Eugenics Wars

Infobox fictional conflict
conflict=Eugenics Wars


Caption= Khan Noonien Singh as he appears in "Space Seed"
depictions= Plot point in "Space Seed" of ',
"Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" of ' and
"Borderland" of ""
date=1990s
place=Earth (focused in Asia)
result="Supermen" defeated
combatant1=Governments of many world powers including the United States of America
combatant2=Genetically engineered "Supermen"
strength1=Unknown
strength2=Unknown
commanders1=Unknown
commanders2=Khan Noonien Singh and others
casualties1=37 million
casualties2=Near complete destruction excluding small group in suspended animation on the starship "Botany Bay"

The Eugenics Wars are a fictional backstory event in the Star Trek fictional universe. First mentioned in the "" episode "Space Seed", in which it was stated that the Eugenics War was a global conflict that occurred during the mid-to-late 1990s.cite web|url=http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68708.html|title=Episode: Space Seed|publisher=StarTrek.com|accessdate=2007-12-03] The progeny of a human genetic engineering project established themselves as supermen and attempted world domination. The most notable of them, Khan Noonien Singh, conquered a quarter of the planet, mostly Asia. They ended up fighting amongst themselves and were eventually overthrown due to their disunity. Khan, however, escaped into space with a group of his followers only to be encountered by the USS "Enterprise" after spending centuries in suspended animation aboard the pre-warp starship "Botany Bay". The Eugenics Wars are a narrative explanation within Star Trek continuity as to why humanity has not enhanced itself or otherwise achieved superhuman levels despite the story taking place in a time and setting where technology exists which should obviously be capable of doing so.

Television episodes

In "Space Seed," Mr. Spock refers to the Eugenics Wars being Earth's third world war. It should be noted that Spock stated the Eugenics Wars as "the era of your last so-called world war." This could be interpreted that some optimistic contemporaries of the conflict thought it would be the last global war. Of course, if that were the case, Spock should have said "your so-called last world war" instead of "your last so-called global war." This statement has been quietly ignored, however, and in the "Star Trek" universe, World War III is said to have taken place in the mid 21st century, ending in 2053.

Further, Spock's dialogue in the episode "Bread and Circuses" establishes a figure of "37 million killed" during Earth's "World War III." Clearly, however, we now know that this figure refers not to the death toll of the 2053 nuclear holocaust, but rather that of the Eugenics Wars; now differentiated from the mid-21st century conflict by the reconciliation with "Enterprise"'s "Borderland" dialogue.

Significant mention of the Eugenics Wars also drove the plot of ""'s episode "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?". [cite web|url=http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/library/episodes/DS9/detail/68990.html|title=Episode: Doctor Bashir, I Presume?|publisher=StarTrek.com|accessdate=2007-12-03] A later episode, "Statistical Probabilities", also mentions the Eugenics Wars, where Julian Bashir uses the war as an example of why the Federation is wary of genetically engineered people. [cite web|url=http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/DS9/episode/71466.html|title=Episode: Statistical Probabilities|publisher=StarTrek.com|accessdate=2007-12-03]

In the two-part ' episode "Future's End", the crew of USS "Voyager" were transported to Earth in 1996 Los Angeles; there seems to be no indication that the Eugenics Wars had even taken place. However, the ' episode "Borderland" reaffirmed in the filmed canon that 30 million people indeed perished in the conflict.cite web|url=http://www.treknation.com/reviews/enterprise/borderland.shtml|title=Borderland|first=Michelle Erica|last=Green|publisher=TrekNation|date=2004-10-30|accessdate=2007-12-03]

The "TOS" episode "The Savage Curtain" involves a Colonel Green, but he was not involved in the Eugenics Wars. In the original series, Green is only said to have "led a genocidal war in the 21st century". [cite web|url=http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68814.html|title=Episode: The Savage Curtain|publisher=StarTrek.com|accessdate=2007-12-03] Subsequent episodes of "Enterprise" made it clear that Green's heyday was in the dark times after World War III, when Green ordered the deaths of hundreds of thousands of radiation-scarred victims in an attempt to keep the human race "pure." Also, these "Enterprise" episodes (specifically "In a Mirror, Darkly") reveal that the 37 million deaths which Spock mentioned, are in fact attributed directly to Green himself: he was a leader of a radical faction of environmental terrorists whose genocidal operations resulted in the loss of 37 million lives.

Novels

At the time "Space Seed" was written, the Eugenics Wars were implied to be large-scale global conflicts. However, after the very different reality of the actual 1990s, the Eugenics Wars have been retconned in some of the licensed "Star Trek" novels that describe them as much more covert conflicts, secret wars that occurred mostly in the shadows of the major conflicts and events of that decade, with Gary Seven and his assistant being Khan's principal opponents. [cite book |last=Cox |first=Greg |authorlink=Greg Cox |title=The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh |date=2001-07-01 |publisher=Pocket Books |location=New York |isbn=0671021273 ] [cite book |last=Cox |first=Greg |authorlink=Greg Cox |title=The Eugenics Wars |date=2002-04-02 |publisher=Pocket Books |location=New York |isbn=0671021273 ] [cite web|url=http://www.treknation.com/reviews/books/eugenics_war_one.shtml|title=The Eugenics War, Volume One|first=Michelle Erica|last=Green|publisher=TrekNation|date=2001-06-18|accessdate=2007-12-03] [cite web|url=http://www.treknation.com/reviews/books/books_190402.shtml|title=Spring Star Trek Books|first=Michelle Erica|last=Green|publisher=TrekNation|date=2002-04-20|accessdate=2007-12-03]

ee also

*"Eugenics Wars" argument - an argument against the contemporary or near-future genetic engineering of human beings based upon the fear that it may lead to the return of coercive state-sponsored genetic discrimination and human rights violations such as compulsory sterilization of persons with genetic defects, the killing of the institutionalized and, specifically, segregation from, and genocide of, "races" perceived as inferior.

*"" - a two volume set of non-canon novels written by Greg Cox.

References

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External links

* [http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Eugenics_Wars Eugenics Wars] article at Memory Beta, a Star Trek wiki