Topic Background

The Galactic Republic

The Galactic Republic, also known as the Grand Republic or simply as the Republic, was a democratic federal union spread across light-years of space. The Old Republic and the first Galactic Republic were terms affixed to the pre-modern Republic that existed until 1032 BBY(before The Battle of Yavin), with the Old Republic also referring to the modern Republic that was supplanted by the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY. In addition, the term High Republic denoted the era in which The Republic reached the zenith of its power, lasting from around 500 BBY to around 100 BBY. The Republic was founded many millennia before the Battle of Yavin, approximately 25,000 BBY, around the same time as the Jedi Order. The Galactic Senate governed the Republic under the Galactic Constitution and comprised thousands of senators representing the Republic's member worlds. The Supreme Chancellor was the title of the head of the Republic, elected from the ranks of the Senate to lead the government on Coruscant. An ecumenopolis or city-covered planet, referred to as Galactic City, Coruscant was the capital of the Republic and therefore the seat of the Senate. The Galactic Republic and its star systems shared sovereignty and spanned a multiplicity of worlds from the Core Worlds to the Outer Rim Territories, uniting a variety of sentient species, human and alien alike, under one banner.

The Jedi Order, a religious group of Force-sensitives dedicated to the light side of the Force, was sworn to the service of the Senate, and as such the Jedi Knights were hailed as the guardians of peace and justice within the Republic. Centuries of conflict culminated in the fall of the Old Republic, and the last war between the ancient Jedi and Sith concluded with the restoration and rise of the modern Galactic Republic, ushering in the Republic Era which was an age of peace that lasted for a thousand years. The Republic's history was officially reset, and the ages before this event were merged into a collective whole known as the Old Republic era.

The Galactic Senate

The Galactic Republic is governed by the Galactic Senate. The Senate is a democratic body located in Coruscant, the capital of the Republic. The Senate serves as the primary legislative body of the Republic and is tasked with creating laws, resolving disputes, regulating commerce, and crafting treaties. This powerful governmental body holds the authority to take every action necessary to ensure the stability of the Republic, with the authority to levy taxes, declare war, and declare trade-free zones. However, the Senate does not prosecute offenders, a job which is left to the Supreme Court and the peacekeepers who are largely in the hands of the Judicial Department. Furthermore, the Senate has no authority over the autonomous Jedi Order but often pressures it into carrying out Senate directives. The Senate is led by a democratically elected Supreme Chancellor, who holds the ability to call for sessions of Congress. Just as the Supreme Chancellor is elected into office, they can be removed through a Vote of No Confidence amongst the senators. Supporting the Supreme Chancellor is the Vice Chair. The Senate houses debate for various senators who represent hundreds of different worlds, sectors, or trade groups from across the galaxy. Additionally, Junior Senators participate in voicing the opinions of minority populations or political parties of already represented planets. Representatives do not hold the authority to actively vote or introduce legislation, yet can perform these duties if their instated Senator is unavailable. However, not only do planets have representation in the Senate; members of various federations, businesses, corporations, and guilds hold seats as well. Housing such Senators led to individual exploitation.

Politics of The Senate

The Galactic Senate consists of multiple factions of Senators who are like-minded and tend to vote together. At this point, there are two major factions in the Senate, the Core Faction and the Rim Faction. The Core Faction favors a more centralized government power and higher taxes with the aim of making the rest of the Galaxy more akin to the Core Worlds (Core Worlds are the more wealthy and developed of the Republic, and are located in the Core Sector of the Galaxy). The Rim Faction endorses and advocates for rights and lower taxes for systems, as it debates that Rim Planets (the less developed and prosperous worlds of the Republic, located on the outer rim of the Galaxy in the Rim Sector) know their own needs better than the Core Worlds do, and therefore promote a system which leaves more autonomy to planets in the Republic. Additional factions are the Loyalist Faction, who support the Republic, are loyal to the Chancellor, and support the creation of a military. The Militarist Faction is a smaller group of Senators who often favor the Core and are primarily concerned with the creation of a Military for the Republic in order to control organized crime and Hutt expansion. Furthermore, the Pacifist Faction opposes the creation of a military and promotes a peaceful Republic with the hope that disputes can be solved without the use of force. The Pacifists are against increasing taxes and vote against anything that would give more power to the government.

Jedi Order

The Jedi Order, later known as the Old Jedi Order and referred to as the Holy Order of the Jedi Knights, was an ancient monastic peacekeeping organization unified by its belief and observance of the Force, specifically the light side. The Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic and became perhaps the most well-known of the various groups that relied on the Force for their power. Led by a series of Jedi Councils, the Order grew over the millennia despite facing many trials. Most often these threats were engineered by the Sith, the most prominent group of Force-sensitives who wielded the dark side of the Force.

During several Great Schisms, numerous Jedi broke away from the original Order due to differences in how they believed the Force should be wielded. The various impasses reached by the orthodox Jedi and the defectors led to several wars, including the Hundred-Year Darkness, after which the defectors were exiled and founded the Sith Empire. The Sith were eventually found by the Republic and their discovery led to the Great Hyperspace War and a Sith invasion of Coruscant. The Jedi on Coruscant successfully defended the planet and defeated the Sith. Again and again, however, the Sith would be reborn from within the ranks of the Jedi Order, and many more wars would be fought.

Sith Order

The Sith, also referred to as the Sith Order, was an ancient religious order of Force-wielders devoted to the dark side of the Force. Driven by their emotions, including hate, anger, and greed, the Siths were deceptive and obsessed with gaining power no matter the cost. The order reached the apex of its power under Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith who achieved his order's goal of galactic conquest after a millennium of plotting. Within a generation, however, the deaths of Darth Sidious and Darth Vader marked the end of the Sith Lords.

Thousands of years before the Clone Wars, the Jedi Order was fractured by a schism that began when a rogue and his followers turned away from the light side of the Force, believing the dark side was the path to true power. Having relocated to the planet Korriban in the Outer Rim Territories, their movement ultimately evolved into the Sith Order, resulting in a war between the former brothers and sisters in the Force as the Jedi Knights rallied to the defense of the Old Republic. Although the Sith were driven off of the Core World Coruscant by 5000 BBY, centuries of conflict ensued between the two orders, culminating in the Old Republic's collapse.

The Trade Federation and The Invasion of Naboo

The Trade Federation was a megacorporation that worked as an interstellar shipping and trade conglomerate. It grew so powerful during the waning years of the Galactic Republic, that it had its own representatives in the Galactic Senate. Founded in 350 BBY before the onset of the High Republic Era, it rose to prosperity in the Outer Rim and maintained its own private military. Over time, it became locked into a power struggle with the Republic that raged on for decades as the Federation grew in size, prestige, and power under the Neimoidian species. The Trade Federation would often force planets into exclusive contracts, which, in several circumstances, gave them the ability to blockade planets and control system politics.

The Invasion of Naboo was a pivotal planetary war on Naboo by the Trade Federation in 32 BBY during the Great Peace and publicly started with the blockade of Naboo, which began the Federation’s week-long blockade of the planet, before escalating when its capital city, as well as its surrounding regions, were conquered by Federation Army's battle droids. Both the Royal House of Naboo and the Federation were members of the Galactic Republic, which sparked a political debacle within the Galactic Senate. During the initial blockade, Chancellor Valorum sent two Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, to negotiate with the Federation, but Nute Gunray, The Viceroy of The Trade Federation, ordered them to be killed.

The Jedi escaped and rescued Queen Padmé Amidala from the Federation, making their way to the world of Tatooine which was controlled by the Hutt Clan for refuge after their vessel was damaged while escaping the blockade. There, Jinn discovered a young slave named Anakin Skywalker and decided to free him from his owner believing Anakin was the Chosen One destined to bring balance to the Force.

The group repaired their damaged vessel, however, an evil force user revealed himself and fought a duel with Jinn before escaping and fleeing to the Republic capital world of Coruscant, where Amidala pleaded for assistance before the Galactic Senate. The Republic's bureaucracy was unable to help Amidala, who called for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum, leading to an election in which Senator Palpatine was a favorite to win. Knowing she would find no help on Coruscant, Amidala returned to Naboo with the Jedi and planned to defeat the Federation on her own.

Upon her return, Amidala met and forged an alliance with the Gungans who lived in Naboo's oceans, and the Gungans agreed to join the fight against the Federation. In the final battle, the Gungan army took on the Federation army as a diversion; a wing of starfighters attacked the droid control ship in orbit; and Amidala and the Jedi infiltrated the palace to capture Nute Gunray, the Federation viceroy. By the battle's end, Skywalker had destroyed the Federation control ship, the Gungans were victorious, Gunray was captured, and the mysterious evil force user was defeated—at the cost of Jinn's life. The crisis ultimately allowed Palpatine to achieve his goals; with a strong sympathy vote, Palpatine was elected Supreme Chancellor. Ten years prior to the Clone Wars, the invasion laid the seeds for the war itself.

The Confederacy of Independent Systems

The Confederacy of Independent Systems, abbreviated to CIS, and otherwise referred to as the Separatist Alliance, was a united galaxy-wide confederacy formed of outlying star systems from the Galactic Republic, a democratic union, whom the Confederacy had opposed following a period of political turmoil. Established by fallen Jedi Master Count Dooku of the planet Serenno, who served as its Head of State, the Confederacy was founded from a belief of excessive taxation and corruption within the Republic's Galactic Senate, as well as a general feeling of dissatisfaction towards and neglect by the Republic-centric Core Worlds region of the galaxy. Furthermore, the Confederacy was secretly supported by several major galactic corporations which formed the Confederacy's executive council, including the Trade Federation, led by Viceroy Nute Gunray; the Stalgasin hive, led by Archduke Poggle the Lesser; the InterGalactic Banking Clan, headed by Chairman San Hill; the Techno Union, led by Foreman Wat Tambor; the Commerce Guild, led by Presidente Shu Mai; the Corporate Alliance, led by Magistrate Passel Argente; and the Retail Caucus.

Intergalactic Banking Clan

During the time after the fall of the Old Republic and the rise of the Galactic Republic, the settlers of the world of Eriadu lacked the funds needed for mining, processing, and shipping lommite ore, so they were forced to get high-interest loans from the Banking Clan. However, hyperspace travel from their location to the Core Worlds required the use of hyperspace beacons and reversions to realspace, meaning ore shipments were often delayed or lost. Until entrepreneurs from the Core planet of Corulag intervened, Eriadu risked becoming a client world to the bankers because of their growing debts.

Since it left the aurodium standard, the Republic partnered with major banks, including the Banking Clan, to keep a credit reserve. This was to ensure the Republic's money remained stable. During the Separatist Crisis, the organization joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and its chairman, San Hill, was given a place on the Separatist Council. However, the Banking Clan continued to conduct business with the Republic during the Clone Wars, though at exorbitant interest rates. By working with both sides, it was seen as a neutral party.

The Grand Army of The Republic

The Grand Army of the Republic was the army branch of the Republic Military throughout the duration of the Clone Wars. At the time of the Battle of Geonosis, the Galactic Republic activated hundreds of thousands of clone troopers to fight the Separatist Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. In addition to human clones, all grown from the bounty hunter Jango Fett's genetic template, the GAR also had Jedi and other non-clone leadership as well as regular conscripted soldiers, though they formed the minority of soldiers in the Grand Army.

In 22 BBY, following the Confederacy's establishment, with Dooku as its Head of State, as terrorist strikes were conducted on the Republic's capital world of Coruscant, the democratic government's senate and Supreme Chancellor, Sheev Palpatine had prepared to discuss the consideration of the Military Creation Act. However, on the day of the vote, Senator Padmé Amidala of the planet Naboo had traveled to Coruscant in an attempt to oppose the proposed bill, was prevented from denouncing the Military Creation Act as a result of a series of assassination attempts orchestrated by the Federation's Viceroy, Nute Gunray, which led to the assignment of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, as her security detail at the Chancellor's request. While Amidala was under protection by the Jedi Order, the two Jedi managed to discover the identity of the Senator's assailant as the bounty hunter Zam Wesell, whose death by saberdart by her employer, the bounty hunter Jango Fett, resulted in Amidala's return to Naboo accompanied by Skywalker and a wider investigation by Kenobi.

As Kenobi investigated the unidentified bounty hunter, the Jedi Knight, who determined the saberdart to be of Kaminoan origins, traveled to the planet Kamino. While on Kamino, Kenobi had discovered the foundation of an army of clone troopers for the Republic, whose creation by the Kaminoans had been arranged by deceased Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas ten years prior to Kenobi's arrival. After his discovery of the clone army's benefactor as the bounty hunter Jango Fett, Kenobi requested to meet with the clone template, where he began to question Fett about his travels and the army, who explained that he was recruited by someone known as Tyranus to be the army's template.

Following their meeting, the bounty hunter, after a brief skirmish with Kenobi, made his departure from Kamino to the planet Geonosis but was pursued by the Jedi Knight, who landed on the surface, where he managed to intercept a meeting of the Separatist Council members and discover that Viceroy Gunray was responsible for Amidala's assassination attempts, as well as the Confederacy's creation of a massive droid army on the planet. However, as the Jedi Knight contacted Coruscant, whose transmission was transferred to the Republic and Jedi by Amidala and Skywalker on the planet Tatooine, Kenobi explained that the Federation was to produce a droid army and the conspirator of Amidala's attempted assassinations but was instead taken captive by the Confederacy.