The Confederated Martian Colonies was a Federation Member State located in the Sol system on the planet Mars. (TNG novel: The Genesis Wave, Book 1; ENT - The Romulan War novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing)

Government[]

The Martian legislature was known in 2155 as the Assembly of the Martian Colonies. It consisted of representatives from Mars's largely autonomous communities, including a number of Native American nations that had re-located to Mars. Another important governmental body was known as the Governing Council. (ENT - The Romulan War novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing) By 2162, the legislature was known as the Martian Parliament. (ST - Section 31 novel: Control)

The nature of the relationship between the Governing Council and the Assembly was unestablished in Beneath the Raptor's Wing. They may have been separate institutions, or they may have been the same institution.

The capital city of the Confederated Martian Colonies was Ares City. (TOS novel: The Captain's Daughter, ENT - The Romulan War novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing)

Prior to the establishment of the United Federation of Planets, the Confederated Martian Colonies maintained diplomatic relations with United Earth. While not a member of the Coalition of Planets, the Confederated Martian Colonies did have a planetary representative to the Coalition during the Earth-Romulan War. (ENT - The Romulan War novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing)

History[]

The Martian colonies were some of the oldest off-Earth colonies established by Humans. Shazzerd was famed as the founder of the initial colony. (TNG - Slings and Arrows eBook: That Sleep of Death) Among the earliest colonists were the ancestors of Jean-Luc Picard. (TNG movie: Star Trek Generations)

In 2105, the War of Martian Independence began with the Gundersdottir's Dome Rebellion and a series of general strikes that rocked Earth's economy. The war proved bloody, and culminated in the Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies and Martian independence. (ENT - The Romulan War novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing) The Fundamental Declarations later came to be regarded as a landmark in the legal struggle for individual rights. (TOS episode: "Court Martial") In spite of Mars's nominal independence, however, it gradually became little more than a political satellite of United Earth, marginalized in favor of the populous political centers of Earth and Centauri III, and gaining a reputation among Humans as "the cosmic Canada." (ENT - The Romulan War novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing)

Interestingly, Mars gained its independence prior to the founding of United Earth, which was established to have occurred in 2130 by the novel Articles of the Federation, and prior to the founding of the United Earth Republic, a defunct attempt at a planetary state founded in 2113 according to the ST - Section 31 novel: Control. Presumably the Martian colonies were originally the holdings of one or more of Earth's pre-Unification states, from whom they gained their independence.

That year, a non-corporeal being later known as Redjac killed eight women on Mars. (TOS episode: "Wolf in the Fold")

By 2155, the process of terraforming Mars to Class M standards was well underway, and the planet hosted the Verteron Array used to clear the Sol system of dangerous asteroids. That year, the xenophobic Human organization Terra Prime took over the Array and used it to fire on Luna to extort all non-Humans into leaving the Sol system on pain of an attack on San Francisco. The crew of the Enterprise NX-01 was able to stop Terra Prime and redirect the Array's attack into the Pacific Ocean. (ENT episodes: "Demons", "Terra Prime")

In 2155, the Confederated Martian Colonies maintained a planetary representative to the Coalition of Planets, though it had not been accepted as a Coalition member. That year, Qaletaqu, a native of Popé Pueblo and son of former Martian Ambassador to United Earth Katowa, served as Martian Special Representative to the Coalition Council. Qaletaqu bore the responsibility of delivering the news of the Confederacy of Vulcan's refusal to enter into large-scale engagements with the forces of the Romulan Star Empire during the Earth-Romulan War in favor of providing a system-wide warning system to the Sol system. Many Martians were particularly angry because of Mars's increased vulnerability to edge-of-system attacks. (ENT - The Romulan War novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing)

In 2161, the Confederated Martian Colonies became the first Member State to join the United Federation of Planets after its original five founders. (ENT - Rise of the Federation novel: A Choice of Futures) The vote on whether or not to join the Federation had been extremely close in the Martian Parliament. A senior Member of the Martian Parliament, Maria Caycedo, led the opposition to Federation membership prior to the vote. Caycedo died due to exposure to peanut dust, and her successor cast the deciding vote in favor of applying for Federation membership. More than two centuries later, it was revealed that Caycedo's death had been arranged by the rogue super artificial intelligence known as Uraei. (ST - Section 31 novel: Control)

Star Trek: Star Charts refers to the United Martian Colonies being a charter member of the Federation. This is contradicted by the novel Articles of the Federation, which establishes the Federation's founding worlds to have been Earth, Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, and Alpha Centauri.

By the mid-23rd century, the Confederated Martian Colonies had been home to a longstanding population of Tellarite immigrants and their descendants, and it was felt by some that the Tellarite Martian community's contributions to Mars's history were often overlooked. Nonetheless, a Tellarite Martian named Chab jav Lorg had become Mars's Federation Councillor by 2270, and would later go on to be elected Federation President. (DTI novel: Forgotten History)

In 2286, the Federation Councillor for the Confederated Martian Colonies was amongst those members of the Federation Council being briefed on Project Genesis. (TNG novel: The Genesis Wave, Book 1.)

In the 24th century, the Confederated Martian Colonies had a population of 133.8 million. (ST reference: Star Charts) However, some Martians had come to feel that Mars's status as a Federation Member State and the site of the Federation Starfleet's Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards had diminished the status for which their ancestors had fought centuries earlier. (TNG - Section 31 novel: Rogue)

In 2374, Quark of Ferenginar claimed that the flag of the first of the Martian colonies was inspired by a velvet painting of a matador. This may have been an exaggeration used to inflate the price of a painting which Quark was trying to auction at the time. (DS9 episode: "In the Cards")

Alternate timelines[]

In one alternate timeline, the Confederated Martian Colonies was destroyed by the Xindi in 2154. (ENT episode: "Twilight")

In another alternate timeline, Terra Prime's use of the Verteron Array was successful in destroying Starfleet Headquarters and forcing humanity out of the Coalition of Planets. (Star Trek: Myriad Universes novel: A Less Perfect Union)

Noted Martians[]

• Shazzerd, founder of the first Martian colony
• Katowa, Chief of the Martian Hopi-Pueblo Nation in the 2150s and former Martian Ambassador to United Earth
• Qaletaqu, planetary representative of the Confederated Martian Colonies to the Coalition of Planets in 2155
• Chab jav Lorg, 23rd century Tellarite Martian who served as Federation Councillor from the Confederated Martian Colonies and later as Federation President
• Mira Romaine, a lieutenant aboard USS Enterprise, born at Martian Colony 3 in the mid 23rd century. (TOS episode: "The Lights of Zetar")
• Simon Tarses, a crewman aboard the USS Enterprise-D, born in the Martian Colonies in the mid 24th century. (TNG episode: "The Drumhead")
• Sean Hawk, former USS Enterprise flight controller
• Rene Jacques Robert Francois Picard, son of Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher

Background[]

There is conflicting canonical information regarding the date of the founding of the Martian Colonies. The VOY episode "The 37's" established that "Mars was colonized by people from Earth in 2103," while the ENT episode "Terra Nova" establishes that Utopia Planitia had been founded before 2069. The episodes "Demons" and "Terra Prime" also mention "Utopia colony," while at the same time the terraforming of Mars was ongoing. This may indicate colonization happened in stages over the course of several decades.

Star Charts establishes the Martian state's name to be the United Martian Colonies. Beneath the Raptor's Wing establishes it to be the Confederated Martian Colonies. The FASA roleplay module The Romulan War refers to it as the Martian Free State. Star Charts also establishes Utopia Planitia as Mars's capital city, whilst The Romulan War establishes Ares City to be the seat of the Governing Council and the TOS novel The Captain's Daughter establishes it as the Martian capital.

External link[]

• Confederated Martian Colonies article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.