Welcome to this episode of Star Wars Declassified where we look into different facts and stories revolving around the Star Wars Canon universe and lore
This week we'll be looking into the rebel lines of the original trilogy and the resistance from the sequel trilogy
And what exactly sets them apart?
Now it's no secret that both organizations
Share similarities as they are each underground movements against a much larger force of galactic terror
They share similar ships similar leaders some uniform designs and even use the same insignia
So looking at a surface
It's not that much of a surprise that most casual fans of Star Wars. Would initially struggle a tell the two apart
However when looking deeper at both these factions you really start to notice the major differences, which we'll get into
First off the Rebel Alliance,
Known also as the lines to restore the Republic it was an underground movement formed by Senators Bail
Organa and Mon Mothma to oppose the reign of the Galactic Empire
While initially small and fragmented due to the rebellion being made up of many different
separate rebel cells around the galaxy
By the Galactic Civil War a majority of those cells would come together and unite as a Rebel Alliance
The leadership of the Rebel Alliance was the Alliance Council known as the Alliance High Command this leadership council was headed by
chancellor mon mothma and also included senator Bail, Organa
General Jan Dodona, Admiral Radice, Senator Tynnra Pamlo of Taris,
Senator Vasp Vaspar of the Taldot sector, amongst many more generals commanders and Senators secretly supporting the alliance
As the Galactic Civil War would continue the council would grow to include many more high-ranking individuals
The Alliance high command decided the ins and outs of the rebellion and try to run things very formal
Which saw some soldiers in the field complain that had attempted to manage the rebellion more as a government rather than a military operation?
Because of the many powerful individuals supporting, The alliance the rebels were very well-funded
considering their circumstance, of course only when compared to the might of the galactic empire
Which was literally the government of the known galaxy would the rebellion always be considered weaker in terms of resources
But otherwise compared to any other faction at the time
They were one of the strongest and most recognized
Especially later in the Galactic Civil War one more system started the side of the Alliance the Alliance's funding came from three sources
Sympathetic planets and our governments, Sympathetic individuals, and piracy
The original founders of the Rebel Alliance
Mon Mothma and Bail Organa were wealthy dignitaries who started the initial funding, As the rebellion eventually grew more
wealthy individuals along with entire planetary governments would join the cause and dedicating their fortunes to overthrow the Empire
In addition the rebels also took advantage of straight-out piracy
Attacking Imperial shipping and hit-and-run raids, both to disrupt Imperial supplies and operations and to confiscate desperately needed materials
It's because of the well financial backing of the alliance that saw the rebellion put together entire fleets vehicles and even bases
After all the rebels were able to create over eight known different bases in cannon while legends they had nearly over a hundred to their name
Due to the strong financial backing that rebels were actually able to construct vehicles of their own from scratch
Such as the MLC-3 light tank and the Ultra light assault vehicle
And even the free runner one of the strongest armored vehicles and alliance
Of course in addition to this the rebellion were also able to purchase other vehicles and ships like the T2-B Repulsor tank
As will salvage Old Republic and separatist military equipment in order to build an extremely impressive military force
Now while we don't know how large the Rebel Alliance army was
Given the fact that the Rebel Alliance was formed from rebel cells around from the entire galaxy
With each cell ranging from the tens to the thousands range
Along with judging the rebel troops present in each of the ground battles against Empire throughout the Galactic Civil War
It's safe to say that the rebels had tens of thousands of troops ready for battle
Especially in sieges like the liberation of Sullust shortly after the battle of Hoth
Where thousands of Alliance troops entered open warfare of Imperial forces and won
And final the Rebel Alliance while not originally treated as a threat to the empire before the Battle of Yavin
Soon quickly later asserted themselves as a feared major opposition to the Empire's goal of galactic domination
Next up we have the resistance unlike the Rebel Alliance as a small paramilitary force founded by Leia Organa
To combat the first order as Poe Dameron actor Oscar Isaac
Once pointed out when asked the difference between the rebellion and the resistance he said
"One is to rebel against so it's an offensive action"
"Resisting is on a defensive a big difference is that the resistance is even more cornered"
There's less of them, and it's slightly less organized
Which is very true
The leadership of the resistance was also very small not as organized as the rebellion
instead of having 30 members each
Discussing in voting on plans to action like the Lions High command the resistance was only made up a founder, General Leia, Organa
Major Taslin Brance and
Admiral uos to Torah as Wolfert
forced into action like Admiral Gial Akbar General Cypress and Major Coleen Emet
A leadership made up of only six individuals as compared to the thirty of the Rebel Alliance
With Vice Admiral Haldo joining the resistance soon after the destruction of Starkiller base
Which made the resistance leadership total count go up to only seven individuals
The decision-making of the resistance was also a lot less bureaucratic and instead came down more to a boots to the ground type of approach
Financially speaking the resistance was not very well off who unlike the rebellion the
Resistance did not have a long list of financial backers and had to work with what little they had
Leia herself while still considered a well-off political leader had nowhere near the wealth that her father Bail
Organa had when he co-founded the rebellion who he himself had resources from the entire planet of Alderaan to use
Gial Akbar Coaxed out of retirement by Leia
Also had No way near the same presence he once commanded during the Galactic Civil War which allow the
Mon Calamari both financial and military support to the rebellion
Initially it was simply leia alone financially supporting the resistance
Which was her own personal project being worked on the side due to her fear of the first orders operations
In unknown regions and the New Republic's inability and haste to do anything about it eventually
Later than you Republic would also offer the secretly help fund the resistance
but if and then those funds were really nothing to write home about
Also because of the limited resources the resistance unlike the rebellion were unable to build their own bases
but rather relied on using old rebel locations for their own base of operations and
A give perspective on how broke the resistance were it was even unable to properly outfit all of their troops for war
With some having been forced to wear semi pilot gear into open battle
In regards to the resistance military. It was extremely small and not even half of what the Rebel Alliance had available to them
Considering at the first order only had 10,000 troops after the Battle of Starkiller base
And the resistance was still not strong enough to engage in open warfare with the first order
Really speaks volumes on how many steel and poorly equipped they were the put into perspective on how tiny and undermanned that the resistance was
in terms of manpower
They did not even have enough actual people to man their capital ships rather relying on Droids to do majority of the work
In addition to their tiny ground forces the resistance also had no armored vehicles other than the Gian-211
Which was more of a patrol speeder than anything really used for military combat
However just like the rebellion who salvaged old Clone Wars vehicles the resistance did the same by?
Reusing old rebel alliance ski speeders, which were used in the Battle of crate against the first order
Furthermore the resistance Navy was also heavily limited in terms of options when compared the rebels
having only X wings and a wing starfighters along with a few limited number of y wings at their disposal and
Unlike the rebels who heavily modified their star fighters each of the resistance star fighters were simply those
Exactly you are ready by the New Republic Navy which helped save on cost
Arguably the most impressive vessels in the resistance Navy were the BSF 17 heavy bombers, but even those were on short supply
In conclusion the only major similarities between the rebellion and resistance was that both were underground
operations, had the same insignia of the starboard and that three of the six resistance leaders also
Served the rebels in some shape or form in the past
However the Rebel Alliance was clearly the more powerful and organized faction between the two with a stronger financial and military
backing along with overall leadership
Which saw the rebels overthrow the Galactic Empire
The resistance on the other hand were weaker in all areas and only compared in strength to a single rebel Cell
Rather than the entire Rebel Alliance
But if that said it makes perfect sense as a story
The resistance may not be as big or impressive as rebels were
But they are fighting their first order and not to collect the Empire whom are also a tiny fragment of what the Empire
originally was and
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