When Project Stardust was finally completed, the resulting DS-1 Orbital Battle Station
was viewed by most of the Imperial leadership as the ultimate power in the universe.
The first time it unleashed its weapons in anger, this so called Death Star destroyed
far more than the holy city of Jedha and its Pilgrim Moon.
Confident in the power of this Death Star to maintain order, the Emperor decreed the
Imperial Senate dissolved.
With it, the last remaining trace of a regime that had commanded the greatest era of peace
the galaxy had ever known was destroyed, just as thoroughly and mercilessly as Jedha City,
or Alderaan after it.
The Galactic Republic had been swept away.
Yet for a thousand years, this Republic had been the unshakeable foundation of the galaxy,
an organization whose power was felt from the heart of the core worlds to the far reaches
of the Outer Rim.
While several governments before and since have rivalled the territorial extent of the
Galactic Republic, it remains the greatest example of a galactic power ruled not through
military might but a commitment to the common interest of its citizens.
For most of its history, it existed as a federal parliamentary republic.
Wary of the autocracies that governed the ancient Sith, Mandalorians, and others, the
most powerful institution in the Republic was not any single individual, but the Galactic
Senate.
Consisting of thousands of appointed representatives, the Senate served as the Republic’s legislative
assembly, responsible for preserving civil governance, dictating galactic law, and mediating
disputes between the Republic’s member worlds.
The nature of individual Senators was as diverse and complex as the galaxy they represented.
While internally the Senate operated democratically, its members were chosen for their positions
in a myriad of different ways.
Senators were selected through general elections, governing boards, direct appointment by local
governments, or simply by whatever local culture or law dictated.
Consequently, the accountability of Senators varied considerably.
Most represented single planets or star systems, while others acted on behalf of several dozen,
or even entire sectors.
In the final few decades of its existence, corporations and private interest groups were
also represented within the Senate, a factor many attributed to its eventual decline.
Only Senators had the authority to introduce and vote on new legislation, but there existed
within the Senate Halls a secondary group of Junior Representatives.
These were specially appointed members, intended to give voice to significant minority groups
who might otherwise be ignored or trivialized.
Junior Representatives functioned mainly as advisors but were able to perform higher duties
in special cases, such as during a Senator’s leave of absence or other extenuating circumstances.
Serving as the Galactic Republic’s Head of State and Head of Government was the office
of the Supreme Chancellor.
Officially, the Supreme Chancellor was intended to serve as a point of leadership for a Senate
that might otherwise be easily divided.
In practice however, the office held very little real power.
Both the Supreme Chancellor and Vice Chair, the second highest officer in the executive
branch, were seen as almost ceremonial positions, responsible for maintaining arcane procedure
within the Senate rather than spearheading political change.
Both the Galactic Senate and the Office of the Chancellor were located on Coruscant,
a planetary ecumenopolis and the Republic’s capital world.
While official votes and procedures were held in the opulent Chambers of the Galactic Senate,
most work was done behind the scenes, both on Coruscant and across the greater galaxy.
Numerous committees and subcommittees, both formal and informal, were established to tackle
special or significant issues.
These ranged from the Committee for Transportation of Construction materials, to the Anti-Slavery
Committee.
The responsibilities of the Senate and the organization of the galactic bureaucracy were
defined by the Galactic Constitution, a system of beliefs and laws by which the Republic
was governed.
This ancient document over time, became the focus of sanctimonious reverence, and the
earliest founders of the Galactic Republic treated with awed deference.
This can be in part explained by the tumultuous nature of the galaxy at the time of the Republic’s
founding.
While the exact circumstances of the Republic’s establishment remain buried in myth, it was
born from the conflict between the Sith and the Jedi.
These two rival religions both laid claim to a mystical power known as The Force, which
gave its strongest adherents command over supernatural abilities.
The victory of the Jedi Order ended a galaxy wide Dark Age and it was under the protection
of the Jedi that the nascent Republic was able to flourish.
The Four Sages of Dwartii, formidable but controversial philosophers and lawgivers helped
form the earliest pillars of the Republic, including its constitution, while Tarsus Valorum
would serve as its first Supreme Chancellor.
Following an era of carnage and destruction, the Galactic Republic committed itself to
peace, dismantling the armies of its predecessor and entrusting its security to the Jedi Order
and an elite but miniscule Senate Guard.
For centuries the Republic expanded across the Galaxy, enticing new members with the
promise of trade alongside more idealistic notions such as justice, amity, and peace.
Despite these utopian values, pragmatic concerns dominated the expansion efforts, and newly
acquired territories aligned themselves with individual Senators or local galactic power
blocs.
The Core, historically the wealthiest region of the Galaxy, likewise achieved disproportionate
political power, often at the expense of other regions, most notably the Outer Rim.
Now revitalized following the destructive conflicts of the past, the Core Worlds embarked
on an aggressive colonization campaign, exploring, mapping and settling untouched systems in
the frontier.
In some cases, indigenous populations were overrun or exploited, but the enormous demands
for resources kept such instances from hindering this expansionist policy.
The growing divide between the Core Worlds and Outer Territories was the most conspicuous
example of the Republic’s stagnation and decline, but far from the only one.
Internal strife reached as high as the Galactic Senate, with many Senators acting out of rampant
self interest.
At the same time, local federations, guilds, corporations, and private interest groups
were granted increased representation, emboldening them to subvert Republic law from within and
destabilize certain regions across the galaxy.
Without a federal military force, remote systems were forced to establish anti-piracy militias,
as the Jedi, once effective peacekeepers, were now far too overstretched to remain effective.
The invasion of Naboo by the droid armies of the Trade Federation highlighted the Republic’s
growing weakness and precipitated the removal of Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, the last
in what had long been a powerful and influential dynasty.
Sheev Palpatine, a senator from Naboo, was appointed in his place, gaining both sympathy
and allies after the brutal treatment of his homeworld.
This powderkeg of political instability culminated in the Separatist Crisis.
Under the leadership of Count Dooku, a former Jedi, thousands of star systems announced
their intention to secede from the Galactic Republic, forming the Confederacy of Independent
Systems.
At the insistence of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, a vast military, unprecedented in scope was
authorized and established.
Republic military forces were formed into three separate branches; The Grand Army of
the Republic, the Republic Navy, and the Republic Starfighter Corps.
The backbone of these forces were clone soldiers.
Modeled on the genetic template of a human bounty hunter, clone troopers fulfilled various
functions at every level and in every branch of the Republic Military, from piloting starfighters,
serving as ship officers, basic infantry, or within commando units.
Though it was not unknown for clones to rise to the rank of General, leadership positions
and advisory roles were more often held by non-clones, mostly individuals who had gained
experience in previous anti-piracy campaigns or, most famously, Jedi Knights.
While their talents and philosophy were better suited towards peacekeeping, the Jedi Order
was a critical component of the Republic Military and suffered tremendous losses accordingly.
A mutual respect developed between the Jedi Order and the Republic’s military forces
through the conflict, but one tempered by a growing resentment on both sides.
The Jedi had become increasingly wary of the Chancellor’s office, especially after Palpatine
was granted emergency political authority that far outstripped the intended role of
his position.
The Republic military was equally concerned with the influence a religious order had over
wartime decisions.
While these two institutions were able to work effectively together, and in some cases
clone forces and Jedi Knights achieved strong bonds, this mutual distrust lingered at the
strategic level nevertheless.
For three years, the Clone Wars, or Separatist War, raged across the galaxy.
Most of the fighting occurred in the Outer Rim, although the Core Worlds and even Coruscant
could not emerge unscathed.
The latter in particular was the site of one of the conflict’s bloodiest engagements,
during which Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was briefly captured, only to be quickly rescued
by two Jedi Knights.
The subsequent betrayal of the Jedi Order in the last remaining days of the Clone Wars
remained, for a time, one of the galaxy’s most ubiquitous mysteries.
That an attempt on the life of Sheev Palpatine was made by Jedi Knights cannot be disputed.
In every battlefield across the galaxy, Clonetroopers fired upon the Jedi that had led them through
the conflict, while on Coruscant, the Jedi Temple was attacked and occupied by Republic
forces.
The confusion and fear surrounding the treason committed by the Jedi, combined with trauma
inflicted across the galaxy by years of open war, led to overwhelming support for the Supreme
Chancellor in the Senate.
In a single stroke, Palpatine declared himself Emperor and the Republic was reorganized into
the First Galactic Empire.
The collapse of that Empire twenty-four years later and the information obtained from the
Imperial Archives has shed new light on the last days of the Republic.
There exists now a new account that many have found difficult to accept.
Evidence has been recovered suggesting that as Supreme Chancellor, Palpatine systematically
fomented and manipulated the Clone Wars as a means to increase his own power, intending
from the start to overthrow the Galactic Senate and never relinquish the emergency wartime
powers bestowed to him.
Some have even suggested that Palpatine had in his service agents who could command the
Force in the same manner as the Sith, or that he possessed these powers himself.
The death of Emperor Palpatine on board the second Death Star, together with much of the
Imperial leadership means that such rumors may never be proven one way or the other,
and the galaxy must instead rely as much on legend as fact when looking back on the reign
of the Galactic Republic.
Today the Galactic Republic is indeed often described as a Republic of Legend, greater
than distance or time.
There is a propensity to remember it as an idealistic light in the galaxy, which delivered
countless trillions out of poverty and war.
The heroic actions of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, a rebel alliance that fought
to bring about the end of the Empire and re-establish democratic rule has brought legitimacy to
these views, and the New Republic they founded has glossed over the less favorable elements
of the Republic’s history.
To others, the Galactic Republic was marked by apathy and indolence, ruled by those who
cared more for power or luxury than serving their constituents.
It is likely that the Republic never truly existed the way either side describes it,
neither an idealistic utopia nor a den of systematic corruption.
The fallacy that has seemingly defined every galactic government, from the lost days of
the Old Republic to the continuing campaigns of the First Order is that rule must be enforced
solely through fear or hope, darkness, or light.
The galaxy has both in equal measure, and perhaps, must be ruled as such or not at all.
Attention citizens of the Republic!
On Saturday July 20th, 2019 the Templin Institute will be hosting Operation: Esperanza II: Showdown
for Motown, a 12 hour charity live stream raising money for the Beaumont Children’s
Hospital through Extra Life.
We’ll be playing some Star Wars: Empire at War, Stellaris, and a whole host of other
games all while giving away fabulous prizes!
If you’d like to see the full schedule, it’s now live on our social media pages
- you’ll find a link in the description.
If you’d like to catch up on the action from last year’s event, or you’re watching
this in the far future and want to see how Esperanza II turned out, check out the Templin
Archives channel where you’ll be able to find all our previous streams.
Last year we raised over $2700 and this year we’re hoping to do even better.
We hope to see you on July 20th!