic community, yet purposefully
slowing their rate of development to give them time to mature as a species, eliminating
war, disease and poverty and embracing peace.
Humans proved remarkably quick to learn and change, with Vulcans needing 1500 years to
accomplish what humans achieved in a century.
Although Vulcans continued to keep some technology back from their allies, with their ships able
to reach warp 7 while humans remained at warp 5, by the 2150s they were largely regarded
as equals, with captain Jonathan Archer of the Earth ship Enterprise NX 01 and his Vulcan
first officer T’pol, doing a great deal to create better relations between their people,
exposing corruption in the High command, leading to the Vulcan reformation and fall of the
government, replaced by new leaders who were grateful to Earth for their assistance.
Archer would also help negotiate an alliance between humans, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites
which came to be known as the Coalition of Planets, originally began to oppose the aggression
of the Romulans, which were working to undermine the growing friendship between these species,
and who had been secretly working with the previous Vulcan government to bring their
ancient kinsmen into the Star Empire.
With Vulcans working to rid their society of past corruption, bringing a new more open
minded attitude towards their relations with other worlds, it was humans who took the lead
to build an alliance of planets in their region of space.
However the Vulcans played an important supporting role in these efforts, providing a large portion
of their military strength, as Earth had few ships they could bring to battle.
After Captain Archer of the Enterprise successfully mended relation between the Andorians and
Tellarites, the deception and interference of the Romulans became known, and so a conference
was held on Earth in 2255, to discuss the formation of a Coalition of Planets, to help
defend against hostile aggressors.
Planets represented at this conference included Earth, Vulcan, Tellar, Andor, Denobula, Rigel,
Coridan and a number of others.
And while the talks were going well at first, they were disrupted by a group of Xenophobic
human extremists from a group called Terra Prime, who were threatening to destroy Star
Fleet headquarters unless all non-humans left the system.
However they were swiftly thwarted, and the talks later resumed eventually leading to
an alliance.
By 2156, relations between humans and Romulans grew even more hostile, resulting in the Earth-Romulan
War that lasted until 2160.
However Humans were not alone in the fight, as their Vulcan, Andorian and Tellarite friends
came to their defense, defeating the Romulans at the Battle of Cheron.
Seeing the benefits of such an alliance, these worlds then came to form the United Federation
of Planets in 2161, to be governed by a Federation council, comprised of representatives from
member worlds.
Over the next few centuries, Vulcans would play an important role in helping keep these
planets united and often served as diplomats to outside species as well, negotiating peace
agreements, and working to bring other worlds into the Federation.
Although headquartered on Earth, Star Fleet, which served as the military and scientific
branch of the Federation, started to accept members from allied species, the first of
which had been Captain Archer’s first Officer T’pol, who joined their organization after
having a conflict with the previous Vulcan government.
Yet once the Federation was formed, many of their species as well as others came to serve
in Star Fleet, and by the 23rd and 24th centuries, entire ships were run by Vulcan crews.
One of the most important figures during the years of Federation expansion was Ambassador
Sarek, a Vulcan who served on the Federation council for many years, responsible for a
number of great diplomatic accomplishments, including helping to bring about a century
of peace between the Federation and Klingons, through the Khitmer Accords of 2293.
Although he had a child named Sybok with his first wife, a Vulcan Princess, she soon died
and after living on Earth for a number of years, Sarek married a human woman named Amanda
Grayson, having a child of mixed ancestry they named Spock.
Although he and his father would have strained relations for many years, Spock nevertheless
largely followed in his father’s footsteps, by becoming one of the wisest and most important
Federation diplomats of the 23rd and 24th centuries.
The Vulcan Spock earned recognition early on in his career, by becoming the first officer
to Captain James T Kirk, aboard the USS Enterprise during their famed 5 year mission from 2265
to 2270.
However years later he continued serving the Federation as well as his home planet of Vulcan
as an ambassador and diplomat, even travelling to Romulus in 2368 to discuss the possibility
of reunification between their species.
Unfortunately the effort proved a difficult prospect, and he spent decades living on their
world to try and improve relations.
Although there was a time when Vulcans placed little value in exploration, with so many
years since the Vulcan reformation, their species were now proud explorers, amongst
the first to travel into the Gamma Quadrant upon the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole.
When the Dominion then used the wormhole to invade the Alpha Quadrant, plunging the region
into war, the planet of Vulcan itself soon became threatened, with the capture of nearby
Betazed, and an attack being launched directly against Earth.
Yet an alliance between the Federation, Klingons and Romulans were soon victorious in driving
back the enemy, and peace was re-established.
Although they fought side by side during the Dominion War, a coup d’etat on Romulus led
to renewed aggression against the Federation, though their efforts were ultimately defeated.
After the death of so many of their leaders, the Romulan government struggled to re-establish
stability, further disrupted by the massive disaster of 2387 when their home planet was
destroyed by a supernova.
Ambassador Spock, who was still living with the Romulans, working on reunification with
the Vulcans, claimed he could save them but failed in his mission.
Nevertheless, Spock went through with his plan, creating a red matter singularity to
at least prevent the supernova from doing further damage.
However, Nero, the captain of a Romulan Mining ship who survived the disaster, was so grief
stricken from the loss of his home and family, he attacked Spock’s ship resulting in both
being pulled through a blackhole into the past, arriving in an alternate reality where
in 2258, Nero would have his vengeance by ensuring the destruction of the planet of
Vulcan, killing over 6 billion of their people.