Earth-Romulan War

The Earth-Romulan War was a major interstellar conflict fought during the mid-22nd century between the forces of United Earth and those of the Romulan Star Empire, and their respective allies.

The two sides knew little of each other before the war, and little after the war. Based on the limited state of knowledge that still existed in as late as 2266, the war was summarized as: "Earth believes the Romulans to be warlike, cruel, treacherous; and only the Romulans know what they think of Earth."

The War
In 2266, Spock categorized the weaponry generally used in the Earth-Romulan War as atomic in nature, and fairly primitive at that. He also characterized the ships in use as primitive, and designed in ways that did not permit quarter or captives.

Romulan starships were painted to resemble a "bird of prey", a tradition kept through the mid-23rd century. Ship-to-ship visual communication between Earth-allied ships and Romulan-allied ships did not take place during the war or during the peace negotiations.

Three years into the war, a Romulan ship many years into its journey detected the Heisenberg, and boarded it, hoping to gain its warp drive and reverse engineer it back on Romulus. They were stopped by Tobin Dax and Skon, who had been testing a new transporter. This encounter led to later hosts of Dax (such as Jadzia Dax) being suspicious of Romulans. (SS DS9 (Dead Man's Hand))

During 2159 the Romulans allied themselves with the Vulcan T'Urell who "went missing", prompting Earth to send Enterprise to investigate and Coto to respond to her General Distrees call. These ships destroyed their Romulan counterparts and escorted T'Urell to her outpost. 

At one point during the war, the Romulans came very close to invading Sector 001 and taking Earth. However, the threat of invasion made Earth and its allies even more determined to defeat the Romulans and they began to slowly push them back into Romulan territory. 

Among the casualties during the course of the war include several members of the Stiles family, including one Captain Stiles. 


 * Two unspecified battles that have been referenced in the run of Star Trek, the battle at Galorndon Core and the Battle of Vorkado, may or may not have been associated with this war. The timeframe from which these battles occurred is unclear, as is the enemy of the Romulans in each incident; nevertheless, it remains plausible that they may have occurred during this conflict, at a point prior to the Battle of Cheron.

Closing days of the War
This period saw the signing of the Federation/Rihannha Non-Agression Pact, which ensured that planets belonging to either one of these parties would not be orbited by craft from the other party. 

The Battle of Cheron is generally considered the decisive battle in the Earth-Romulan War. Both sides recognized the major victory achieved here by Earth as a humiliating defeat of the Romulan military. This event would establish long-term political effects within the Romulan Empire lasting well into the 24th century. 

Following the Battle of Cheron the two sides negotiated a treaty via subspace radio. Among other things, it established a Neutral Zone, entry into which by either side would constitute an act of war. Earth set up at least eight outpost stations on asteroids along its side of the Neutral Zone to monitor Romulan activity. 

Legacy
From a 23rd century Human perspective, the Neutral Zone represented an area "between planets Romulus and Remus and the rest of the galaxy..." Some Humans still harbored resentment over the war after over a century of peace, including Lieutenant Stiles of the USS Enterprise.

Despite these human attitudes, until 2266 the Neutral Zone served its purpose and the treaty had remained unbroken. In fact, one might say it served its purpose too well, as there were limited or no contacts between Earth and the Romulan Star Empire from the conclusion of the war until the mid-23rd century. 

List of Battles

 * Battle of Gamma Hydra
 * Battle of Cheron

Background
An illegible viewscreen graphic seen in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" lists the conflict as beginning in 2156 and ending in 2160.

The Star Trek: Enterprise novel The Good That Men Do suggests that the Earth-Romulan war began in 2156, some time after the incident with Terra Prime and ended in 2160. The novel also seems to suggest that the Federation was born from the conflict.

Connections

 * Conjectural peace treaty - reproduced from the Star Fleet Technical Manual
 * Another conjectural peace treaty at Star Trek Minutiae
 * A Report by Masao Okazaki at The Starfleet Museum - includes an extensive write-up of the Romulan War
 * A Report by Masao Okazaki at The Starfleet Museum - includes an extensive write-up of the Romulan War