The Maquis: Terrorist, Traitor, Freedom Fighter

This month, we’re going to look at the two part Deep Space Nine episode The Maquis and what ideologically separates a group from being terrorists, traitors, or freedom fighters. 

A quick backstory on the Maquis: They are a rebellious group of Federation colonists who were told to give up their homes in the demilitarized zone after the colonies they established were handed over to the Cardassians following the Jankata Accord which ended the Federation-Carassian war. This created a demilitarized zone between the Alpha quadrant and the Cardassian Union which allowed for colonization, but absolutely no weapons or military encampments. Multiple planets changed hands and mass evacuations were ordered on both sides.

So here’s you, a Federation colonial on a plant. You’ve scraped together a community who works together and provides for each other. You’ve been fearing or actually living through attacks from the Cardassians and successfully defended your land. It’s land you’ve fought for, and now, at the end of a pen, it’s being taken away and you have to start all over elsewhere. Not only that, but what you’ve built is being handed to the very people who killed your people and destroyed your way of living.

What do you do? Do you stand and fight or follow the orders of the Federation? After years of blood and sweat to build and defend your land, do you just walk away to a brand new, prefabricated home on a new colonial world? Does the American in you make you want to stand up and fight?

Historically, the Maquis were rural guerilla bands of French Resistance fighters pushing back against the Nazis during WWII. How purposeful this choice was for the writers room of Star Trek is difficult to say since the Maquis are found in both DS9 and TNG. You and I know the French Resistance to be on the right side of our current history, so where do their SciFi counterparts fall in historical context? 

The Cardassians call the Maquis terrorists, the Federation calls them traitors and they call themselves freedom fighters. Three labels that easily apply to anyone fighting depending on where you’re looking in from. The French Maquis were part of a victorious resistance against the invading Nazis while the Federation Maquis ended up broken apart, their members either dead, imprisoned by the Federation or completely impotent in power. The Federation and Cardassian union find common ground in defeating the Dominion and, I can only assume, skirmishes in the DMZ stop.

Commander Sisko’s role in these two episodes are to do his best to stop the war from flaming back up after the Maquis destroy the Bok’Nor, a Cardassian cargo ship. One of the reasons I love DS9 is that Sisko is constantly finding himself in the middle of moral quandaries, especially after finding an old friend and Starfleet officer has defected to the Maquis to help them smuggle guns into the DMZ (The reason being because the Cardassians are doing the same thing). But we also find the Maquis aren’t necessarily motivated by land, it’s revenge they want. Revenge against the Cardassians and revenge against the Federation for their perceived abandonment. In the end, an accord is reached by the Federation and the Cardassians, but the the Maquis are determined to fight on.

--"On Earth there is no poverty, no crime, no war. You look out the window at Starfleet Headquarters and you see paradise. Well, it's easy to be a saint in paradise. But the Maquis do not live in paradise. Out there, in the Demilitarized Zone, all problems have not been solved yet. There are no saints, just people; angry, scared, determined people who are going to do whatever it takes to survive, whether it meets with the Federation approval or not." --Ben Sisko --

America is a nation who’s history is built on resistance. The American Revolution, the Civil War, WWII, all of them stories revolving around the idea of resistance, and all their historical accuracies just as muddled as the Maquis. How much of these wars are noble causes and how much about good old fashioned revenge? The Civil War was about one side fighting to hold onto their right to keep slaves. They didn’t want to change or adjust their way of thinking, so they picked up rifles and decided to kill anyone who told them otherwise.

I can’t say I agree with the Maquis, but I also can’t fault them. It’s hard to see the big picture when everything you are as an individual is uprooted against your will. Despite the post scarcity socialism the Federation enjoys, there are still things to fight for in this future, and a sense of purpose or belonging is one of them. When the Federation told the colonists to leave, was it abandonment or protection? It’s certainly going to depend on if you’re a saint in paradise or just a regular person having their lives turned upside down to appease their enemies.

The Federation calls the Maquis traitors, the Cardassians call them terrorists, and they call themselves freedom fighters. In a way, they are all the same thing. It just depends which side of the implosion device planted on a cargo ship you find yourself on.