Romulan-Klingon relations

The Romulan-Klingon Alliance was a brief agreement between the Romulan Star Empire and the Klingon Empire, in the face of expansion by the United Federation of Planets into the Beta Quadrant.

History

23rd century

After the First Federation-Klingon War in 2266 and the Romulans' emergence from isolation that same year, the two former enemies agreed to temporarily put aside their differences to resist their common adversary, the Federation.

Among the terms of the agreement was a technology exchange: the Romulans received advanced Klingon D7-class battlecrusiers in exchange for Romulan cloaking device technology. Starfleet Intelligence first reported that Romulans were using Klingon designs in late-2267. (TOS: "The Enterprise Incident", Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

The Alliance came to a quick end at the Battle of Klach D'Kel Brakt in the 2272, and the Klingon's subsequent attack on Romulus. (DS9: "Blood Oath", "The Sword of Kahless")

The terms of this Alliance are highly speculative, based on the background of the two empires. The alliance was first introduced in the Original Series as a way of explaining why Romulans would be using Klingon ships, as the producers had invested a great deal of money in building a new model for the Klingon ship and wanted to get as much use out of it as possible. Add to that the fact that the Klingons began using cloaking devices in the movie era. The significance of the Battle of Klach D'Kel Brakt is also speculative, but based on the timing, it seems likely that that battle ended the temporary alliance between the two blood enemies.

Despite the open warfare of the 2270s, the Romulans continuously supported any opportunity to end peace talks between the Klingons and the Federation and the subsequent Treaty of Alliance, often allying with Klingon's who were against change.

In 2293, Romulan ambassador Nanclus was part of joint Federation-Klingon conspiracy to assassinate the Klingon chancellor and Federation President. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

24th century

Despite obvious differences and with the Federation still remaining as their common enemy, the two Empires continued to maintain a loose alliance through the mid-24th century. This alliance would be broken on a number of occasions including the attack of the Klingon base on Narendra III in 2344. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")

The House of Duras would later betray the Klingon Empire with their secret alliance with the Romulans. The Romulans attacked the Klingon colony on Khitomer in 2346, when the Romulans were supposed to be their allies, in what would later be known as the Khitomer Massacre. This alliance between the House of Duras and the Romulans would continue well into the 2360s; eventually inciting the Klingon Civil War. (TNG: "The Neutral Zone", "Sins of the Father")

In 2367, the Romulans supplied Kriosian rebels, who were attempting to declare independance from the Klingons, with mock Federation phasers. Working with Klingon ambassador Kell, the Romulans "brainwashed" Starfleet officer Geordi La Forge to assassinate the Klingon governor of Krios in the name of the Federation, an attempt that ultimately failed. (TNG: "The Mind's Eye")

Despite the failure, the Romulan's secretly continued their support, knowing that if they were successful, they would again have an opportunity to end the Federation-Klingon treaty. Weeks later, the Duras family attempted to overthrow Chancellor Gowron, so that they could gain complete control over the Klingon High Council. With the Romulans' support, supporters of the House of Duras nearly defeated the forces supporting Gowron. The Romulans' support, however, was discovered by Starfleet in early 2368, effectively ending the Duras's alliance with their Romulan co-conspirators. (TNG: "Redemption, Part I & Part II")

Also see

• Federation Alliance