Universe Star Wars | Type Federal republic | |
Founded Shortly after the Battle of Endor Location Capital rotates among member planets
Chandrila (first capital)
Nakadia (second capital)
Hosnian Prime (third capital, destroyed) Leader Chancellor (leader of the Galactic Senate) Affiliations Rebel Alliance
Resistance | ||
The New Republic is the main fictional government in the Star Wars universe. The government is a restoration to the Galactic Republic, a democratic state that governed the galaxy, which existed before the rise of the Galactic Empire. It was first portrayed onscreen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) where it was the ruling government of the galaxy, and as the target of the First Order, a military power that seeks to restore the Old Empire.
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Origins
Following its decisive victory at the Battle of Endor as depicted in Return of the Jedi (1983), the Rebel Alliance reorganized itself into the New Republic. The goal of the New Republic was to restore the democratic rule of the galaxy that had existed under its predecessor state, the Old Republic. The Republic placed its first capital on the planet Chandrila, but later would decide to rotate its capital among the Republic's many member planets in order to symbolically differentiate itself from the Old Republic, rather than being seated on the planet Coruscant, the capital planet of the Old Republic and later the Galactic Empire.
The Force Awakens (2015)
As depicted in the film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), as well as surrounding published material, which takes place approximately three decades after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983), the New Republic has defeated the Galactic Empire and placed itself as the ruling government of the galaxy. Despite this, thousands of Imperial loyalists, bureaucrats, and military officers retreated into the unexplored regions of the galaxy in hopes of rebuilding the Old Empire, as it was being called, and restoring Imperial rule to the galaxy. These individuals were able to form the First Order, an offshoot of the Empire seeking to destroy the Republic and rule the galaxy. For the three decades preceding the film, the First Order operated secretly in the unexplored regions, rebuilding its army and starfleet, in hopes of resurrecting the Empire.
Inspired by the ideology of the Old Empire, the First Order constructed Starkiller Base, which hosted a massive superweapon that was capable of destroying entire star systems at once. The superweapon was built into a mobile planet from the unexplored regions of the galaxy, and would travel across multiple star systems to draw their sun's energy in order to charge its weapon. In The Force Awakens (2015), the First Order's General Hux, who commands Starkiller Base, has its superweapon fire on the Hosnian system, which includes Hosnian Prime, the capital planet of the Republic at the time. The weapon is successful, and destroys a portion of the New Republic's starfleet and the Galactic Senate, the ruling legislative body of the Republic, as well as the system itself, overall killing 79 billion citizens. However, Starkiller Base is later destroyed by the Resistance, a splinter of the Republic's military and protagonists of the film, during a battle shortly after the destruction of the Hosnian system.
Expanded universe (Legends)
Following the Alliance to Restore the Republic's victory at the Battle of Endor, which is depicted in the film Return of the Jedi (1983), the Rebel Alliance temporarily reorganizes into the Alliance of Free Planets. The new Alliance serves as a provisional government which eventually transitions into the New Republic.