Rebel Alliance

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Alliance to Restore the Republic
Rebel Alliance
Star Wars
First appearanceStar Wars (1977)
Most recent appearanceStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
In-universe information
Type
Founded2 BBY
Defunct5 ABY, dissolved after the
Tureen VII
, various other hidden bases
Leader
Key people
TechnologiesPressurized rooms, medical droids
Affiliations
Basic

The Rebel Alliance (known formally in-universe as the Alliance to Restore the Republic) is a fictional organization in the Star Wars franchise. The Alliance is portrayed as a stateless coalition of rebel dissidents and defectors who oppose the Galactic Empire and its authoritarian rule. Its stated goal is to restore the liberal governance of the previous Galactic Republic, which had been dissolved after its leader Palpatine seized absolute power and declared himself emperor. It is the main protagonistic faction of the original Star Wars trilogy, along with the mostly fallen Jedi Order.

In the Star Wars universe, the

freedom fighters
, based on tolerance, self-empowerment, and hope for a better future using insurgency weapons and tactics.

The Rebel Alliance was first featured as the main protagonist faction in the films A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). The faction's origins were alluded to in Revenge of the Sith (2005), and their early activities are featured in the Disney XD television series Rebels, the anthology film Rogue One (2016), and the Disney+ series Andor.

Depiction

Origins

Note: All dates in this article are in the BBY/ABY format. This is a fictional in-universe dating system centred on the Battle of Yavin in Episode IV: A New Hope in which the first Death Star is destroyed. BBY is Before the Battle of Yavin; ABY is After the Battle of Yavin.[1]

Founding members

  • Senator Mon Mothma – Co-founder; current commander-in-chief
  • Senator
    Bail Organa
    – Co-founder; early constituting member and head of the Alliance Council
  • Senator Padmé Amidala – Co-founder; early constituting member. She died a few days after founding the Alliance. (While the scene from Revenge of the Sith was deleted from the film, the information was affirmed by other official sources. Scene still present on Disney+)[3]
    • Died during Episode III: Revenge of the Sith while giving birth to twins Luke and Leia; the latter was adopted by Organa.

Early insurgency

Significant dates in the uprising are:

  • 19 BBY with the Delegation of 2000 Senators which demanded Chancellor Palpatine to lay down his emergency powers;[4]
  • 2 BBY with Mon Mothma's formal Declaration of Rebellion.[4]
Delegation of 2000 (19 BBY)

The earliest possible origins of the Alliance to Restore the Republic are told during the events of

Bail Organa meet in the latter's office to discuss ways to counter the already unjustified extraordinary powers of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine "subverting the Constitution" as the Clone Wars were waning, with Mothma stating their goal was "preserving democracy within the Republic". Amidala was initially skeptical of Palpatine's evil intentions because he had supported her during the Trade Federation's occupation of Naboo (The Phantom Menace, 32 BBY), but Organa and Mon Mothma announced the formation of an anti-Palpatine 'organization'; the six Senators agreed to a pact of silence. In deleted scene 3 titled "Seeds of Rebellion" (in Amidala's apartment with two new Senators joining the group), it is explained that the Delegation of 2000 disgruntled Senators will present a petition to the Chancellor. Amidala was more willing to oppose Palpatine now, but wanted to involve the Jedi, at least Anakin Skywalker. However, aside from one Senator agreeing, the others doubted whether the Jedi Council would be loyal to the Republic or the Chancellor, and opted to wait.[note 1][6] Amidala died in premature childbirth not long after her last-ditch attempt to prevent Anakin's fall. In The Imperial Handbook, Grand Moff Tarkin related that most members of the Delegation of 2000 were arrested; Mothma and Organa retained their Senatorship by remaining outwardly obedient to Palpatine, while secretly leading the unification of disparate bands of insurgents into what they termed the Rebel Alliance.[4]

First major battles, rebel fleet (5 BBY)

The Disney series

Mon Cala in 18 BBY (1 year into the Empire, 18 years prior to the Battle of Yavin).[8][9]

Declaration of Rebellion (2 BBY)

Near the end of the third season of Rebels, in "Secret Cargo", Alliance co-founder Senator Mon Mothma, escaped assassination for condemning the Ghorman Massacre and speaking out against the Emperor (2 BBY).[4] She called out to the various rebel cells and insurgency factions to unite into a unified coalition:

We, the beings of the Rebel Alliance, do this day send forth this Declaration to His Majesty, the Emperor, and to all sentient beings in the Galaxy, to make clear to all the Purposes and Goals of this Rebellion.

We believe that the Galactic Empire has willfully and malignantly usurped the rights of the free beings of the Galaxy and therefore, it is our unalienable right to abolish it from the Galaxy. We, the Rebel Alliance, do therefore in the name—and by the authority—of the free beings of the Galaxy, solemnly publish and declare our intentions:

To fight and oppose you and your forces, by any and all means at our disposal;
To refuse any Imperial law contrary to the rights of free beings;
To bring about your destruction and the destruction of the Galactic Empire;
To make forever free all beings in the galaxy.

To these ends, we pledge our property, our honor, and our lives.[10][11]

Many Rebel ships arrive at a rendezvous point above Dantooine to unite and form the "Alliance to Restore the Republic".[4]

Government

Further information: List of Star Wars Rebels characters

Senior civil government and military high command

Military

The Alliance Military and its activities were overseen by Alliance High Command, who managed the logistical and strategic matters of the Rebellion's efforts against the dominant Galactic Empire. Alliance Intelligence was headed by Spymaster

Crix Madine serving as General of Alliance Pathfinders
.

Alliance Grand Army

The Alliance military could never decisively win a "land war" with the Empire. Generally speaking, the quality of Alliance infantry varied greatly by

unit
. Due to the highly decentralized structure of the Alliance, these units often operated independently with little oversight, and were frequently lacking in discipline, equipment, intelligence and combat skills. They often consisted of convicts, street thugs, pirates, outlaws, and anyone whose profession placed them at odds with the Empire. These infantry were tolerated by Alliance Command, both for their willingness to mount an insurgency against the Empire, and for them being expendable.

Alliance Pathfinders

Mission critical operations were carried out by few standardized special forces units, dubbed "pathfinders", who had previous military training for infiltration, asymmetrical warfare, and were capable of operating without resupply. Pathfinders volunteered in the

Battle of Endor
.

Alliance Starfleet

The Alliance military largely consisted of

FTL hyperdrives and deflector shields that traveled alongside the fleet. This was in contrast to Imperial naval doctrine, whose TIE-series starfighters were lightly armored and lacked hyperdrives to lower unit cost and discourage pilot defection. The Alliance's focus on small light combat
ships and on starfighters allowed them to effectively fight the Galactic Empire's well-funded and well-armed military.

The Alliance Starfleet almost never become decisively engaged or placed their ships at risk; they avoided

civilian casualties. To minimize losses, the Alliance military leadership heavily favored carrier battle groups supporting starfighter strike crafts for fast-attack style of warfare, thereby leveraging a decisive advantage over the Galactic Empire's "big powerful ships" doctrine. Anti-Imperial operations emphasized depredation and delayed actions, covertly relocating compromised bases to another secured system, interdiction
in slowing down the Imperials' momentum, and inflicting maximum damage on the enemy without, in principle, becoming decisively engaged.

Alliance Starfighter Corps

The Alliance finds its strength almost entirely in the starfighter arena, offering some of the most effective and versatile small strike craft within Star Wars canon. The Alliance was plagued by lack of resources: it was low on fighters, manpower, real estate.

X-wing, along with the former Imperial officers
who piloted them, only improved upon that advantage.

Galactic Civil War

Main article:
Galactic Civil War

The fall of the

Galactic Civil War
.

Decisive losses and victories

The

Battle of Atollon
, and forced them in engaging on equal footing; resulting a decisive victory for the Imperials and the total decimation of the Rebel fleet.

During the events of Rogue One and A New Hope, the Alliance learns of the construction of the 'Death Star', an enormous superweapon capable of obliterating entire planets, intended to cement the Empire's rule of terror. Intelligence gathered reveals that a Death Star engineer antipathetic to the causes of the Empire had intentionally included a design flaw that, if exploited, could bring down the entire station. With the help of the Rogue One squad led by Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor, a Rebel assault on an Imperial facility on the heavily-defended planet Scarif successfully manages to capture schematics of the Death Star. The Battle of Scarif was the first major engagement against the Empire, and ended in a pyrrhic victory; all members of Rogue One are killed in action, and the Rebel fleet was decimated.

After successfully capturing the Death Star plans, Alderaanian soldiers aboard a Mon Calamari flagship barely manage to escape the

Bail Organa on Alderaan. All members of the Alderaanian Consular Security onboard are either killed or taken prisoner and Princess Leia Organa is held hostage for a time by Darth Vader. In order to punish both her and her home planet government's central involvement in the Rebel Alliance, Leia is forced to witness Alderaan's destruction by the Death Star. The Princess is subsequently rescued by Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Obi-Wan Kenobi
, who then deliver the station schematics to the Alliance. Subsequent analysis of the schematics reveals the critical vulnerability to be an exhaust port leading directly to the station's reactor core.

The Empire discovers the location of the primary Alliance headquarters on a moon of the planet Yavin through a tracking device covertly planted on Han Solo's vessel, and deploys the Death Star to destroy the base and crush the insurgency once and for all. During the ensuing battle of Yavin, Rebel starfighter squadrons lead an assault on the Death Star in a last-ditch attempt to exploit the vulnerability before it could fire upon the Rebel base. Despite fighters sustaining heavy losses, one pilot—the Force-sensitive Luke Skywalker—successfully guides torpedoes down the exhaust port. The Death Star is obliterated in a catastrophic explosion, and the battle ends in a decisive Rebel victory.

In the

Jan Dodonna
and Davits Draven, as well as several other high-ranking Rebel officers, were killed during the battle and the remaining Rebel ships were separated in their flight. Mon Mothma instructed all Rebel cells to regroup in time while striking out at the Empire when and how they could. Not until the Battle of Endor would the whole force of the Rebellion be once again united in a single place.

In

Home One
, as their headquarters.

By

Death Squadron
-Imperial armada, and much of the Imperial hierarchy are killed in action. The loss of the second Death Star and other invaluable Imperial naval assets, along with the deaths of Imperial leaders aboard, marked the beginning of the end of Imperial rule over the galaxy.

Successor

Main article: Resistance (Star Wars)
See also:
New Republic (Star Wars)

Following their victory at the Battle of Endor, a

New Republic was officially formed by Alliance members. This, combined with the Imperial power vacuum, political infighting, and Operation Cinder—Palpatine's scorched earth
contingency plan—encouraged thousands of inhabited planets to either declare independence from the collapsing Empire or defect to the Alliance.

The New Republic found itself with no shortage of recruits and resources: the declining popularity of the Empire pushed many long time Imperial loyalists to the Rebel cause, including those of Inferno Squadron, who after Operation Cinder, which saw the destruction of countless Imperial worlds, opened the eyes of many to the atrocities of the Empire. Even the most dedicated Imperials such as Inferno Squadron commander Iden Versio were moved to defect after the witnessing the destruction of her homeworld Vardos. Finally realizing the Empire's propaganda had deceived them, many Imperials began to feel shame over their actions, in particular over the destruction of Alderaan.

Despite fact that the New Republic was now winning the war, had a lot more resources than before—and a lot more recruits—the New Republic was suffering from logistic nightmares. The decentralized structure that served them well became a liability; described as "a ragtag force strategically ill-fed and cobbled together of incompatible ships and squadrons".[14] The Alliance fleet shifted military doctrine; the guerrilla warfare aspect of the grand strategy was de-emphasized, and conventional forces took over the primary prosecution of the war. Once the New Republic became powerful enough, the Alliance fleet was reorganized into the New Republic Military, charged with the defense of the New Republic.

About a year after the Battle of Endor, the Rebellion defeated Imperial forces during the

Battle of Jakku, formally established the New Republic government, and suspends offensive operations.[15] Thus, the Galactic Civil War came to a close. Three decades later, by the time of The Force Awakens, the New Republic backed the Resistance army, a successor of the Alliance, to stand against the First Order, a new military power formed by hardline remnants from the Empire.[16]

Legends

Further information:
Star Wars expanded to other media

After Disney's acquisition of the franchise, Lucasfilm announced in 2014 that previous works outside the theatrical films and The Clone Wars would no longer be considered canon, but began to be republished under the Legends banner.[17]

Members

Canon members:

  • General Leia Organa
  • Senator
    Bail Organa
  • Admiral Raddus
    – Captain of the Profundity
  • Nien Nunb – Rebel Engineer and pilot
  • Han Solo – Captain of the Millennium Falcon
  • Hera Syndulla – Pilot, leader of the Phoenix Squadron
  • Commander Sato
  • Jyn Erso – Member of the Rogue One group
Founders
  • Senator Bana Breemu – Co-founder; early constituting member (deceased)
  • Senator
    Garm Bel Iblis
    – Co-founder; financed private army to fight against the Empire; rejoined Alliance during the Thrawn campaign.
  • Senator
    Bail Organa
    of the Imperial Senate (deceased)
  • Senator Mon Mothma of the Imperial Senate
Senior civil government and military high command
  • Col Serra – Commander of
    Renegade Squadron
  • Ylenic It'kla – Commander and Jedi Knight who escaped Order 66, serving as a personal aide to Bail Organa on Alderaan. Works with Alderaanian authorities to coordinate rebel activity.
  • Qu Rahn – General and Jedi Master who survived Order 66, mostly due to his connection and training with Yoda.
  • Rahm Kota
    – General and former Jedi Master who survived Order 66, thanks to the aid of his own private militia.
  • Echuu Shen-Jon – General and Jedi Master who survived Order 66, thanks to his exile on Krant.
  • Talon Karrde – General and former smuggler
    who aided the New Republic during the Thrawn campaign.

See also

Brief list of appearances

Notes

  1. ^ These deleted scenes were included in the 2005 DVD home edition, with director George Lucas stating: 'There is an entire sub-plot with Padmé joining the Rebel Alliance with Mon Mothma and Bail Organa. This was really her story that was going along at the same time that Anakin was being seduced by Palpatine in the beginning before he turns. And ultimately, we decided that it was very important that we focus on Anakin's story. So it was with deep regrets that I had to— to let that whole sub-plot go.'[5]

References

  1. ^ "26 years ago, Star Wars fans invented their own calendar system — 'Andor' finally makes it canon". Inverse. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  2. ^ "Databank: Bail Organa". StarWars.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  3. ^ "Databank: Rebel Alliance". StarWars.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-02. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9781498583879
    . Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  5. ^ Lucas, George (2005). "Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith". Star Wars (DVD). Episode III. Lucasfilm Ltd.
  6. ISBN 9781452166797
    . Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  7. ^
    ISBN 9781784970451
    . Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  8. ^
    ISBN 9780241502211
    . Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  9. ISBN 9780241429266
    . Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  10. ^ Star Wars: Propaganda – A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy
  11. ^ The Star Wars Rebel Alliance Sourcebook
  12. ^ Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare
  13. ^ Fischer, Russ (April 19, 2015). "'Star Wars: Rogue One' Details: Theft of Death Star Plans Confirmed as Plot; Plus Footage and Concept Art". /Film. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  14. ^ Star Wars: Aftermath
  15. ISBN 978-1368003063
    .
  16. ^ Lussier, Germain (August 21, 2015). "The First Order and the Resistance Rule In New Star Wars: The Force Awakens Photos". io9. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  17. ^ "The Legendary Star Wars Expanded Universe Turns a New Page". StarWars.com. April 25, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  18. ^
    ISBN 0-87431-209-4
    .
  19. The Force Unleashed (Xbox 360
    ). LucasArts.
  20. ^ Star Wars: Empire at War
  21. ^ "Databank: Endor". StarWars.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2019.

External links

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