The Rebellion has oftentimes been described as some sort of creditless movement, valiantly opposing the Empire with little but bravery and outdated equipment. While this is true, it doesn’t show the full picture of the Rebel Alliance’s economic complexity.
Unlike local rebellions, the Alliance to Restore the Republic saw itself as some kind of a shadow government within the Empire. Its aim was less to take control of territories than providing the framework of a just galactic government were said territories would be free to live the life they aspired to.
Who does what?
In this respect, the Alliance leadership was divided along two axes. The first one, the Cabinet, was essentially a governmental structure with ministries. The second one, the Alliance High Command, waged a war against the Empire.
From an economic standpoint, it is the Cabinet that provides the most information. Being the Alliance’s government, the Cabinet was in charge of making sure that the Alliance had the means to pursue its war against the Empire. Therefore, four key actors emerge from the Cabinet: - The Ministry of Finance, in charge of issuing the Alliance War Bonds (AWC), the Alliance Credit (AC) and levying taxes on worlds that were supporting the Alliance (Allied Commands). The Ministry of Finance was led by Viscount Tardi until his death in 3 ABY;
- The Ministry of Industry, in charge of the Alliance’s industrial production, from rare heavy factories to the more common cottage factories;
- The Ministry of Supply, in charge of “begging, borrowing, or stealing the food, clothing, and other supplies necessary”;
- The Ministry of State, in charge of rallying allies to the Rebellion – with a direct effect on the Alliance’s economic and industrial production. Indeed, more allies meant more tax-based income and more possibilities to develop cottage factories, usually placed on worlds sympathetic to the Rebellion. The Ministry of State was led by Princess Leia Organa.
In coordination with these structures, in the Alliance High Command, two Supreme Commands were intrinsically linked with the ministries: the Supreme Command for Ordnance and Supplies and the Supreme Command for Alliance Support Services.
- The Supreme Command for Ordnance and Supplies was in charge of the logistics of the food, clothing and other supplies previously begged, borrowed or stolen to the troops; while
- The Supreme Command for Alliance Support Services was in charge of transporting said goods and also of the management of safe worlds. The latter being of particular importance in the industrial production as we will see later.
The coordination between the Ministry of Supply and the Supreme Command for Ordnance and Supplies was ensured in the simplest way possible, with a double-hatted figure, that of Ral’Rai Muvunc who led both structures.
On a credit and a shoestring
That the Alliance was poor compared to the Empire leaves no doubt, yet it was rich enough to ensure that its fleet would cruise the spacelanes and to cross the threshold that enabled it to wage a war against the galactic government in place.
Determining how much exactly is “rich enough” is something that we will probably never know. To make matters worse, we know from military studies that resistance movements actually require less funding than their opposing forces, therefore the state of finances is made more difficult to assess. In addition, there have been no documents indicating the full extent of the Alliance (fleet size, army size, and so forth).
Nevertheless, there are some information pertaining to the Alliance’s finances and industrial productions.
Credit flow
Despite minting Alliance Credits, it seems that the Ministry of Finance was more looking into the Imperial Credit than into the Alliance Credits.
Donations
The Alliance benefited from generous donators from the start. House Organa of Alderaan was an early backer of the Rebellion until the planet was destroyed in 0 BBY, but also “much of the Alliance’s initial funding [came] from Core World nobles who were ousted and [hoped] to regain their place in society ” and “resources, mostly anonymous untraceable “donations” from wealthy families and corporations, were quietly and efficiently gathered”. Another source would confirm that viceprexes in the Corporate Sector were at risk as Imperial Intelligence was reviewing “every single expense report”. Wealthy individuals also contributed to the Alliance’s cause. A persistent rumor claimed that a donation of one million credits would entitle the donator to being a “Rebel Sympathizer”; but beyond rumors, was the case of shockball champion Ytavarg Aleema who channeled 50% of his revenues to the Alliance. Negotiations
In addition to the donations, the Alliance negotiated financial arrangements. On Vorzyd V, the gambler’s world, the Alliance negotiated a deal whereby which the planetary government would transfer millions of credits to the Rebel’s coffers.
Similarly, “the Circapous business underground opened a covert supply line to the Rebels. The flow of credits proved a critical factor in strengthening the Alliance military”.
Borrowing
On Aargau, Princess Leia and Viscount Tardi would “complete a loan that would help replenish the Rebel fleet”. In the latter example, the Rebellion used the Crown Jewels of Alderaan (pictured) as collateral for the loan. Embezzlement
Finally, thanks to Bail Organa, the Rebellion embezzeled Imperial funds to its ends. "Organa's position on such committees as Finance, Appropriations, and Intelligence Oversight allowed him to funnel money, weapons and information to the fledgling Rebel Alliance."
Industries and resources
In addition to credits, the Rebellion had a small industrial base, access to resources and made arrangements to acquire more resources or finished goods.
The Laborious Alliance…
The Rebel Alliance’s industrial base was by all accounts small, but not useless. The Ministry of Industry identified two different types of productions.
Large factories (heavy industry)
Large factories produced heavy industry, such as starships and heavy artillery. According to the Ministry of Industry, there might have been as little as four large factories. One located on Mon Calamari, two located on safe worlds, and the last one on an unnamed world openly supportive of the Rebellion.
Small Cottage Industries
“Small cottage industries” in the Ministry of Industry’s parlance produced small arms, clothing, medpacs and other light equipment. Those were located on Rebel-sympathetic planets.
In addition to the “small cottage industries”, questions regarding the management of mines, refineries and construction yards ought to also be asked. While hard evidence that the Rebellion had control over those types of facilities, persistent rumors claim that the Rebellion managed at least several of them. However, at most, one mining operation and one refinery (grease) have been identified as such.
Shipyards
It is unclear how shipyards were categorized within the Ministry of Industry however. While it claimed that “starships” were produced in “large factories”, of which there were remarkably few, the Alliance, by 3 ABY had control of several shipyards, such as the Chardaan Shipyards.
In addition to the Chardaan Shipyards, it had control over three X7 factories (Deep Space manufacturing facilities) designed by Kost & Ko / Telgorn Corp., the Koensayr 42, the Soren and the Gallofree. Furthermore, it had completed the construction of a Telgorn Shipyard, the Calenz.
Similarly, it is unclear how the production of the RZ-1 A-wings fell in the Ministry’s categorization. While it is known that very few were produced prior to the Battle of Endor and that they were hand-crafted, two locations were given, the Chardaan Shipyards and the planet Cardooine. Should Cardooine be considered in light of the production mode of the RZ-1 a “small cottage industry”?
Hidden bases and safe worlds
The issue of safe worlds and hidden bases has been debated at length by various historians; yet, their role within the Alliance’s economic strategy has usually been relatively ignored. Early internal Alliance reports clearly state that “safe worlds were set up ”, and additional information about a particular benefactor, House Korden, helped in fleshing out how those was set up. To quote, “supplies and equipments needed to establish hidden bases in inhabited systems ” were provided by the noble house.
Thanks to Alliance safe worlds “the Alliance had an abundance of food. The safe worlds and Outer Rim Territories produced a tremendous surplus of crops”. One such world, codenamed Sanctuary was particularly famous for producing in excess of several tons of fish, as well as a particular type of seaweed that could be used in clothing.
Beyond providing with resources, it is important to bear in mind that two safe worlds were also used to the house “large factories”. Therefore, the importance of the Alliance’s scout service and the Supreme Command for Alliance Support Services, in charge of managing safe worlds, played also a crucial role in the Alliance’s economy.
In kind donations and aggressive acquisition
However, the Alliance was mostly famous for the “creative” type of acquisition it excelled, i.e. the use of black market, smuggling, theft of Imperial equipment, and the donations it received.
Black market and smuggling
The Alliance’s relationship with the smugglers traces back from the Alderaniaan resistance, when Bail Organa struck an arrangement with fellow Alderaniaan smuggler Lady Alya Aldrete, who placed her smuggling ring at the disposition of the Rebellion. Of course, famous smugglers such as Platt O’Keefe, Han Solo or Talon Karrde would further give the Alliance a certain clout within the “free traders” community. So much so, that the Alliance would acknowledge the role of smugglers under the idiom “procurement specialists”.
After the victory at Yavin 4, the Alliance was faced with “more smugglers” willing to help the Rebellion. This sudden influx of smugglers created the needs for laying out “standard procedures for evaluating potential ‘procurement specialists’” , culminating in a “list” of “approved ‘procurement specialists’.
Therefore, the role of smugglers ought to be examined with details. According to various reports, they contributed in “delivering much needed supplies past Imperial blockades ”, and also contributed in increasing the stocks of “small arms, clothing [and] medpacs” beyond those produced by the “small cottage industries”.
It is also possible to speculate that given the Alliance’s role in the promotion of the underground holo-industry, smugglers helped in the Alliance propaganda, but also that the Alliance gained some revenues from the underground holo-industry. Bearing in mind that at the height of the Galactic Civil War the underground holo-industry nearly rivaled the legitimate holo-industry, this could have represented a sizeable cash flow.
Additionally, it seems that the Alliance played an ambiguous game in the trade of various narcotics. Apparently, the Alliance provided some glitterstim in the Corporate Sector to certain viceprexes in exchange for corporate support. Paradoxically however, privateers working for the Alliance were required at the same time to destroy any and all narcotics that would seize.
With the Rebel involvement in smuggling, its proximity to various criminal organizations was evidently something to take into consideration. While there is little documentation regarding this topic, it is worth noting that “the Rebel Alliance makes inroads with several criminal organizations, including Huttese syndicates ”.
Among the criminal organizations that may have been interested in working with the Alliance, Black Sun is known to have made some entreaties with the Alliance to Restore the Republic. In 1 ABY, Alliance High Command would mention that it had received “a very interesting proposition [that] offered the aid of [Black Sun] organization ”.
Theft and piracy
Discounting the help of criminal organizations or fringe groups such as smugglers, the Rebellion was also excelling in acquiring various equipments from the Empire.
Again, complementing the “small cottage industry”, small arms, clothing and medpacs were regularly stolen from Imperial depots. But the extent of the Rebel predation on the Empire went far and beyond small larceny.
Evidently, a large part of the Rebel fleet was actually paid for by the Empire, as the Rebellion would seize surrendering capital ships or steal them from dry docks. While those could rightly be considered as “spoils of war” the Alliance had acquisition specialists in its rosters – including working within the Imperial military (Tarn Innis for example) – or classical shipjackers (Pike Angeles). Support services condoned shipjacking and the idiom “license to steal” among shipjackers’ slang was known to mean “Alliance-authorized shipjacking”. Therefore it should come as no surprise that the Alliance had devised a “top ten list” of ships it was interested in:
1. YT-1300
2. Ghtroc 720 Freighter
3. Corellian Action IV Transport
4. Gallofree Yards Medium Transport
5. Y-wing starfighters
6. Z-95 Headhunters
7. Corellian Corvettes
8. Capital Ships
9. Lambda-class Shuttles
10.Lantillian Short Haulers
Finally, the Rebel Alliance also capitalized on outside help to acquire material. With the active support of Mon Mothma, Supreme Command for Ordnance and Supply managed to overcome objections raised by Fleet Command about the use of privateers. This opened the Alliance to privileged access to resources at a discount since the Rebellion was entitled to 50% of all bounties from privateers.
Purchase and gifts
Credits acquired by the Rebellion were used, among other things, to purchase heavy weaponry and starship. The Alliance used dummy corporations to acquire ships as well as legitimate sympathetic businesses that would “lose” the assets, which may have been from the "industrial leaders" that Mon Mothma met during her exile.
Similarly, earned credits were also used for bribery; the extent of which went from having officials turn a blind eye on Alliance business to recruiting corporate Viceprexes from the Corporate Sector . Perhaps, more surprising, the Alliance also “trafficked” in slave, or to be more accurate, the Alliance, through fronts, purchased slaves to free them – sometimes as low as 8 credits . While this was a rather anecdotal use of credits, the Alliance had a systematic bounty policy on Imperial prisoners from the privateers it employed.
Rank Standard
Alliance Bounty
Troopers and deckmen 100 credits
Sergeants and chiefs 200 credits
Ensigns and lieutenants 300 credits
Command rank officers 500 credits
Flag rank officers 1000 credits
Sector rank officers 5000 credits
In addition to the various purchases made by the Rebellion, the organization also benefitted from major in-kind donations. Whether friendly governments allowed the Rebellion to “steal” starships, or also, as it happened “soon after the Declaration [of Rebellion] was distributed” when “several systems” ultimately “were able to transfer much of their weaponry, resources and manpower offworld into the hands of the Alliance ”. This trend was kept during the Galactic Civil War as more and more systems joined the Alliance; prior to the Battle of Endor, the Virgillian Free Alignment, gave the Alliance twenty-two warships, including three starfighter carriers.
Yet, beyond those extremely large donations, were also innumerable minor donations, from MD droids to various light equipments.
Short changed…
How deep the Rebellion’s coffers were is figuratively unfathomable. According to Luke Skywalker, the Rebellion would have paid a five-million credits ransom to free Leia when she was abducted on Vorzyd V – which is highly ironic in light of the measly 20 000 Alliance credits Han Solo received for the Death Star rescue.
Sources
Gambler's world
Galaxy of Intrigue, R. Thompson, G. Astleford, E. Cagle, WotC, 2009, p.99
Rebel Sourcebook, West End Games, pp. 10, 12
Star Wars Galaxies: Warning to viceprexes
Star Wars Databank: Bail Organa
Cracken’s Rebel Operatives, West End Games
The essential chronology; Circarpousian financiers are also mentioned in Star Wars Galaxies in the mission “Warn a Princess”: Imperial Intelligence has instructed their agents to travel to the Circarpous System. We don’t know if they have learned of our secret dealings with the Circarpousian financiers. This message must be delivered to one of Princess Leia’s aides. This may jeopardize her plans to meet with the Circarpousians. Can we count on you, agent?
Aargau: For All Your Banking Needs, part IV: Checks, Balances and Overdrafts, Cory J. Herndon, Wizards of the Coast, 2003
Star Wars: Rebellion, Lucasart, 1998.
Star Wars Galaxies: Smash Rebel mining operation and Strike a Rebel refinery, Sony Online Entertainment
Star Wars: X-wing vs. TIE Fighter, Totally Games / Lucasart, 1997; Star Wars: X-wing vs. TIE Fighter: Balance of Power
Galaxy of Intrigue, R. Thompson, G. Astleford, E. Cagle, WotC, 2009, p.108
Star Wars Galaxies: Smuggler Security Check
Star Wars Galaxies: List of Smugglers
Star Wars Galaxies: Destroy major Rebel supply depot
Scum and Villainy, G. Astleford, R. Schwalb, O. Stephens, R. Thompson and JD Wiker, Wizards of the Coast, 2008, p.195.
Star Wars Galaxies : Black Sun Offer
Pirates and privateers: targets pp.121-122, Letter of Marque, p.9, Far Orbit netted 120k tons of material, p.7, Imperial bounties p.38
Star Wars Galaxies : Viceprex termination orders; Deliver security codes; Keep our allies safe
Fragments from the Rim
