Cardassia is the homeworld and territories of the Cardassian Union. The homeworld is also known as Cardassia Prime. Several thousand years ago, prior to the current Cardassian civilization, on Cardassia flourished the Hebitian culture. Not much is known about these ancient forerunners of Cardassia, but their legacy can be seen in the exceptional and remarkable architectural wonders left behind and also the varied archaeological treasures, including the burial vaults uncovered in the 2160s which contained jewelled artifacts.
The evolution of the Cardassian people between the Hebitian culture and the current civilization is still relatively unknown. Warp capability was achieved in ????, allowing the people to explore and colonize deep space. however there has been archaeological evidence that Bajorans had achieved interstellar flight before Cardassia, evidenced by the remains of a solar-sail flight of Bajoran design reported found in 2371. The modern civilization was originally spiritual and peace-loving. It utilized a tripartite government whereby the ruling body, the Detapa Council, consisted of civilian politicians, and under their jurisdiction were the military, the Central Command and the intelligence service, the Obsidian Order. But when the civilization expanded, and the planet was stripped of resources, starvation and disease drove the people to desperation. The military rose in power and eventually took over the governing of the Cardassian people. This lead to violent and aggressive acquisition of resources, technology and territories, at great cost to the people. The Cardassian people became known for being ruthless and militaristic.
The turning point came when the Cardassian Union annexed Bajor in 2328. they strip mined the planet for their own people, enslaving the Bajoran people in the process. During this time, the Cardassians also built orbiting ore-processing facilities, including Terok Nor (now known as Deep Space Nine), to increase production. During this period, the Cardassian Union was involved in an extended conflict with the United Federation of Planets (UFP). Casualties on both sides were high and the Cardassians could not get the upper hand. An uneasy truce was reached in 2366, though this treaty was violated by both the Federation and the Cardassian Union. In 2367, negatiations for a peace treaty was started and in 2370, the Federation-Cardassian treaty was signed between the two adversaries. Part of the treaty provided that captives of either government would be allowed to a a neutral representative following incarceration. Also a demilitarized zone was set up, which contained both Federation and Cardassiancolonies. but discontent among the colonists have led to further skirmishes in the DMZ.
In 2369, the Cardassians were forced to withdraw from Bajor mainly through the actions of the Bajoran underground terrorist groups and also the intervention of the Federation. In their retreat, they also abandoned their orbital space facility Terok Nor which was then taken over by joint Bajoran-Federation personnel.
A historic peace treaty was signed in 2371 between Cardassia and Bajor, facilitated by Legate Turrel, Kai Winn and Vedek Bareil. in the next year, a civilian uprising overthrew the Central Command;s control of the government, restoring power to the Detapa Council. This political instability allowed the Klingon Empire to invade Cardassian territories, on the presumption that the coup was engineered by the Dominion. this invasion destroyed the industrial capability of many Cardassian worlds and depleted their resources even further, devastating the Cardassian economy. The Federation, in light of its new treaty, aided Cardassia.
However secret negotiations with the Dominion have been taking place and in 2373, Cardassia declared its alliance with the Dominion. the negotiator of this pact, Gul Dukat, became the new leader of the Cardassian Union. Strengthened by her new alliance, Cardassia entered into conflict with the Federation alongside Dominion troops. terok Nor was retaken for a brief period. As of now, Cardassia is still officially allied with the Dominion and is still at war with the Federation alliance which includes the Klingons and the Romulans.