Cadet, welcome to Federation history 101. We will take you through a bref federation history for the last 30 years.
2380The Federation/Cardassian war. The Federation and Cardassian relations broke down resulting in a war. The Cardassian empire was completly destroyed, the Federation left only the Cardassia system intact. The Cardassians were not heard of again until 2408. Also in this year the Dominion re-entered the alpha quadrant, they began re-claiming the Cardassians former territory. They once again entered into an alliance with the Cardassians.
2382-2386: The Alpha/Beta quadrant war begins. After the end of the dominion war the Federation/Romulan/Klingon alliance broke down and the quadrants were at each others throats for years. Every major race in the Alpha and Beta quadrants was pitched against each other other in this war. The beggining was nothing more than a few skirmishes but escalated to an all out conflict resulting in the devastation of the Klingon and Romulan empires
2387-2400:The Klingons enter a period of complete isolation, fortifying the borders so no one but Klingons could enter their territory. In 2400 the Klingons emerged as a superpower again. They immediatly pursued peace talks with the Federation resulting in a sturdy alliance
2397:The last know contact with the borg. A federation battleship encountered 2 borg spheres while on a deep space mission in the Beta quadrant. The spheres were destroyed and the battleship was presumed lost by starfleet. 3 Years later the battleship limped into port at starbase 319.
2402: The federation re-organisation. Following the new alliance with the Klingons the Federation felt the need to once again eastblish itself as a fully fledged military power. The Star Fleet Marine Corps and Flight Corps was introduced and starfleet ships were organized into permanent fleets.Over 700 ships were dismatled to make way for new classes and a further 300 ships were given refits. The only ship class from pre 2400 that survives to this day is the Prometheus class.Also a new starship registery system was devised with more meaning than the old NCC system
2403-2411: So called the Golden eara of the Quadrants was anything but golden. In 2403 the last dominion ships fled back through the wormhole after their alliance with the cardassians broke down. There has been no contact of any kind with the dominion since 2403. After the Dominion retreated diplomatic tensions between the superpowers of the Alpha and Beta quadrants began to build up. The Federation-Klingon alliance held firm and the other superpowers cast a wary eye over the alliance. The superpowers began to spy on each other using long range sensor outposts. By 2411 tensions were at an all time high. All they needed was a spark to set them off...