The Cold War of theNew Republic Erais one of the most forgotten conflicts in theStar Warstimeline, but also one of the most interesting and unique. Shortly after the Battle of Endor, theNew Republicformed, providing the basis for a new galactic government after the eventual defeat of theGalactic Empire. Then, after the turbulent year ofOperation Cinderand a galaxy-wide campaign against the Empire, the New Republic finally won at theBattle of Jakku.
After this, an era of unsteady peace began, with the New Republic governing a struggling and rebuilding galaxy, while the remnants of the Empire secretly reorganized into theFirst Order. This all led up to the sequel trilogy, with 29 years between the Battle of Jakku and the events ofStar Wars:The Force Awakens.In the 6 years prior to the sequels, all of these elements came together during the Cold War,Star Wars’most forgotten canon conflict.
The Galactic Cold War Began With The Rise Of The First Order
28 ABY
The New Republic began its life with a push for demilitarization coming fromChancellor Mon Mothma, with the signing of the Galactic Concordance. She had seen how rapid militarization led to the rise of the Empire at the end of the Clone Wars and wanted to prevent that from ever happening again. Thus,the New Republic was generally decentralized, with more of a focus on individual planets' security forces rather than a central, powerful fleet. This led many dubbed “Centrists” to become dissatisfied and long for the militarily powerful days of theGalactic Republic- and even the Empire.
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Due to this dissatisfaction, and the remnants of the Empire both physically and ideologically lasting in the galaxy - particularly in some areas of the Core and New Territories regions - the First Order was born. Remnants of the Empire who had reorganized themselves in theUnknown Regionswith the help ofSnokeslowly emerged into the galaxy, forming a power base that became very real when the Centrists seceded. This formed the First Order, and began the Cold War.
Key Moments In The Galactic Cold War
28-34 ABY
After the secession of the First Order, and the group becoming an actual state of its own, the dominoes continued to fall for the New Republic. Shortly before the events of the Cold War, two incredibly important events occurred that made the conflict what it would later become. As with much of theStar Warstimeline, both of these events have to do with the Organa-Solo family.
Leia Is Revealed As The Daughter Of Vader & The Resistance Is Formed
During the later days of Leia Organa’s career as a senator in the New Republic, she began to feel as though the government was stagnating. Wanting to actually make a change, she began an investigation into a paramilitary group known as the Amaxine Warriors, which eventually led her to discover that their funding was coming from a shadowy network that was later discovered to be the First Order. Because of this investigation, she was targeted by another senator, Carise Sindian, who had obtained the secret information that Leia’s father was Darth Vader.
Leia Organa
The daughter of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, Leia inherited her mother’s political skills and her father’s Force power. She was raised on Alderaan as a member of the royal family, and followed in her father’s footsteps by becoming a senator who secretly worked alongside the Rebel Alliance. Alderaan’s destruction changed everything, and Leia became a leader in both the Rebel Alliance and its successor government, the New Republic. She served there for decades, eventually leaving to found the First Order when she sensed its darkness growing. Leia gave much for her ideals, but eventually gave her life to redeem her son Ben.
Sindian orchestrated the public revelation of this knowledge, destroying Leia’s political career, and signaling her end as part of the New Republic. Not willing to let evil persist and grow, Leia tried her best to continue to fight the rise of the First Order. To do this,she started her own military organization, theResistance, with membership consisting of New Republic personnel who were tired of the government’s lack of actionagainst a credible and growing threat.
Ben Solo Falls To The Dark Side & Joins Snoke
Learning about his true ancestry via the public revelation of Leia’s father in the New Republic senate, Ben Solo was distraught and struggling in his Jedi training withLuke Skywalker on Ossus. One fateful night in 28 ABY, Luke decided to look into Ben’s mind to see just how disturbed the young man was – and Luke saw it was much worse than he could have imagined. It was too late, as Luke’s reaction to these painful images was to ignite his lightsaber, causing Ben to wake up and strike back.
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Skywalker was knocked unconscious, and Solo inadvertently destroyed the entire Jedi Temple, falling further to the dark side. After meeting up with Supreme Leader Snoke, with whom he’d had a mental connection for years, Ben joined theKnights of Ren. The Knights pushed him even further, encouraging him to kill his fellow students, leading to Ben’s full fall to the dark side. He bled his Kyber crystal, and it cracked, leading to the iconic lightsaber of Kylo Ren - who joined the First Order soon after and led its forces.
First Order Secedes From The New Republic
Around the same time as the last two events, the First Order seceded from the New Republic. Beyond member worlds, the political bloc of the First Order was mostly located in the galactic North, around the planets Mygeeto, Dantooine, Yaga Minor, and Bastion.Between First Order and New Republic space was a region known as the Trans-Hydian Borderlands, where a lot of the standoffs of the Cold War took placeover the next 5–6 years.
The Cold War mostly consisted of the First Order’s secretive yet definitive buildup of the military, preparing an invasion force. The New Republic, led by Chancellor Lanever Villecham during this period, was unwilling to acknowledge this buildup, simply regarding it as a choice the First Order systems were making that was well within their rights under the Galactic Concordance. Far from this complacency, Organa’s Resistance kept a stern watch on the First Order, leading to several flashpoints in the Cold War.
The Suraz Engagement: Poe Joins the Resistance
After somewhat unstable teenage years, Poe Dameron decided to join the New Republic Defense Force, employing the piloting skills his mother, an A-Wing pilot, taught him.Poe was an ace pilot in the New Republic, but became uncertain about the Defense Fleet and the Senate’s lack of action against the growing First Order. Above the planet Suraz 4, the First Order illegally entered New Republic space to hijack a freighter called theYissira Zyde.Dameron’s Rapier Squadron fought back, but New Republic Command refused to investigate further, not wanting to risk war with the First Order.
Poe Dameron
A gifted pilot, Poe Dameron briefly flew with the Spice Runners of Kijimi before making his way to the Resistance. He became one of the Resistance’s most important figures, even leading after the passing of Leia Organa. Poe is particularly notable for his close friendship with Rey Skywalker and Finn.
Dameron took things into his own hands, though, as he’d lost a pilot during the engagement. He left on his own to track down theYissira Zyde, finding its location, and still getting in trouble with the New Republic. After catching wind of his actions, he was visited by General Leia Organa, who applauded his actions and recruited Poe into the Resistance, along with the rest of the Rapier Squadron.
The First Order Secretly Funds Pirate Groups
Much of the First Order’s support came from people longing for security and protection from a criminal element of the galaxy. Many citizens knew that the Empire was evil, but appreciated the strength and security that came with its military – a very common aspect of the rise of fascism in our real world. Playing directly into this,the First Order began funding pirate and criminal groups to raid settlements, later presenting themselves as the security solution for the attack.
The First Order claimed that the New Republic didn’t care about the attacks that they themselves were causing, leading to many citizens supporting the First Order as their influence grew. The events ofStar Wars Resistancedepict this tactic as it happened across the galaxy. This same tactic was deployed in the Cassander Sector as well, and the Resistance directly combated it there with their bombing fleet.
Agent Terex & The First Order Security Bureau
During the Cold War, former Imperial stormtrooper and crime lord Terex joined the First Order, to the dismay of many in the organization.Captain Phasmain particular disliked Terex because of his criminal background.Terex became an agent of the First Order Security Bureau, a wing of the Order focused on espionage and subterfuge, disrupting New Republic status quos and Resistance efforts.
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This brought Terex and his forces into direct conflict with Poe Dameron and his Resistance squadron.The groups clashed multiple times as Terex tried to stop Dameron’s efforts to locate Lor San Tekka. Along the way, Terex was eventually rebellious to the First Order itself, causing even more chaos for the Resistance as they tried to convince the galaxy of the First Order’s atrocities, as depicted in thePoe Dameroncomic series by Charles Soule.
The Hunt for Lor San Tekka & Luke Skywalker
As the leader of Black Squadron, Poe Dameron was personally commissioned by General Organa to search for her brother, Luke Skywalker. This began with the hunt for Lor San Tekka, an old friend of Luke’s, who had clues to his whereabouts following the collapse of his Jedi Temple. This chase, as mentioned earlier, brought Dameron and Black Squadron into conflict with the First Order in many places.
This desperate search led Dameron to the planet Ovanis, the prison world of Megalox Beta, and even the former Separatist world ofCato Neimoidia.Fighting covert and small skirmishes across the galaxy, all to gather evidence and leads on the potential location of Lor San Tekka, eventually led Poe to Jakku. This is the opening scene ofThe Force Awakens, the film which includes the firing of Starkiller Base – the end of the Cold War.
Dameron and the Resistance actually found San Tekka before he procured the map, making their meeting on Jakku more of a reunion than a meet up.
The Galactic Cold War’s End & The Fall Of The New Republic
34 ABY - The Starkiller Incident
As seen inThe Force Awakens, the hunt for Lor San Tekka ended on Jakku with the recovery of the map to Luke Skywalker, and San Tekka’s death. At the same time, Starkiller Base was completed and fired at the Hosnian system, the location of the New Republic’s senate at the time.This destroyed the New Republic and most of its defense fleet, leaving the Resistance as the only organized group opposing the First Order and bringing the Cold War to a destructive end.
For such a turbulent time in the galaxy’s history, it’s shocking to see just how fewStar Warsstories have taken place in the Cold War period. This era of subterfuge and espionage seems like it would lend itself to anAndor-like spy-thriller perfectly, or a more action-packed pirate story with the First Order involved secretly. It’s a fascinating blank canvas for storytelling that could and should be the setting for moreStar Warsstories going forward.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
