Star Wars; a space opera as expansive as the width of the galaxy.
For almost half a century, the franchise has engrossed millions and millions of fans across
nearly every form of media.
The epic sagas set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away are endless and have gone through
countless canonical and non-canonical iterations.
A classic on the scale of ancient epics of world mythologies and likely just as impactful,
Star Wars did not emerge in a vacuum, a fact George Lucas himself would admit.
Star Wars was inspired by the world around it, and these inspirations show us how its
many creators see that world.
In this video series, we will investigate the inspirations and politics of Star Wars,
its factions and what their causes are.
Join us on the Millennium Falcon as Wizards and Warriors embark on a journey to understand
the origins of Star Wars.
Ultimately, this sci fi saga is rooted in the real world by the events and groups that
inspired it.
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Setting Up the Series: Before we begin, we must acknowledge the debt
this series owes to Chris Kempshall’s great book, The History and Politics of Star Wars:
Death Stars and Democracy.
Many of the sources for the series were found in its bibliography, and many of the thematic
discussions you are about to witness were pulled from its pages.
We also have looked at making documentaries or discussions by directors and actors.
Having given credit where its due, let us now discuss the scope of what this series
will discuss.
Primarily, we will focus on the canonical aspects of Star Wars, with an emphasis on
the three trilogies and major television series.
However, we will also mention and discuss aspects from some of the video games, Comic
Books, and the Expanded Universe to a lesser degree.
The series will broadly discuss both the social and political themes of Star Wars and the
thematic and aesthetic inspirations behind it.
We will try to look at it from both the viewpoint of George Lucas, and all others who painstakingly
put their efforts into making the galaxy we know and love.
The Rebel Alliance and Resistance: Let us begin by discussing the ideology and
real-world influences of the Rebel Alliance of the Original Trilogy and, by extension,
the Resistance of the Sequels.
When it comes to George Lucas and the Rebel Alliance, his roots as a politicized artist
in the 1960s are clear, with the Vietnam War as the major inspiration.
The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army were the conceptual bases from which the Rebellion
sprung, as their fight against American Imperialism is reminiscent of the Rebellion’s fight
against the Galactic Empire.
Many will have seen the interview of James Cameron and George Lucas, where the latter
clearly outlines this.
In said interview, he makes it clear that in his mind, the Rebels are analogous to an
anti-colonial movement fighting a massive, highly coordinated force.
For Lucas, this is the fight against what he called ‘The Man.’
In short, the Rebel Alliance is an ideological product of the 1960s New Left with its anti-authoritarianism
and tendency to put the asymmetric rebels as the good guys over the industrialized imperial
power.
The 2016 film Rogue One continues the legacy of the original trilogy’s anti-colonial
themes with some new historical influences.
Some scholars have connected the cinematography to the 1966 film Battle of Algiers.
The Rebellion, according to Chris Kempshall, lies in Lucas’s meditations on how and when
armed resistance against oppression becomes necessary.
It also translates to the guerilla tactics used by the Alliance against the Empire and
the trench warfare reminiscent of the First World War in the Battle of Hoth in the Empire
Strikes Back.
The sense of overwhelming odds and technological superiority possessed by the enemy is a major
theme in Star Wars, as the Rebels try to out-wit the Empire through tactical means and strategic
strikes on locations like the Death Star.
While in the Expanded Universe, the morality of some of their tactics is questioned, the
Rebellion is nonetheless an analogy for the democratic ideal and for the struggle against
imperial and fascistic forces.
The New Republic of the sequel trilogy, which grew out of the Resistance after the defeat
of the Empire, has many continuity allusions to its predecessor.
However, the directors of these later works were not as explicitly political in their
work as Lucas was.
As Disney shies away from overt politics in its properties, despite various controversies
claiming the opposite, the New Republic seems to draw from some of the same real-world influences
that the old Rebellion, albeit in a more generic way.
The New Republic, thus, is a more general democratic movement fighting a fascist other,
the First Order.
Unlike the Rebellion, the New Republic is forced to contend with the gritty issues of
being an actual governing body.
However, there are attempts by the writers to say something new with the material they
are given.
For instance, during the New Republic’s arrival in Exegol in the Rise of Skywalker,
we see a diverse set of characters arriving on ships and fighting alongside Rey.
This ragtag army consists of multiple species and multiple types of people fighting against
the First Order, showing that the average person can stand up to authoritarianism and
fascism and in fact, be key to the efforts that bring down fascist regimes.
While politics in the sequels is far less prevalent than it is in the original trilogy,
these are some of the themes that seem to be present.
The Empire and the First Order: Much like the Rebel Alliance draws inspiration
from real-world anti-colonial movements, so too does the Empire draw inspiration from
real-world colonial Empires.
In a direct parallel to the Rebellion’s analogue in the Viet Cong, the Empire is meant
to be the United States, at least in the abstract.
The Empire is by no means a one-to-one imitation of the American military-industrial complex;
instead, it is a more general allusion to imperial powers in general, baring similarities
also to the Roman Empire and the British Empire.
As a World War Two historical buff, Lucas drew heavy inspiration from Nazi Germany in
the design choices of the Empire.
Opposing the gritty and generally heterogeneous Rebellion, the Empire with its aptly named
Stormtroopers is homogeneous and militaristic.
They also use overwhelming force to defeat their enemies, using the stormtroopers as
a war machine of terror.
The Imperial Officers are dressed in dark grey clothes reminiscent of Wehrmacht Officers,
and Darth Vader himself seems dressed in a way that personifies space fascism.
His master, Darth Sidious, stands around a cult of personality, which has similarities
to cults of leaders in fascist regimes, and this is further expressed in the Prequels,
where he manipulates democracy in his favour, much like fascists do.
The Empire’s guns, according to Kempshall, are similarly grandiose and meant to be outlandish.
The Death Star, meant to be a Weapon of Mass Destruction, is a megaproject that is completely
destructive, a military base that also has planet-busting firepower.
Mega-projects, ever present in authoritarian regimes throughout the real world as a means
to display strength and authority, are personalised in the Death Star.
The Empire’s efficient brutality is seen in the original films through its willingness
to commit war crimes on a galactic scale, such as through the destruction of Alderaan,
working with slavers like Jabba the Hutt, and the use of torture.
Much like the Rebels are inspired by the Viet Cong, but taken to the abstract, so is the
Empire inspired by the American and Nazi Empires, but taken to be an abstract analogy of all
imperial forces.
The First Order, essentially the fanboys of the Empire and its successors, are a creation
of the 2010s and are reminiscent of the politics of that decade.
J.J.
Abrams has mentioned that Nazis are an inspiration for the First Order.
Their use of slavery in the new Stormtroopers, their militarism that both exceeds and emulates
the Empire, as well as the machismo and toxicity of Kylo Ren are also indirectly inspired by
fascist movements.
Not the fascist Empires of the 20th century this time, but the neo-fascist movements of
our generation, who fight on the streets for control of society.
Captain Phasma essentially takes this role as an ideological leader of the slave army
of the First Order.
Much like how modern neo-fascist movements venerate the Nazi regime of old, the First
Order also fetishizes the Empire, as seen by Kylo Ren trying to make his uniform to
be like Darth Vader.
The structure of the First Order is riddled with factionalism and is oppressive.
In fact, one could claim that General Hux’s spying for the Resistance is precisely because
this factionalism gives him a lack of respect.
By contrast, the true ideologue, General Pryde, is happy to do Palpatine’s bidding because
he truly believes in the ideals of the First Order.
In the real world, fascism is an ideology exceptionally prone to infighting, and this
is reflected in the Star Wars Sequels.
The opportunism and orthodoxy that often compete in reactionary, authoritarian, and fascist
movements is laid completely bare in the First Order.
The dissatisfaction of some characters, like Kylo Ren, the naked ideology of Pryde, and
the opportunism of Hux, are all reflections of various actors who appear in reactionary
or far-right movements and regimes.
● The Republic and the Separatists: Having now covered the real-world inspirations
behind the factions of the Original Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy, let us now move on to
the Prequel Trilogy.
The factions of the Prequel Trilogy, the Republic and the Separatist Federation, have more elusive
undertones in terms of inspiration than the Rebel Alliance and the Galatic Empire.
The essence of Lucas’s vision for the Republics in the Prequels is best surmised by the words
of Senator Padme Amidala:
‘So this is how Liberty dies…with thunderous applause.’
Lucas’s inspiration for the Republic stems from various democracies in decline, from
the Roman Republic to the French Republic during the Revolution.
However, the heaviest inspirations comes from the presidencies of Richard Nixon and George
W. Bush.
The attempts by the former to lengthen his rule through constitutional amendments and
the militarism of the latter were inspirations for the development of the Prequels as an
allegory for how easily democratic societies can be put on the slippery slope to authoritarianism.
There is much talk in the Prequels about the various issues that plague the democracy of
the Galactic Republic.
One is the bureaucracy and the long deliberations that delay the solution of problems.
This is seen in the attacks on Naboo in The Phantom Menace and how Sheev Palpatine manipulates
Padme into issuing a vote of no confidence against Chancellor Valorum.
There is also major corruption and ossification in the Republic, with the war with the Trade
Federation beginning because of a trade dispute.
The state capture of money in the Republic is an analogy for how money corrupts politics
as it does in the modern United States.
This even extends to the Jedi, a point we will soon get to.
The Prequels are not a critique of democracy but rather a critique of the things that corrupt
it: the bureaucrats who move strings, the capitalists who turn the ship of state to
their own ends, and the ones who will try to capture the state to turn it into the Empire.
For Lucas, Chris Kempshall notes the greatest threat to democracy is not that it might be
taken away but that it may be given away.
The executive powers given to Sheev Palpatine in Attack of the Clones are much like the
powers assumed by the U.S. government during the War on Terror or the powers given to Caesar
as Dictator in the waning days of the Roman Republic.
Likewise, the use of the Jedi attack on Palpatine to declare the Empire is not unlike how Hitler
utilized the panic in the wake of the Reichstag Fire to assume dictatorial powers and ‘restore
stability .’
The primary adversary the Republic faced during the Clone Wars was the Confederacy of Independent
Systems.
There’s no clear analogy that explains what this separatist faction stands for.
They are a faction with grievances against the Republic, which leads to a trade dispute
and, eventually, a war.
We must keep in mind that this crisis is a creation of Palpatine, who eludes the ossified
Jedi order and the bureaucracy of the Republic.
It can be surmised that through his portrayal of the separatists, Lucas was trying to show
a common cause of war: trade disputes and, consequently, how these crises can manufacture
consent for authoritarian regimes to seize control over the vehicle of democracy.
In Attack of the Clones, the discussion of Padme and Anakin on Naboo is a clear example
of this.
Padme shows sympathy for the Separatists, even if they attacked Naboo at the start of
the war and even hoped to negotiate with them.
Anakin is vehement in his opinion that there should be a wise hand to ‘guide’ politicians
to what is in ‘the best interest.’
Through the Separatists, Anakin and Padme project opposing viewpoints on democracy.
For Anakin, democracy is a nuisance that gets in the way of action, a clear path towards
fascism and authoritarianism.
Padme, on the other hand, acknowledges that however frustrating deliberation and disagreement
may be, they are a fundamental and important part of democracy.
In Revenge of the Sith, she clearly states that the foundations of the Republic have
been corrupted by the war and that they have become ‘the very evil we are fighting against.’
The Separatists reflect the politics of the Republic, its failures, and the ability of
the totalitarian Palpatine to manufacture consent for his rule.
The Jedi and the Sith: Let us now move on from the main political
factions of the galaxy and discuss the foundations of the Star Wars Universe, the Jedi and the
Sith.
The Jedi, for their part, are clearly inspired by the Samurai of feudal Japan, or at least
how they are portrayed in the classic cinema of legendary director Akira Kurosawa.
In fact, Lucas has stated the name Jedi itself was inspired by the Japanese word for period
drama or ‘Jidaigeki.’
The mixture of conflict with spiritual themes is a key tenet of how Samurai are portrayed
in media, and Star Wars takes from these sources quite liberally.
The Jedi have a code and structure that is reminiscent of this, and their devotion to
the Light Side of the Force is analogous to the devotion to the Samurai’s code of Bushido.
As Master Yoda states:
A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defence, never for attack.
Clearly, the core virtues of the Jedi are honour, keeping the peace, and meditating
on the Force.
These ideals are put under strain by the Clone Wars, which causes the Jedi to get caught
up in politics, something which makes them go from peacekeepers to military generals,
a direct catalyst to their fall at Palpatine’s hands.
To exemplify just how far from their main values they strayed by the time of the Prequel
trilogy, they did nothing against slavery on Tatooine but then also tried to extrajudicially
murder Palpatine.
Similarly, the Samurai of our world, while often lionized as spiritually enlightened
warriors of virtue, were also tools of the state, used to keep the powerful in power
and keep the poor in line, and prone to disregarding their personal codes of honour if it suited
their political needs.
The Sith, on the other hand, are a faction which grew out of the Jedi and are their antithesis
in many ways.
Their inspiration lies in concepts of hatred and insecurity, as evidenced by Yoda’s warning
to Anakin on the dangers of fear leading to suffering in the Phantom Menace.
Many have noted the names of Sith lords reflecting their warlike and destructive nature, like
Darth Vader, which sounds like invader; Darth Sidious, which sounds like insidious, Count
Dooku, which sounds like the Japanese word for ‘poison, and Darth Tyrannus, which sounds
like Tyrant.
Like the Galactic Empire they created, the Sith are deeply rooted in fascist ideology,
as seen in the toxicity and chaos that corrupt people like Kylo Ren and Anakin Skywalker
and cause them to commit heinous atrocities against innocents.
The Sith are also master manipulators who utilize emotionally abusive behaviours to
use others.
Palpatine, for example, manipulates Anakin into becoming dependent on him, and Anakin
himself ends up trapping Padme in a toxic relationship.
At the same time, the Sith are adaptable, something the Jedi routinely fail to be, and
are deeply committed to machismo and violence, as seen in the Empire and First Order.
These are metaphors for the challenges posed by and the false appeal of authoritarianism
and fascism.
On a personal level, the Sith are often magnificently tragic and sympathetic, depicted as people
who are traumatized and corrupted by the Dark Side, giving into their greed, hatred and
ignorance.
Thus, while they may seem cool to us, they are cautionary tales, as their failings destroy
the galaxy, their loved ones, and eventually themselves.
● Conclusion: The Star Wars franchise has had many iterations,
but its factions have shown some broader thematic continuities.
As every instalment has come, different inspirations have reflected various influences and historical
inspirations.
There are indeed too many to count here; there are influences from other historical events
and characters.
The major factions we know, from the Empire to the Rebels to the Jedi and the Sith, have
a diverse array of historical analogies.
From the Roman Empire to Fascism and from populist movements to the Viet Cong, the themes
of political struggle appear throughout the Star Wars universe.
This is the strength of the franchise: the ability to become a canvas to tell stories
that are both timeless and of their time.
One of the most interesting parts of Star Wars is these very themes that pervade the
franchise like the Force itself does, and it is these that have drawn people to cherish
Star Wars for almost half a century and beyond.
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