Organian Peace Treaty

In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Organian Peace Treaty was the armistice, imposed by the Organians, upon the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. This is an example of the pacifist moral tone of the show which was created at the time of the Vietnam war.

History

The armistice was declared on stardate 3199.5 in the episode Errand of Mercy. It stopped a potential war between the Federation and Klingon Empire and established a neutral zone between the two powers. While it prohibited violent conflict between the two powers within the zone, it also allowed for the peaceful development of less advanced cultures on planets located within the zone.

The implications of the treaty are seen in a later episode, The Trouble with Tribbles, where jurisdiction over Sherman's planet is to be awarded to the side able to manage it most efficiently. The Federation intends to secure it using a grain called quadro-triticale instead of a war fleet. The limited edition comic series Star Trek: Blood will Tell also deals with the impact of the Organian Peace Treaty in the politics of the Klingon Empire.

A later series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, abandons the use of the treaty as a plot device and the Klingon Empire and the Federation go to war with each other briefly. The reason for its disuse in the later Star Trek universe has not yet been explained, though it is possible that the Khitomer Accords, briefly withdrawn from during the war, had replaced the Organian Treaty. Some apocryphal novels also allude, but do not elaborate, on the Organians withdrawing entirely from interstellar affairs and thus being unable to enforce the treaty.
 
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