Old Republic

"*The Galactic Republic was the Republic of legend, greater than distance or time.*"
―Janyor
The **Galactic Republic**, also known as the **Grand Republic**, the **Old Republic** following its restoration in 1032 BBY and again following the rise of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, the **High Republic** between 300 BBY and 82 BBY, or simply the **Republic**, was a democratic union comprising thousands of star systems spread across the galaxy. The Galactic Constitution was the supreme law of the Republic, which was governed by a legislative body of senators—the Galactic Senate—who represented their homeworlds. It was the Senate's prerogative to elect a Supreme Chancellor from among their ranks to serve as the government's leader. Coruscant, an ecumenopolis referred to as Galactic City, was the capital world of the Republic, and therefore, the seat of the Senate.

Founded approximately twenty-five thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, the Republic governed the galaxy from the Core Worlds to the Outer Rim Territories, uniting various sentient species, human and alien alike, under one banner. As its power grew, the Republic engaged in various wars with the Mandalorians, the Zygerrian Slave Empire, and several Sith Empires. The Jedi Order, a religious order adhering to the light side of the Force, supported the Republic against its enemies.

After centuries of conflict, culminating in the fall of the Old Republic, the last war between the ancient Jedi Knights and Sith Lords concluded with the restoration and rise of the modern Galactic Republic, ushering in the Republic Era. It was an age of unprecedented peace that lasted for over a millennium. The Republic's history was officially reset, and the ages before this event were merged into a collective whole known as the Old Republic Era.

During the High Republic Era, the Republic endeavored to expand galactic civilization through exploration and colonization. Despite this, however, political stagnation later undermined the Republic in the final years of its rule. Following the Invasion of Naboo, the Separatist Crisis divided the Republic between Loyalists and the newly-formed Confederacy of Independent Systems. As a result, the galaxy was engulfed by the Clone Wars with Jedi Generals leading the Grand Army of the Republic against the Separatist Droid Army. Though the Jedi directed the Republic war effort, the war was orchestrated by Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine—the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious—who transformed the Republic into a military dictatorship. After the Separatists were defeated and the Jedi purged by clone troopers executing Order 66, Sidious declared himself Galactic Emperor. The Galactic Republic became the Galactic Empire, fulfilling the Great Plan of the Sith.

The Emperor's New Order sought to erase the memory of what was then referred to as the Old Republic. Although such efforts succeeded in dissolving the Imperial Senate as the last trace of the Republic, its legacy inspired a rebellion—the Alliance to Restore the Republic—against the Empire. After the Battle of Endor, the Alliance reorganized itself into the New Republic and claimed victory in the Galactic Civil War, bringing an end to a generation of Imperial rule.