Maquis (Star Trek)

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The Maquis were a fictional group in the Star Trek universe who were introduced in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, first appearing in the second season episode "The Maquis Part I", which premiered on April 24, 1994. They would go on to serve as recurring adversaries in that series, as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. The group was made up of humans and members of extraterrestrial races, such as Bajorans, that refused to give up the colony planets on which they lived after they were ceded to the Cardassians as part of the treaty that ended the war between the United Federation of Planets and the Cardassian Union, as well as others who joined out of sympathy to their cause, including a number of Starfleet officers who resigned their posts to join. The Maquis saw themselves as a resistance movement, but were viewed by the Federation and the Cardassians as terrorists, having committed numerous transgressions against the Cardassians and Starfleet, such as theft, sabotage, and attacks upon their ships, though they usually avoided attacking Federation ships directly, preferring to warn them to get out of the way. The Maquis were eventually wiped out almost entirely by the Dominion. Exceptions were the Maquis who had joined the crew of the USS Voyager (comprising roughly a quarter of her crew), and a few captured members of the movement in Federation prisons. Deep Space Nine commander Captain Benjamin Sisko believed there may have been a few other survivors who were biding their time, waiting for the right moment to strike.

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[edit] Politics

In the Federation's view, the Maquis were endangering the uneasy peace between the Federation and the Cardassians, and thereby the lives of billions. The Maquis, on the other hand, felt that the Federation had abandoned them to the mercy of a militaristic government bent on their destruction. Refusing to abandon the homes and lives they had built and resettle, and faced with escalating harassment from neighboring Cardassian settlers armed by the Cardassian central command (in violation of the very treaty that signed away their homes), they decided that an armed resistance was necessary. Even Benjamin Sisko, an opponent of the Maquis, opined in the episode "The Maquis Part II":

“ The trouble is Earth. On Earth there is no poverty, no crime, no war. You look out the window of Starfleet Headquarters and you see paradise. It's easy to be a saint in paradise, but the Maquis do not live in paradise. Out there in the demilitarized zone all the problems haven't been solved yet. Out there, there are no saints, just people - angry, scared, determined people who are going to do whatever it takes to survive, whether it meets with Federation approval or not. ”

After the Cardassian Union joined the Dominion in the fifth season of DS9, it was revealed that the Maquis and their colony planets were all but eliminated by Dominion forces.

[edit] Parallels

Although the licensed novels are not part of official Star Trek canon, a Star Trek: Voyager novel featured the revelation by Seska that the name Maquis was chosen due to the French resistance.[citation needed] In the fourth season episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine titled "For the Cause", Starfleet security officer Lt. Michael Eddington, who reveals himself as a Maquis operative, states:

“ Why is the Federation so obsessed with the Maquis? We've never harmed you. And yet we're constantly arrested and charged with terrorism. Starships chase us through the Badlands and our supporters are harassed and ridiculed. Why? Because we've left the Federation, and that's the one thing you can't accept. Nobody leaves paradise. Everyone should want to be in the Federation...You know, in some ways you're even worse than the Borg. At least they tell you about their plans for assimilation. You're more insidious. You assimilate people and they don't even know it. ”

Deep Space Nine writer Ronald D. Moore has interpreted Eddington’s statement as having a “kernel of truth” to it, and there is a feeling of betrayal associated with the Maquis in the minds of the people of the Federation.

[edit] Members

Notable members of the Maquis include:

[edit] References

[edit] External links