Alliance to Restore the Republic/Legends

"They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes."

- Leia Organa

The Alliance to Restore the Republic, also known as the Rebel Alliance or the Rebellion, was a resistance force formed in direct military opposition to the Galactic Empire. It was originally formed by a group of Loyalists determined to preserve the ideals of the Galactic Republic, which had been replaced by the Empire.

While less numerous or powerful than the Imperial Military, the Alliance possessed a strong will to fight, dedicated soldiers, and brilliant commanders.

Early foundations
"The Empire maintains order. People like you disrupt that order."

- Sarkli

It is hard to pinpoint the exact moment that rebellion against Palpatine began, but its earliest known roots take place shortly before the end of the Clone Wars. It is known that, in 19 BBY, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine transformed the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire with himself as Emperor during a Senate meeting. During that meeting, Senators still loyal to the now-defunct Republic laid the foundations of the Rebel Alliance.

Senators Padmé Amidala, Mon Mothma, and Bail Organa, among others, realized the Empire had absolutely no regard to the rights, or even the lives of its citizens, and normal political channels were useless to address the problem. With their help, an underground rag-tag organization, the Resistance, was formed to plan the removal of the Emperor, but the growing ruthlessness of the state forced them into initial secrecy as they were unable to undermine the Empire's regime. Amidala's premature death after the birth of her twin children (both of whom would later become two of the Resistance's greatest heroes) was also a blow to the newborn organization.

Armed resistance
In the following years, as Palpatine’s empire grew in size and power, small resistance cells began to spring up on planets across the Galaxy. These small and unorganized groups periodically raided Imperial installation, including sabotage that directly affected the Imperial construction of the Death Star. These groups were a mixed bunch, ranging from loyalists still holding on to the ideals of the Republic to former Separatists. As these early resistance cells became known to one another, former enemies became unexpected allies.

Massacre at Ghorman
When Imperial warships under the command of Wilhuff Tarkin landed on top of protestors against high Imperial taxation, killings hundreds, many in the galaxy began to wonder if this new Empire was in fact evil. Many career officers whose service records stretched back to the Republic, like Jan Dodonna, resigned or retired from Imperial service. Bail Organa, long opposed to armed resistance began to rethink his own role in the scheme of the brewing rebellion. Yet, with so many countless cells of rebels unorganized and uncoordinated, there seemed to be no chance of mounting a serious resistance to Palpatine’s policies.

Cantham House
Discussion between Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Garm Bel Iblis continued at the Cantham House Meetings on Imperial Center. These meetings were informal, designed to gauge the respective leaders commitment to open rebellion. Mon Mothma of Chandrila was by far the most outspoken critic to the Emperor, having been forced to go underground to avoid capture or death by Imperial agents. It was a last minute call from her friend and colleague Bail Organa that spared this future leader of the Galaxy. It would take a coordinated alliance of rebels to fully pose a threat to the Empire.

Corellian Treaty
Less than two years before the Battle of Yavin, the three main resistance forces of Chandrila, Alderaan, and Corellia joined forced and signed the Corellian Treaty. This was the founding document of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, or Rebel Alliance. For the first time, scattered resistance groups began to unite and form into a real threat to the Empire. Mon Mothma was selected to be the Chief of State for the new Alliance, though this would cause some considerable friction between her and Garm Bel Iblis. Despite the fact that is was still small and woefully outnumbered, the Rebel Alliance was finally a reality.

New allies and weapons
The most notable equipment contributions included the defection of the Incom Corporation staff and all relevant material involved in the development of an advanced spacefighter, the X-wing starfighter. With this advanced starfighter Rebel pilots had a clear advantage over the more numerous yet unshielded TIE Fighter. Mon Mothma then secured an alliance with the Mon Calamari, who openly joined the Rebel Alliance and used their renowned skill in ship construction to supply badly needed capital ships that could take on the Imperial Navy. Their massive fleet of Mon Calamari Star Cruisers gave the newly formed Alliance some considerable firepower. Part of the Alliance's strategy was the doctrine of space denial. That is, the Alliance would attack Imperial shipping in hit and run raids; both to disrupt Imperial supplies and operations, and to confiscate desperately needed materials. In that regard, their fighters had hyperdrive capability along prearranged routes which would allow this kind of harassment and escape before the Empire could react.

Destruction of Alderaan


Through their intelligence network, the Alliance learned of the construction of the Death Star I, an enormous terror weapon capable of destroying an entire planet, intended to secure the Empire's power. An operation headed by Princess Leia was successful in retrieving the schematics of the station, but Darth Vader discovered the act and captured Leia. In an effort to get the young princess to divulge the location of the secret Rebel base, Grand Moff Tarkin threatened to destroy her home planet of Alderaan. Yet, even after Leia gave him the location of an abandoned Rebel base, Tarkin ordered the Death Star to fire its primary weapon&mdash;a planet destroying superlaser. Leia watched as billions of her fellow Alderaanians were murdered by the vicious superweapon.

A new hope
The Force was with the Alliance. Luke Skywalker, a young man from Tatooine, came under the tutelage of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. The aged Jedi had been watching Luke for a long time. Knowing his family history and importance to defeating the Emperor, Obi-Wan began training the boy as a Jedi. The duo, along with the droids C-3PO and R2-D2, secured passage on a freighter, the Millennium Falcon. With the help of smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca, the group managed to free the Princess and deliver the plans to the Alliance. This not only allowed the Alliance to destroy the station in the Battle of Yavin, but also, in Luke, they gained their only loyal member with training in the use of the Force and the skills of the purged Jedi Knights.

Galactic Civil War
The Alliance could afford to waste no time following its major victory at Yavin. Following numerous raids on their Yavin 4 base, the Alliance relocated to Hoth. There were some set backs, namely Garm Bel Iblis leaving the Alliance following a major disagreement with Mon Mothma. This was a blow to the Alliance, though it was offset by the joining of Borsk Fey'lya and his sizable faction of Bothans. Mon Mothma took steps to create a true navy for the Alliance, naming the Mon Calamarian Ackbar to the rank of Admiral and appointing him to be Supreme Commander of the Rebel Fleet. Under Ackbar's leadership the fleet grew in size and ability. Along with the headquarters of the Rebel Alliance, Ackbar's fleet was the most important asset of the Rebellion. During this time Luke, Han, Leia, and their companions proved to be the most valuable Alliance members, performing countless crucial missions.

Loss of Hoth


The Alliance suffered a setback when Hoth, one of their main bases, was overrun by Darth Vader's forces. The Alliance was forced to scatter, fearful of losing another main base. Alliance High Command transfered to the Rebel Fleet, using Ackbar's flagship Home One as their mobile base of operations. Despite the presence of new allies like Lando Calrissian, the Rebellion was in dire straits. Rebel hero Han Solo was captured while in Calrissian's hospitality, and sent to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine. The secret shipyards in the Vergesso Asteroids were destroyed by Darth Vader's fleet. It was a dark time for the Alliance.

Victory at Endor
News that the Empire was nearing completion on a new and more powerful space station, Death Star II, forced the Alliance to take its greatest risk. The entire Rebel Fleet was amassed near Sullust. The subsequent Battle of Endor was a massive victory for the Alliance. Palpatine was dead, Vader redeemed, and his Death Star destroyed. About six months after the death of the Emperor at Endor, Mon Mothma declared the Rebellion (which became the Alliance of Free Planets) to be at an end, and she declared the New Republic to be established as the successor state. The Alliance to Restore the Republic had suceeded- a new Republic was to be born.

Command hierarchy and administration
There were two main organizations that composed the main structure of the Alliance. These were the civil government and the military.

Civil government
The Alliance civil government was responsible for handling the numerous jobs of any planetary civil government&mdash;including protecting the Alliance peoples, revenue gathering, maintenance of vital services, foreign relations and defense. Many of these functions were left to each member world or government of the Alliance, such as Mon Calamari or the Atrivis Sector. The civil government of the Alliance was broken down as follows:

The Chief of State
The Chief of State was the head of the Alliance. Essentially an elected dictatorship, the Chief of State had virtually unlimited power over the Alliance. Elections were held every two years, though in practice this was only a formality as Mon Mothma had unanimous support amongst the Alliance members. According to the Corellian Treaty, the position of Chief of State “will be abolished when the Emperor is deposed, killed, or resigns his position of power.” When this happened, it was the duty of the Advisory Council to assume executive control of the Alliance and convene a constitutional convention to form a new galactic republic.

The Advisory Council
The Advisory Council was composed of representatives of seven Alliance governments who had given the most lives in battle to defeating the Empire. This council was the primary advisory body to the Chief of State, responsible for approving or disapproving the proposals of the Chief of State. Furthermore, the Advisory Council had the right to dismiss a Chief of State with a two-thirds majority vote, providing a check to the powers of the Chief. During most of the history of the Alliance, worlds like Alderaan, Dac, and Sullust were members of the Advisory Council, due to their extreme devotion and high losses of life suffered in Alliance service.

The Alliance Cabinet
The Alliance Cabinet was the device from which the Chief of State could maintain and run the Alliance. Each member was selected by Mon Mothma for their devotion, intelligence, and ability to get things done. The Cabinet was composed of the following ministries:


 * Minister of Finance&mdash;responsible for overseeing Alliance funds.
 * Minister of Education&mdash;maintained Alliance Intelligence and oversees propaganda.
 * Minister of State&mdash;handled relations with other non-member governments.
 * Minister of Industry&mdash;controlled all Alliance factories and production.
 * Minister of Supply&mdash;maintained supply chain for Alliance military forces.
 * Minister of War&mdash;advised Chief of State on directing Alliance military forces.

The Allied Commands
The Alliance Allied Commands were the individual governments of worlds, organizations, and groups that were members of the Alliance. Each Allied Command varied slightly depending on how each member world was organized, though in practice Allied Commands mimicked the structure of the Alliance government. Allied Commands ranged from member worlds like Dac or Alderaan to whole sectors like Atrivis or Churnis.

Alliance military
Main article: Alliance Military

The Alliance military was charged with defeating the forces of the Galactic Empire and bringing down the Emperor’s reign of power, a task to which every Rebel military personnel pledged themselves.

Known bases

 * Polis Massa Base
 * Brigia Base
 * Rudrig
 * Orion IV
 * Dantooine Base
 * Yavin 4 Base
 * Talay Base
 * Ring Base
 * Hoth Base
 * Arbra Base
 * Anchorhead Base

Senior personnel

 * Mon Mothma&mdash;Chief of State and Commander-in-Chief, Co-founder
 * Bail Organa&mdash;Co-founder
 * Garm Bel Iblis&mdash;Senior General, Co-founder
 * Admiral Ackbar&mdash;Supreme Commander of the Rebel Alliance Fleet
 * Crix Madine&mdash;General, Commander of Rebel SpecForces
 * Carlist Rieekan&mdash;General, Commander of Echo Base
 * Jan Dodonna&mdash;General, Commander of Yavin 4 Base
 * Leia Organa&mdash;Minister of State, Senior Diplomat
 * Borsk Fey'lya&mdash;Political Advisor, a leader of the Bothan Spynet
 * Walex Blissex&mdash;General
 * Bob Hudsol&mdash;General
 * Vanden Willard&mdash;General
 * Han Solo&mdash;General
 * Lando Calrissian&mdash;General
 * Roons Sewell&mdash;General
 * Wedge Antilles&mdash;Commander of Rogue Squadron
 * Luke Skywalker&mdash;Commander and Jedi Knight

Command

 * Alliance High Command

Supreme Allied Commands
 * Fleet Command
 * Ordnance and Supply Command
 * Starfighter Command
 * Support Services
 * Alliance Intelligence
 * SpecForces Command
 * Sector Command(s)

Behind the scenes

 * The announced setting of the forthcoming Star Wars live-action TV series has led to fan speculation that details surrounding the formation of the Alliance will be revealed.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi