Treaty of Algeron

In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Treaty of Algeron is an agreement between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire.

History

The fictional history of the Treaty of Algeron is learned through comments made by several different characters and spread over many episodes of the various Star Trek series. According to these characters, the Treaty of Algeron was signed in 2311, following the Tomed Incident. At least a portion of it served as a confirmation and expansion of the previous treaty, signed between the and the Romulan Empire in 2160. The Treaty of Algeron was amended once, in 2371; as the threat of the Dominion War loomed, the Romulan Empire agreed to amend the treaty in order to allow the Federation to use a cloaking device on one of their ships, to gather intelligence on their new enemy, provided that this intelligence would be shared with the Empire

One episode depicted a possible future of the Star Trek universe. In this episode, the Romulan Empire had fallen by 2395. As a consequence, the Treaty of Algeron was now void. The Neutral Zone no longer existed, and the Federation routinely used cloaking devices on its starships.

Articles and amendments

Only two articles of the Treaty of Algeron have been mentioned on-screen. Furthermore, one was amended during the run of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

The characters in Star Trek episodes most often refer to the articles of the treaty that affirm the boundaries of the Romulan Neutral Zone, and the fact that the violation of the Neutral Zone by either party constitutes an act of war. However, other characters already mentioned these facts during events that took place (in the Star Trek universe chronology) before the signing of the Treaty of Algeron. They indicate that these articles were also part of the treaty signed between the United Earth and the Romulan Empire at the end of the Earth-Romulan War.

The only other article of the treaty mentioned on-screen is the one that forbids the Federation from researching or implementing cloaking technology. An amendment to this article was mentioned on-screen, which allowed the Federation to install a Romulan cloaking device on one ship, the USS Defiant, under the supervision of a Romulan officer, and under the condition that the Federation would share its intelligence on the Dominion.
* Stardate 42609.1, by the Romulans and the Federation
* Stardate 43462.5, by the Romulans and the Federation
* Stardate 44390.1, by the Romulans and the Federation
* Stardate 45245.8, by the Romulans
* Stardate 47457.1, by the Federation
* Stardate 50975.2, by the Federation

Non-canon

Further details on the circumstances leading to the Treaty of Algeron are given in David R. George III's 2003 Star Trek novel Serpents Among the Ruins.

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