Time of Awakening

File:AtomicBomb.jpg

The explosion of an atomic bomb during the Time of Awakening

The Time of Awakening was a period in Vulcan history when the violent and warlike Vulcan race switched to more peaceful ways. It occurred sometime during the 4th century of the Earth calendar.

The change was brought on by a Vulcan named Surak, who preached a philosophy of using logic to control emotions, as well as total pacifism. He was effective in spreading his teaching across Vulcan, though he encountered heavy resistance from many Vulcans, especially "those who marched beneath the raptor's wings", even starting a nuclear war. Surak died of radiation sickness shortly before the last battle against these factions, but his writings were preserved in the Kir'Shara.

In the end, a sizable group of Vulcans eventually left the planet, becoming the ancestors of the Debrune and the Romulans.

It should be noted that there is no actual proof that these Vulcans were actually rebelling against Surak; all that is canonically known is that a group of Vulcans left the homeworld around this time, but whether or not they opposed Surak's teachings has never been officially stated on-screen. It is however likely that the faction Surak referred to as "those who march beneath the Raptor's wings" were the precursors of the Romulans, given that the Romulan Empire's emblem is a raptor.

References

• TOS: "The Savage Curtain"
• TNG: "Gambit, Part II"
• ENT:
  • "Awakening"
  • "Kir'Shara"

Apocrypha

There are several novels that deal with the Time of Awakening, though revelations in Star Trek: Enterprise's Vulcan Reformation trilogy have rendered them somewhat inconsistent with the Star Trek canon. These include:

• The Romulan Way (Rihannsu #2) by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood
• Spock's World by Diane Duane
• Vulcan's Soul trilogy by Josepha Sherman and Susan Schwartz
  • Exodus
  • Exiles
  • Epiphany
• The Yesterday Saga Books #3-5 by A.C. Crispin (canceled)