Older Governments

The New Republic
The New Republic was the name of the galactic government established by the Alliance to Restore the Republic to replace the Galactic Empire after the Battle of Endor. Like its predecessor, it was often simply referred to as the Republic; less often, it was referred to as the New Galactic Republic or the Second Galactic Republic.

Formed after the dissolution of the former Alliance of Free Planets (which was formed directly after the Battle of Endor as an intermediate government), it was to become the supreme governmental authority of the galaxy. The "New" Republic was supposed to be a sort of continuation of the original Galactic Republic that had become known as the Old Republic by that time.

The New Republic was founded on the same principle that the old Galactic Republic was thousands of generations before - to have a representative parliamentary body govern the galaxy in a fair and equal manner - and it was designed to eradicate the shortcomings that brought about the Galactic Republic's downfall. The New Republic was protected by the New Jedi Order, which was established by Luke Skywalker, just as the Old Republic was once protected by the Old Jedi Order.

Galactic Empire
The Galactic Empire, also known as the First Galactic Empire, Palpatine's New Order, the Imperium or simply the Empire, was the galactic government established by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to replace the Galactic Republic.

The Republic, which had lasted for over 25,000 years, ended following a period of intense political turmoil and the subsequent devastation of the Clone Wars. After the death of Count Dooku over Coruscant, the death of General Grievous on Utapau and finally the massacre of the leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems on Mustafar, Chancellor Palpatine (by then ruling with near-absolute power), began a purge of the Jedi Order, proclaiming himself Emperor of the galaxy, reorganizing the Galactic Republic into "the first Galactic Empire".

Confederation of Independent Systems
The Confederacy of Independent Systems, also known as the Confederacy; the Separatist Confederacy; the pro-secessionists; colloquially as Separatists; Seps; Sepies; and the Separatist Alliance, was the government and separatist movement led by Darth Sidious and his apprentice Count Dooku. Formed by various planetary and sectorial governments, as well as some mega-corporations, that declared intentions to leave the Galactic Republic, refusing to comply with its excessive taxation and corruption in the Senate during the Separatist Crisis.

Eventually, tensions between it and the Republic developed into war after Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Padmé Amidala were sentenced to execution on Geonosis and a group of Jedi led by Mace Windu attempted to rescue them. After the Republic revealed its clone army on Geonosis, the Separatists were forced to retreat, beginning a great war that would last for three years and tear the galaxy apart.

The CIS put fear in the hearts of countless citizens of the Republic, largely due to General Grievous, Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies. The Confederacy won many battles in the ensuing war but was dissolved when the Separatist Council leaders were killed on Mustafar, allowing Palpatine to reform the Republic into the Galactic Empire.

The Old Republic
The Galactic Republic was the ruling government of the galaxy that existed for more than 25 thousand years, until the establishment of the first Galactic Empire. Throughout its existence, the state was known simply as the Republic. In the post-Republic era and beyond, it was remembered as the Old Republic.

The Galactic Republic was a representative democracy, composed of various star systems, sectors and member worlds throughout most of the known galaxy. Its central government consisted of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The first was the Galactic Senate, a body of elected or appointed representatives. Its main duties included mediating disputes over issues ranging from planetary to galactic-scale, regulating trade routes between star systems, and in theory, represented the interests of Republic citizens. The Office of the Supreme Chancellor was the Senate's executive counterpart. The Supreme Chancellor was elected from the ranks of the Senate by its members. As the leader of the Senate and the overall representative of the Republic, the Chancellor also held the titles Head of State and President. The judicial branch consisted of the Supreme Court and the lower Regional Courts. The Supreme Court was composed of twelve justices, one of whom held the leadership position of Chief Justice.

Throughout most of its history as the dominant galactic power, the Republic did not style itself as a strong centralized government, but rather as a union of sovereign planets for the purposes of collective security and economic prosperity. It was said that its complete history could "fill a thousand libraries." In the last decades that preceded the rise of Emperor Palpatine's New Order, the Republic was a benevolent - though ineffectual - government tied up in layers of bureaucracy, hampered by political and corporate corruption.

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