Editing Rebel Alliance (section)

===Galactic Civil War===
{{main|Galactic Civil War}}
The fall of the [[Old Republic (Star Wars)|Old Republic]] and the birth of the Empire, as depicted in ''Revenge of the Sith'', marked the beginning of the bloody [[Galactic Civil War]].

====Belligerents====
;Galactic Empire
{{see also|Galactic Empire (Star Wars)}}

;Alliance to Restore the Republic
Despite the great deal of ideological compromise and strong inspirational leadership, the Alliance was a [[political faction]] coalition that was never a single cohesive unit during its entire existence. Mon Mothma, despite being commander in chief, actually had no real power to command all of the various factions that supported her cause. As depicted in ''Rogue One'', every faction voted on major military and political decisions, but had maximum autonomy, with their own independent chain of commands, and were otherwise free to conduct their own anti-Imperial operations as they deem fit. Leaders of these individual factions would choose what missions they wanted to participate and refused those when they believed was detrimental to their unit. The goal was to stay alive and not get destroyed by the Empire.
*'''Bail Organa's ''Resistance''''' - Born out of the ''Delegation of 2000'', Bail Organa used his Senate diplomatic privileges, his own household guard in the Alderaanian Diplomatic Corps, and refugee aid programs to cover for a complex operation that were foundational of a wider rebel movement. Bail Organa established a network of informants, with spymasters known as "Fulcrum", who played key role in informing the Rebellion of the Empire's actions and goals. Bail Organa clandestinely deposited bunkers, ships, weapons, and resource caches on various "[[Safe house|rebel safe worlds]]" all across the galaxy; many of these assets were later repurposed by General Leia Organa's ''Resistance''.
*'''''Massassi'' group''' - Essentially the Rebellion's first regular battle-hardened professional soldiers, ''Massassi'' are the largest, most disciplined, best trained and well-armed rebel faction; smaller than a Fleet, but large enough to carry out tactical operations against the empire. An ''ad hoc'' headquarters, ''Massassi'' operations focused on protecting Rebellion VIPs; General Jan Dodonna formed the core leadership of this group. A Clone Wars veteran Republic officer, Jan Dodonna was amongst the first captains commissioned a newly designed ''Imperial''-class Star Destroyer [[ship of the line]]; right before he defected to the Rebellion. An individual with intimate doctrinal knowledge of the Imperial fleets down to the schematics of their individual ships, how they operate and all of their weaknesses. Jan Dodonna developed tactical doctrines, the mix of starfighters, corvettes, and blockade runners that formed the core of their fleet, and a military fighting force that perfectly countered the Imperial Navy's slower and heavily armed feet. After engaging the Battles of Scarif and Yavin 4, the ''Massassi'' group was disbanded to avoid capture by Darth Vader's ruthlessly efficient anti-rebel purging operations.
*'''''Phoenix Fleet''''' - The Rebellion had clandestine cell systems spread all across the galaxy, each assigned to a specific sector, tasked with harassing Imperial supply lines and raiding Imperial outposts. As depicted in ''[[Star Wars Rebels]]'', Phoenix cell were amongst the most effective rebel cells; it was active as early as 4 BBY; assigned to the strategically important Lothal system. Lothal was home to many essential minerals and natural resource extraction sites necessary for the Imperial military industrial complex, and hosted Senar Fleet Systems' experimental "TIE Defender" operation. ''Phoenix Cell'' tied up a disproportionate amount of Imperial resources on Lothal and proved so disruptive for the local Garrison, the Empire sent their top leaders in a desperate attempt to quash Phoenix cell: [[Grand Moff Tarkin]], [[Colonel Wullf Yularen]], [[Grand Admiral Thrawn]] and [[Darth Vader]]. They were involved in the Battle of Atollon and the Escape of Mon Mothma. In 1 BBY, ''Phoenix Cell'' successfully dismantled TIE Defender mass production, liberated Lothal from Imperial control and banished Thrawn's Fleet, along with the chiss himself to another galaxy; making it amongst the first decisive victories for the Rebellion at the sector level.
*'''''Mon Cala Planetary Defense Force (PDF)''''' - Following the Galactic Empire's occupation of Mon Calamari in 18 BBY, under the command of Admiral Raddus, the PDF fought in a successful underwater campaign and converted many of the large underwater cities' civic buildings into warships. A large number of Mon Calamari escaped, forming the "Mon Calamari Exodus Fleet". These "buildings", the [[MC75 Star Cruiser]]s were the largest [[ship of the line]] the alliance had access to. The Mon Calamari people had a historic reputation as shipbuilders, sailors, and navigators. Admiral Raddus would perish at the Battle of Scarif when his ship was boarded by Darth Vader. Post-Battle of Yavin the ''Mon Calamari Mercantile Fleet'', commanded by Captain Ackbar, defected to the Rebellion, bringing several [[MC80 Cruisers]] which would form the backbone of the Rebel Navy.
*'''''Axis Network''''' -  An intelligence unit led by [[Luthen Rael]]. As depicted in ''Star Wars Andor'', its main purpose was two-fold: to unite all rebellious factions into an Alliance capable of resistance, and provoking the Empire into a brutal crack-down on the civilian populace to further fuel dissidence. The ''Axis Network'' knew that unless all factions cooperated, none will ever achieved anything more than small tactical victories.
*'''''Partisans''''' - An terrorist extremists group led by [[Saw Gerrera]]. ''Partisans'' launch more successful raids than any other faction against Imperial facilities; ruthless in their execution, obsessed with inflicting maximum damage against the Empire, with zero reservations to civilian mass casualties. The ''Partisans'' are Clone Wars veterans, who for twenty years, had been engaged against the Empire since day one of the Republic's collapse. ''Partisans'' are masters in asymmetrical warfare, being trained by the Republic Special Forces on Saw's home world of [[Onderon]] to resist the Separatists occupation of his planet. The ''Partisans'' never formally joined the Alliance; the cynical Saw Gerrera hated Mon Mothma's idealism and considered all other factions as traitors for working with former enemies and cowards unwilling to fight dirty. In response, the Alliance distanced themselves from the politically damaging ''Partisans'', and ordered for Saw Gerrera to be assassinated for his [[war crime]]s. ''Partisans'' would die on [[Jedha]] after briefly liberating the planet, when the Empire tested its Death Star superweapon.
*'''''Neo Separatists''''' - Remnants of the ''Confederacy of Independent Systems'', ''Neo Separatists'' are surviving hold outs who in their minds, are still fighting the Clone Wars; the Republic now calls itself the Empire, but its still the same enemy. They remain mobile and strike at the Empire in any way possible. Unlike the larger rebel movement, the ''Neo Separatists'' are eager to end this war and free their home worlds from Imperial Occupation, and so are quite ruthless and impulsive in their actions.
*'''''Free Ryloth''''' - The people of Ryloth suffered greatly during the Clone Wars, when separatist forces occupied and pillaged the planet for resources. The resistance leader [[Cham Syndulla]], with the help of Republic Clone forces, beat back the Confederacy; however, in the post-war period, it became very obvious that the newly formed Empire were not liberators, but occupiers with no intention to leave. Cham Syndulla lead a new insurgency, the ''Free Ryloth'' movement, which focused defensive tactics and on domestic issues. His daughter, [[Hera Syndulla]], would leave to join ''Phoenix Fleet'', knowing that cooperation was the best way to free her home world.
*'''''Cloud Riders''''' - Pirates and marauders that would raid settlements, harass Imperial logistical networks and other soft Targets in the Imperial military; their goal was to ultimately raise funds so that they could fight the Empire. This organization was started because the individuals making up this organization were all fleeing oppression from the Empire and the many criminal syndicates that supported the Empire.
*'''''Crimson Dawn''''' - As depicted in ''Solo: A Star Wars Story'', Qira the new leader of the ''Crimson Dawn''; she had an ambitious plan to use the criminal underworld to create chaos in the Empire; her immediate goals are aligned with the Alliance.

====Decisive losses and victories====
As portrayed in the live-action series ''[[Andor (TV series)|Andor]]'', one single moment in Galactic history completely changed the Empire's policy towards its citizens and therefore changed its relationship with its citizens. In 5 BBY, on the relatively unremarkable planet of Aldhani, a small rebel team managed to infiltrate the local Imperial depository, stealing a decent portion of the sector payroll. This created a massive Imperial overreaction, increasing their security spending and draconian law enforcement policies, making all future rebellious activity even more costly and difficult, which is exactly what the mastermind of this heist [[Luthen Rael]] wanted. Luthen Rael's objective is uniting dozens of different insurgent and rebel factions who are all individually fighting the Empire; he believes provoking the Empire's brutality will force these factions into a Coalition and turn them into a real fighting force. As the Empire tightened their grip, more star systems slipped from their grasps.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://x.com/DustinGiebel/status/1267603258815717378 | title=Dusty (@DustinGiebel) on X | work=X (formerly Twitter) }}</ref>

During the funeral procession in ''[[Daughter of Ferrix]]'', a holographic message Maarva Andor had pre-recorded inspired the people of Ferrix to rise up against the Empire and form a resistance movement. A planet-wide riot spontaneously erupted as residents charged the Imperial checkpoints and garrisons; this riot became a massacre as Imperials troops were ordered to fire indiscriminately into the crowd.

The ''[[Star Wars Rebels|Rebels]]'' episode, "Zero Hour", demonstrates the Imperials' absolute [[naval supremacy]] when they successfully entrapped the "Phoenix Fleet" during the [[Battle of Atollon]], and forced them in engaging on equal footing; resulting a decisive victory for the Imperials and the total decimation of the rebel fleet. ''Phoenix Cell'' would successfully liberated Lothal from Imperial control in 1 BBY and banished Thrawn's Fleet to another galaxy; making it amongst the first decisive victories for the Rebellion at the sector level.

During the events of ''[[Rogue One]]'' and ''[[Star Wars (film)|A New Hope]]'', the Alliance learns of the construction of the '[[Death Star]]', an enormous [[Doomsday device|superweapon]] capable of obliterating entire planets, intended to cement the Empire's rule of terror. Intelligence gathered reveals that a Death Star engineer antipathetic to the causes of the Empire had intentionally included a design flaw that, if exploited, could bring down the entire station. With the help of the Rogue One squad led by [[Jyn Erso]] and [[Cassian Andor]], a rebel assault on an Imperial facility on the heavily defended planet Scarif successfully manages to capture schematics of the Death Star. The Battle of Scarif was the first major conventional engagement against the Empire, and ended in a pyrrhic victory; all members of Rogue One are killed in action, and the rebel fleet was decimated.

After successfully capturing the Death Star plans, Alderaanian soldiers aboard a Mon Calamari flagship barely manage to escape the [[501st Legion (Star Wars)|501st Legion]] and [[Death Squadron]] with the stolen data plans. Immediately following the Battle of Scarif, the ''[[Tantive IV]]'', an Alderaanian corvette carrying Princess [[Leia Organa]] is captured by Vader's flagship, ''Imperial I''-class Star Destroyer ''Devastator'', while attempting to deliver the plans to [[Bail Organa]] on [[Alderaan]]. All members of the Alderaanian Consular Security onboard are either killed or taken prisoner and Princess Leia Organa is held hostage for a time by [[Darth Vader]]. In order to punish both her and her home planet's central involvement in the Rebel Alliance, Leia is forced to witness [[Alderaan]]'s destruction by the [[Death Star]]. The Princess is subsequently rescued by [[Luke Skywalker]], [[Han Solo]], [[Chewbacca]], and [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]], who then deliver the station schematics to the Alliance. Subsequent analysis of the schematics reveals the critical vulnerability to be an exhaust port leading directly to the station's reactor core.

The Empire discovers the location of the primary Alliance headquarters on a moon of the planet Yavin through a tracking device covertly planted on [[Han Solo]]'s vessel, and deploys the Death Star to destroy the base and crush the insurgency once and for all. During the ensuing [[battle of Yavin]], rebel starfighter squadrons lead an assault on the Death Star in a last-ditch attempt to exploit the vulnerability before it could fire upon the rebel base. Despite fighters sustaining heavy losses, one pilot—the [[The Force|Force-sensitive]] [[Luke Skywalker]]—successfully guides torpedoes down the exhaust port. The Death Star is obliterated in a catastrophic explosion, and the battle ends in a decisive rebel victory.

In the ''[[Star Wars (2015 comic book)|Star Wars]]'' comics, the Rebellion wins numerous victories against the Empire after the destruction of the Death Star, destroying its major weapons factory on Cymoon 1, breaking an Imperial blockade around the rebel world of Tureen VII by stealing the ''Imperial I''-class Star Destroyer ''Harbinger'' and recruiting the Mon Calamari trading fleet to be refitted as an assault fleet. Such firepower would finally allow the Alliance to attack the Empire on a larger scale. However, one of the Rebellion's allies, Queen Trios of Shu-Torun (whose world's technology had been fitted into the ships of the new rebel fleet), revealed herself as an undercover Imperial agent sent by Darth Vader to sabotage their efforts. With their ships unexpectedly paralyzed by the Shu-Torun technology, the gathered rebel fleet could do little as they were targeted for destruction by Vader's Imperial fleet. Half the rebel ships were destroyed in the battle before Leia found a way around the sabotage and allowed the remaining ships to escape. However, Generals [[Jan Dodonna]] and Davits Draven, as well as several other high-ranking rebel officers, were killed during the battle and the remaining rebel ships were separated in their flight. Mon Mothma instructed all rebel cells to regroup in time while striking out at the Empire when and how they could. Not until the Battle of Endor would the whole force of the Rebellion be once again united in a single place.

In ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'', the Alliance suffers a crushing defeat on [[Hoth]] when one of their main command centers, [[Echo Base]], is overrun by the Darth Vader's elite personal Imperial armed forces, the [[Death Squadron]] and the [[501st Legion (Star Wars)|501st Legion]]. The remaining forces of the Rebellion are forced to stay mobile, using [[Admiral Ackbar]]'s flagship, ''[[Mon Calamari cruiser|Home One]]'', as their headquarters.

By ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'', the Alliance has regrouped and learned that a second, more powerful [[Death Star]] is being constructed, and will be completed under Emperor Palpatine's personal supervision. Mon Mothma has [[Admiral Ackbar]] and [[Lando Calrissian]] command the Alliance fleet and dispatches Han Solo and Princess Leia in leading Alliance's elite special forces to disable the station's defenses while Luke distracts Darth Vader. The Alliance subsequently wins the Battle of [[Endor (Star Wars)|Endor]], in which [[Palpatine|Emperor Palpatine]], [[Darth Vader]], the ''[[Death Squadron]]''-Imperial armada, and much of the Imperial hierarchy are killed in action. The loss of the second Death Star and other invaluable Imperial naval assets, along with the deaths of Imperial leaders aboard, marked the beginning of the end of Imperial rule over the galaxy.