Alliance to Restore the Republic

The Alliance to Restore the Republic, commonly known as the Rebel Alliance, Alliance, Rebellion, and more rarely the Alliance to Restore Freedom to the Galaxy, was a resistance movement formed by Senators Bail Organa and Mon Mothma to oppose the reign of the Galactic Empire. The Alliance was formed from a less organized resistance movement secretly led by Organa himself and a number of scattered rebel cells, groups and insurrectionist factions, including the crew of the Ghost and the Phoenix Cell. The Atrivis Resistance Group was one of the first cells to join what Mothma began calling "the Alliance," before the formal formation of the Alliance to Restore the Republic in orbit over Dantooine. The Alliance was publicly and formally declared with the Declaration of the Rebel Alliance and the document of the Declaration of Rebellion.

The Alliance and the cells before it were born from the overall discontent within the Empire of those who wished the Old Republic restored. Its efforts were led by renegade members in the Imperial Senate such as Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and later, his daughter Leia Organa, and its members were citizens of the Empire and defectors from the Imperial Military such as Jan Dodonna, Ryder Azadi and Wedge Antilles. Founded and united by Organa and Ahsoka Tano, the early rebels were assisted by surviving Jedi, such as Kanan Jarrus, and his Padawan, Ezra Bridger. Clone Wars veterans such as Captain Rex also assisted in the initial movement.

As opposed to waging all-out war, the Alliance waged a war of attrition against the government, establishing small bases across the galaxy instead of controlling an entire planet.

When the Alliance stole the plans for the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star, and destroyed the space station in the Battle of Yavin with the help of Luke Skywalker, the tide of the war began to turn, and the Rebel threat began to prove a severe thorn in the Empire's side. The Rebellion continued to engage in battles with the Empire in the now Galactic Civil War. However, under the command of Darth Vader, the Imperial forces succeeded in defeating the Alliance on Hoth, forcing the Alliance to scatter its forces in order to survive. Eventually, the Alliance prevailed against the Empire and critically damaged it by launching an attack against the second Death Star during its construction in what would become the Battle of Endor. Not only did the Alliance manage to destroy the super weapon, but the Imperial Navy was severely crippled by the loss of one of its Super Star Destroyers, and Luke Skywalker redeemed his father, Darth Vader, who killed Emperor Sheev Palpatine, before dying himself in the battle.

The Alliance was soon reorganized into the more civil Alliance of Free Planets, and afterwards the fledgling New Republic with the liberation of Coruscant, which would later defeat the Empire at the Battle of Jakku and Coruscant, and force the Empire's fragmented remains to surrender by signing the Galactic Concordance, effectively ending the war. The New Republic as its successor would impose the Alliance's political ideals on the Galaxy and defeat the last Imperial remainder through the Pellaeon-Gavrimson Treaty in 10 ABY. Various of the Alliance's offices and policies were continued under the New Republic, including the Chancellor, Senate and High Command, and much of its administration, figures and equipment preserved.