DS9’s Bajor & Cardassia Occupation & Resistance History Explained

The Cardassian occupation of Bajor, and the Bajoran resistance was a contentious political issue for Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets leading up to the events of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The central premise of DS9 revolved around the political situation following Cardassia’s withdrawal from Bajor. Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) was sent to Deep Space Nine, a former Cardassian space station, to prepare Bajor for entry into the Federation.

Ultimately, Bajor never joined the Federation in DS9, and it’s easy to see why they didn’t when looking back over the blind eye turned to Bajor’s historical treatment by the Cardassian Union. The controversy surrounding Starfleet and the Federation’s appeasement of the Cardassian Union provided Star Trek with some of its most fascinating characters and storylines. For example, Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced the conflict via the disgraced Bajoran officer Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes), whose childhood was defined by the brutality of the occupying Cardassian forces, including being forced to watch her father being tortured. Here’s the history of the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, and how it set up DS9.

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Why & How Long Cardassia Occupied Bajor

Bajor was a planet rich in mineral resources, which were coveted by the nearby Cardassian Union. It was these rich resources that led to the Cardassians exercising their superior military and technological strength to occupy Bajor with minimal resistance. Star Trek‘s Prime Directive forbade involvement in the occupation of Bajor, as it was deemed to be an internal political matter between the Cardassian occupiers and their Bajoran subjects. The notion of the brutal Cardassian occupation as an internal matter was likely aided by the installation of a legitimate-looking Bajoran Occupational Government.

However, the Occupational Government were merely puppets of the Cardassian Union and spent the 50 years of the occupation aiding the Cardassians in erasing Bajor’s rich cultural heritage. For five decades, preaching the world of Bajoran Prophets was forbidden, and the strip mining of Bajor’s rich minerals required the use of brutal slave labor. Many of those who served in the Occupational Government were called “collaborators”, an accusation once leveled at Vedek Bareil (Philip Anglim), the former lover of Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor).

Gul Dukat’s Role In The Cardassian Occupation

Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) was installed as the prefect of Bajor in 2346, twenty-three years prior to the Cardassians’ withdrawal. Dukat believed that previous prefects had been too brutal in their rule of Bajor, and attempted to make conditions better for the Bajorans, in the hope they would eventually accept Cardassian rule. To do this, he immediately slashed the quotas in the labor camps by 50% and abolished child labor on Bajor. He also improved healthcare and food rations, hoping that the Bajorans would respond positively. Instead, the Bajoran resistance staged a dramatic attack on an orbital drydock to mark his first month in the role of prefect.

Dukat was also responsible for installing the Changeling Odo (Rene Auberjonois) as Constable on the orbital Terok Nor refinery, because he felt that an impartial investigator would be a better way to solve a crime against the Cardassians than the previous policy of indiscriminately punishing Bajoran workers. Dukat also had a weakness for Bajoran women and fathered a daughter with one. However, Dukat’s romanticizing of these relationships was possibly a cover for how he routinely abused his power against helpless Bajoran women. In spite of his benevolent facade, Dukat grew to hate the Bajorans for not appreciating his compassionate policies.

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How The Bajoran Resistance Beat The Cardassians

The Cardassians refuse to acknowledge the Bajoran Resistance’s involvement in their withdrawal from Bajor. They put the blame for the withdrawal on the Cardassians’ failed attempt to annex Minos Korva during TNG season 6, episodes 10 and 11, “Chain of Command”. With the Cardassian fleet surrendering to Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Captain Edward Jellico (Ronny Cox), the aftermath of this defeat was seen as an inciting incident for the civilian council to order the withdrawal from Bajor. This decision enraged Cardassian military leaders, leading to the brutal murder of Bajoran subordinates and the vandalization of the Terok Nor space station before it transferred into Federation hands.

However, as embarrassing as the Cardassians’ defeat at Minos Korva was, they were also fighting a losing battle against the Resistance on Bajor. There were several resistance cells, including the Shakaar cell, which included a young Kira Nerys. The Shakaar cell was the most prominent of Bajoran resistance cells and the only one that Gul Dukat admitted to being unable to effectively suppress. The Shakaar cell used their knowledge of the mountain province of Dahkur to engage in guerilla warfare that exhausted Cardassian forces until their eventual withdrawal in 2369.

Gul Dukat’s involvement in DS9‘s Dominion War could be linked back to the withdrawal from Bajor, and his own desire to conquer the planet once again. Given the anger of the Cardassian Union’s military leaders, it’s highly likely that they realized the damaging optics of withdrawing from the planet in the face of the activities of the Bajoran Resistance. Wanting to re-establish themselves as a threatening force in the galaxy, it’s unsurprising that they joined forces with the brutal and oppressive Dominion.

Starfleet’s Involvement & Why Terok Nor Became Deep Space Nine

The orbital space station Terok Nor was constructed by Bajoran laborers enslaved by the Cardassians with the primary purpose of refining ore from the strip mines on Bajor’s surface. The conditions on the station were horrific, with many Bajorans living in incredibly overcrowded conditions and countless workers dying from heatstroke and exhaustion. Even sympathetic Ferengi barman Quark (Armin Shimerman) offered Bajorans paid employment at his bar as an alternative to the punishing work of the refinery.

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When the Cardassian Union finally decided to withdraw from Bajor, Terok Nor was left ransacked and booby-trapped by the departing Cardassians. Terok Nor became part of the negotiations when Bajor petitioned the Federation for membership, with the station’s repairs becoming a collaborative project between Starfleet and the Bajoran Militia. The command structure envisioned for the new station – dubbed Deep Space Nine in line with other Federation stabases – was a Starfleet commander with overall authority, who would have a Bajoran Militia officer serving as their second-in-command.

This blended DS9 bridge crew would oversee Bajor’s preparations for Federation membership, as well as improve the facilities of the station. Unlike previous Trek shows, Commander Sisko was tasked with nurturing commerce on the station, with the help, and occasional hindrance, of Quark. However, the Cardassian Occupation cast a long shadow over the relationships of the DS9 crew, with the differing outlooks of Kira and Sisko providing some of the riches thematic material for a Star Trek Captain and their First Officer. The Cardassian occupation of Bajor and its aftermath was just one of the plots that contributed to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s more mature approach to the themes originally established by Gene Roddenberry.

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