First Order–Resistance war

"The Battle of Starkiller Base has been won, but the war wages on..."

- General Leia Organa

The war between the First Order and the Resistance began upon the escalation of the earlier conflict into full scale open warfare between the two factions for control over the galaxy. While the First Order, the successor to the fallen Galactic Empire, sought to conquer the known galaxy from the Unknown Regions, the Resistance sought to preserve the democracy restored by the shattered New Republic after their struggle against the Empire thirty years prior.

The war officially began in the year 34 ABY when the Resistance launched an assault to destroy the First Order's planet-sized superweapon, Starkiller Base after the First Order tested it and used it to destroy the Hosnian system, where the Republic capital of Hosnian Prime had been located, along with the Galactic Senate and New Republic Starfleet. The assault resulted in the destruction of Starkiller Base and the beginning of open warfare.

Prelude
At the end of the Clone Wars in 19 BBY, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, who was secretly in fact the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, declared himself Emperor and reorganized the democratic Galactic Republic, which had governed the galaxy for a millennium, into the first Galactic Empire, replacing the Galactic Senate with the Imperial Senate. The Emperor had his new apprentice, the fallen Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader, oversee the deaths of the remaining Separatist leaders and the purging of the remaining Jedi that had survived Order 66 and the march on the Jedi Temple, leaving the Jedi Order destroyed.

Despite the promises of security and order that the Old Republic had failed to provide, the Empire eventually faced early rebellion that came to consolidate into the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The Rebel Alliance and the Empire soon came into conflict in the form of the Galactic Civil War, with the former securing a major victory at the Battle of Yavin where the Death Star was destroyed. Four years into the war, in 4 ABY, the Emperor used himself and the second Death Star as bait to lure out the Alliance Fleet and Luke Skywalker, a new age Jedi and son of Darth Vader whom the Emperor sought to replace. However, at the Battle of Endor, Vader turned on the Emperor and killed him, saving his son and redeeming himself, fulfilling the prophecy of the Chosen One and leaving the Sith extinct. Anakin died in his son's arms moments later, though Luke was able to escape as the second Death Star exploded. As the Rebel Alliance transformed into the New Republic and restored the Galactic Senate, Luke set out on his path to restore the Jedi way to the galaxy.

The war between the New Republic and the Empire culminated at the Battle of Jakku one year later in 5 ABY. Though the Republic was victorious in battle, many select Imperial officers, nobles, and soldiers were able to retreat into the Unknown Regions as part of a secret Contingency plan devised by the late Emperor to rebuild the Empire, though the plot to destroy Jakku and thus cripple both the Old Empire and the New Republic had failed. The Imperial remnants that continued to persist in the known galaxy agreed to the Imperial Instruments of Surrender and signed the Galactic Concordance with the New Republic, beginning a cold war. Now set on restoring democracy and justice to the galaxy, the new Galactic Senate passed the Military Disarmament Act, heavily demilitarizing the New Republic military and instead pressuring individual planets and star systems to rely on their local planetary defense forces.

This movement in the Unknown Regions eventually culminated in the rise of the First Order. Seeking to reclaim the Imperial legacy, the First Order repeatedly violated and ignored the Galactic Concordance, rebuilding Imperial fleets and mobilizing stormtrooper forces within its armies. Senator Leia Organa, the sister of Luke Skywalker, petitioned the Galactic Senate and Republic Command to take action, but found herself sidelined by the political realm of the New Republic, especially after the revelation that Darth Vader was in fact her and Luke's father. With the Republic seeking to avoid another galactic war at all costs and not viewing the First Order as a credible threat to galactic peace and freedom, Princess Leia stepped down from her political office in 28 ABY and formed the breakaway Resistance, where she held the rank of General. Though not officially supported by the Republic, the Resistance was tolerated, and secretly some within the Galactic Senate assisted in funding the private military force.

Conflict began between the First Order and the Resistance while the government of the New Republic under Chancellor Lanever Villecham focused more on trade relations with neutral regions of the galaxy such as the Trans-Hydian Borderlands, unaware of the danger that they were in. In 34 ABY, the First Order, long hidden away in the shadows of the Unknown Regions, used its superweapon built into Starkiller Base to target and destroy the Hosnian system, where the Republic capital of Hosnian Prime was located, resulting in the Hosnian Cataclysm. The Galactic Senate and Defense Fleet were completely obliterated, and the Republic was shattered. In response, the Resistance retaliated by launching a successful assault on Starkiller Base, destroying the planetary superweapon and dealing a significant blow to the new war machine engineered by the First Order.

Nevertheless, the First Order, still at strength, began mobilizing to launch its campaign of conquest while the Resistance began its evacuation from their base on D'Qar in order to continue their mission in combating the First Order and preserving the democracy, freedom, and justice in the galaxy that the New Republic and Rebel Alliance had restored. Open warfare had begun. But there was hope: General Organa sent the Force-sensitive scavenger Rey to the first Jedi temple on Ahch-To, where her brother, Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi, resided in self-exile after the destruction of his Jedi students some years earlier at the hands of Kylo Ren, the master of the Knights of Ren, student to Supreme Leader Snoke, and son of Leia Organa and Han Solo.

Behind the scenes
Despite not having an official name, the First Order–Resistance war made its first appearance in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens and continues in Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Battlefront II
 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens novelization
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens: A Junior Novel
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens: New Adventures
 * The Force Awakens Read-Along Storybook and CD
 * The Force Awakens (Golden Book)
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens Graphic Novel Adaptation
 * The Force Awakens, Part V
 * The Force Awakens, Part VI
 * Finn's Mission
 * The Fight in the Forest
 * The Adventures of BB-8
 * Captain Phasma, Part I
 * Captain Phasma, Part II
 * Captain Phasma, Part III
 * Captain Phasma, Part IV
 * Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi
 * Rose and Finn's Mission

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens