Earth - Romulan War The Earth - Romulan War , also known as the Romulan War ( s ) , was a major interstellar conflict fought from 2156 to 2160 between the forces of United Earth and those of the Romulan Star Empire . Its conclusion , which was marked by an Earth / Andorian / Vulcan / Tellarite alliance decisively defeating the Romulans at the Battle of Cheron , led to the establishment of the Romulan Neutral Zone and immediately preceded the incorporation of the United Federation of Planets . ( ; ) Prelude . In the early 2150s , Earth began to make impressive diplomatic and military advancements in the Alpha Quadrant . Major conflict between the Vulcan s , Andorian s , and Tellarite s had for the most part ended thanks to diplomatic intervention by United Earth and the starship , under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer . The Romulan s saw this newfound peace in the region unacceptable , and thus began a carefully crafted campaign to destabilize the region and maintain the status quo of conflict between the quadrant ' s major powers . At some point prior to 2154 , a reunification movement began to become popular among some Romulan and Vulcan citizens . In that year , the Vulcan High Command , under the leadership of Administrator V ' Las , planned to launch a preemptive strike against Andoria , citing that the Andorians were developing weaponry based on Xindi technology . Additionally , the Earth embassy on was bombed prior to the attempted execution of these plans , prompting involvement by United Earth and Starfleet . Although V ' Las ' s plans were halted and his involvement with the bombing was exposed , his connection with a Romulan operative who had been working on Vulcan with V ' Las for several years remained secret . ( ) Later that year , the Romulans attempted to incite a war between Andoria and Tellar by using automated drone ships to attack Andorian and Tellarite targets . Unfortunately for the Romulans , this had the opposite effect of what they were hoping to achieve ; instead of destabilizing and dividing the region , the attacks resulted in a successful allied effort to stop the drone ships and return peace to the region . ( ) In early 2155 , the consolidation of interests among Earth and some of its neighbors reached a new milestone , when a conference to form a Coalition of Planets was convened . It included participants from the later war allies and Federation founders , i . e . , Vulcan , Andoria , and Tellar , in addition to United Earth . ( ) Open conflict . In 2156 , Earth forces and the Romulan Empire entered a state of war that would continue until 2160 . ( ; ) In 2266 , Spock categorized the weaponry generally used in the Earth - Romulan War as atomic in nature , and fairly primitive at that . He also characterized the ships in use as primitive , and designed in ways that did not permit quarter or captives . Romulan starships were painted to resemble a " bird of prey " , a tradition kept through the mid - 23rd century . Ship - to - ship visual communication between Earth - allied ships and Romulan - allied ships did not take place during the war or during the peace negotiations . Among the casualties during the course of the war include several members of the Stiles family , including one Captain . ( ) A number of MACO s fought in the war , including Balthazar Edison . ( ) The Battle of Cheron in 2160 is generally considered the decisive battle that marked the end of the Earth - Romulan War . Both sides recognized the major victory achieved here by a Human / Vulcan / Andorian / Tellarite alliance as a humiliating defeat of the Romulan military . This event would establish long - term political effects within the Romulan Empire lasting well into the 24th century . ( ; ) Aftermath . Despite the Romulan ' s 2154 campaign of destabilization and the war that followed , Earth and Romulus learned little of each other in the 22nd century . In fact it would be over a century before any Human would even " see " what a Romulan looked like . ( ) Following the Battle of Cheron the two sides negotiated a treaty via subspace radio . Among other things , it established a Neutral Zone , entry into which by either side would constitute an act of war . Earth set up at least eight outpost stations on asteroid s along its side of the Neutral Zone to monitor Romulan activity . From a 23rd - century Human perspective , the Neutral Zone represented an area " between planets Romulus and Remus and the rest of the galaxy . . . " Some Humans still harbored resentment over the war after over a century of peace , including Lieutenant of the . Despite these Human attitudes , until 2266 the Neutral Zone served its purpose and the treaty had remained unbroken . In fact , one might say it served its purpose too well , as there were limited or no contacts between Earth and the Romulan Star Empire from the conclusion of the war until the mid - 23rd century . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The details of the Earth - Romulan War have remained canon ically vague . As Spock said about the war , " " As you recall from your histories , this conflict was fought , by our standards today , with primitive atomic weapons and in primitive space vessels which allowed no quarter , no captives . Nor was there even ship - to - ship , visual communication ; therefore , no Human , Romulan , or ally has ever seen the other . Earth believes the Romulans to be warlike , cruel , treacherous . . . and only the Romulans know what they think of Earth . " " The exact dates for the war and several details above are derived from a seen in the episode . The graphic was comprised of data points from an outdated version of the . Prior to this , a behind - the - scenes newspaper clipping titled " It ' s Federation Day ! " , which was among the collection found in the Picard family album from , dated " 11 Oct . 2161 , " stated that the war ended " a little more than a year " prior to the final declaration of peace and the foundation of the Federation . This source also stated that the war ended with the Battle of Cheron in early 2160 . This information did not appear on screen . Michael and Denise Okuda wrote in the " Star Trek Chronology " : " " ( ) seemed to imply that the Romulan Wars actually reached Earth . " " Some evidence indicates that Earth itself commenced the conflict , as Data remarked in " The Defector " that " " in their long history of war , the Romulans have rarely attacked first . . . they prefer to test their enemy ' s resolve . " " In other words , Earth may have been provoked into acting first , either intentionally or possibly inadvertently . However , it may have been one of the few occasions on which the Romulans did attack first , such as the events that transpired in . The fourth season of " Star Trek : Enterprise " began to show the very early beginning of the coming conflict with the Romulans . Had " Enterprise " been renewed for a fifth season , it would have continued to show the whispers of the Romulan War and eventually allow the conflict to be realized on screen . Additionally , according to rumors at the time , Rick Berman and Brannon Braga considered making " Future Guy " a Romulan . However , this was simply a " red herring " : Braga intended " Future Guy " to be a future version of Jonathan Archer . An early concept for a proposed eleventh " Star Trek " film – " " – would have revealed the beginnings of the Earth - Romulan War . However , this concept was scrapped for the film . In the " Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual " , Franz Joseph offered a one - page version of the subspace peace treaty that concluded the war . It was signed by " Christofur Thorpe " for Earth and " Praetor Karzan " for the Romulans . There are several points of ambiguity involved with this time period . For more information on those topics , please see cloaking device , Romulan Bird - of - Prey ( 22nd century ) , and Romulan Bird - of - Prey ( 23rd century ) . " Spaceflight Chronology " ( 1979 ) . In the reference book " Spaceflight Chronology " , more detailed accounts are given of the events that led to the war and the war itself . Fourteen years prior to the actual war , the Romulan Star Empire began a campaign of attacks disguised as random space pirate activity . The first of these attacks was the hijacking of the ore freighter . Two years later the Delta VII outpost was attacked . Five years after this , the commercial transport " Diana " was attacked with its cargo stolen and crew killed . Four years prior to the actual war , the reports on piracy attacks were for the first time perceived as possibly being organized . Three years before the war , Starbase 1 , in Sector 3A , was destroyed by what was still believed to be an act of space piracy . Romulans were for the first time identified as the culprits . All transports were given military escorts at this time . Two years before the war , the Romulan threat became apparent . A year before the war , Romulans made a number of hit and run attacks to several sectors . The actual war began when a full Romulan invasion fleet advancing on the Rigel system was encountered by the destroyer USS " Patton " . In the second year of the war , Romulans managed to destroy a mining complex in Sector 5B . A Romulan armada was completely destroyed in Sector 7 . In the third year of the war , Romulans attacked Alpha Omega . Victory in the war was credited to advanced ship - mounted laser weaponry , developed only two years before the war as a response to the destruction of Starbase 1 . The dates of these events in the timeline of the " Spaceflight Chronology " differ from the canonical timeline . Also , the major difference between these accounts and canonical accounts is that the war is stated to have been fought by the Federation , not the allied forces as was established later on in the from . " Federation - The First 150 Years " ( 2012 ) . According to the reference book " " , Praetor Gileus led the Romulan Star Empire into the war against United Earth by ordering a surprise attack on Starbase 1 on Algeron . During the conflict Denobula tried to remain neutral , but in 2158 a Romulan fleet attacked the planet in order to use one of its orbital space stations as staging ground for an attack on the Sol system ; fortunately for Earth , Starfleet assumes as much and is able to prepare defenses , turning the eventual assault into a - esque catastrophe from which the Romulans would never recover . Although this occupation only lasted a short time , three million Denobulans were killed by orbital strikes , causing them to be more skeptical and to not join the Federation immediately , in 2161 . The Battle of Cheron is ultimately won by Earth when the starship " Lexington " , combined with a small fleet of Denobulan ships , sets a course for Romulus . Gileus , fearing that the impending attack would threaten his power , prematurely orders his fleet defending Cheron to return to Romulus mid - battle , allowing " Enterprise " and " Atlantis " to destroy the shipyards there . Shortly afterwards , the Romulans sue for peace , and the Neutral Zone is established . Apocrypha . The Pocket ENT " relaunch " arc by Michael A . Martin , which is consistent with the " " series of novels by David Mack , covers the events from the end of " Enterprise " to the Romulan war . It starts with faking his death so he can spy on the Romulans , who are attempting to create a warp - seven capable ship . This reinterprets the events shown in , moving them to 2155 . According to the series , the Romulans started the war out of fear of the birth of the Coalition of Planets , by attacking proposed member Coridan ( thus delaying their entrance into the alliance until " " ) and then by attacking a number of Coalition ships using a telecapture device and destroying the " Kobayashi Maru " as seen in the novel " " . The novel series " " details the war proper . According to the novel " Last Full Measure " as well as the older novel " " , the Federation was born as a result of the conflict . In DC Comics ' s " The Mirror Universe Saga " the Earth - Romulan war marks the point of divergence for the mirror universe : In the mirror universe , Earth lost the war , was occupied by the Romulans , and the resistance that eventually fought them off took control of the planet and proclaimed that Humanity would now be the conquerors , not the conquered . This was later on established not to be the case in the episodes and , that establish that if there was a divergence point it was somewhere before the 16th century . According to the 2006 game " " , a Vulcan scientist named T ' Uerell supplied the Romulan Star Empire with metagenic weapons to use against Earth colonies . Earth used the radiation from nuclear reactors in the Tyburn system to halt a large Romulan force from reaching Earth – explaining the use of atomic weapons . The Last Unicorn Games book " Among the Clans : The Andorians " makes reference to a series of Earth - Romulan " wars " , taking place during roughly the same time as the single canonical war . Diane Duane ' s 1987 novel " The Romulan Way " , published fourteen years before " Star Trek : Enterprise " aired , gives an entirely different version of events . In this version the Romulans were still a prewarp people when the Federation discovered them . The Romulans mistook the exploration vessel for a precursor to invasion and quickly created a fleet of primitive sublight warships which they used to capture the next Federation ship to approach Romulus . From it they reverse - engineered a number of technologies including warp drive . Things escalated from there , and the Federation eventually negotiated the Treaty of Alpha Trianguli entirely by subspace radio , setting up the terms of the Romulan Neutral Zone and designating a swathe of space surrounding the Romulan system as the Romulan Star Empire .