Republic Military

The Republic Military, also known as the Republic Armed Forces or clone military, was the military of the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars, consisting of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Republic Navy. The Supreme Chancellor was the Commander-in-Chief of the Republic Military; the Jedi High Council and the Republic High Command were principle organs by which military policy was carried out. Republic Intelligence served as the Republic Military's intelligence-gathering and covert operations branch.

The Republic Military existed during the Dark Age. After the culmination of that era, it was disbanded in around 1032 BBY, following the Jedi-Sith War and the supposed defeat of the Sith. At the time of the modern Republic Military's inception, the Galactic Republic presided over an era of peace that lasted for a millennium.

During the Republic's final years, however, the galaxy was on the verge of civil war as a result of the Separatist Crisis. After discovering that the Confederacy of Independent Systems—a confederation of star systems in rebellion—formed a droid-based military, the Republic acquired an army of clone troopers to serve as the backbone of its own military. Bred from the genetic template of the human bounty hunter Jango Fett, clone troopers fulfilled various functions in every branch of the Republic Military, from infantry soldiers, navigation officers, and starfighter pilots, to the elite ARC troopers and clone commandos. Next to the chancellor, the highest-ranking officers in the Republic Military were the Knights of the Jedi Order, who were commissioned as Jedi Generals and served by a cadre of Clone Commanders and non-clone Republic officers.

For three years Republic and CIS forces fought across the galaxy, from the First Battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY to the Outer Rim Sieges in 19 BBY. During the final days of the Clone Wars, the Jedi were betrayed by their troops due to a Sith conspiracy to liquidate the Order and take over the Republic. Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, who was in fact the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, commanded the clones to initiate Order 66—a secret protocol that compelled the clones to summarily execute their Jedi generals as enemies of the state during the final defeat of the Confederacy.

With the Jedi removed as an obstacle following the end of the Clone Wars, Palpatine supplanted the old democracy of the Republic with the fascist New Order, proclaiming himself Emperor of the First Galactic Empire. The Republic Military was consequently transformed into the Imperial Military. Upon the formation of the New Republic, the Republic Military was restored as the New Republic Defense Force as part of the reorganisation from the forces of the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

Text and facts from the “Republic Military” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.