How scattered was the Rebel Alliance?

It seems like they only had a few bases scattered across the SW galaxy.

Did they all meet up together during ROtJ, or were there some small outposts that couldn't make the trip to Sullest?

 

I think they were all pretty scattered until the time of ROTJ--at that point they all grouped together as a "last alliance" type deal against the Empire.

 

That was my take also, though I think they had more than a few bases. The Empire probably wouldn't have considered them a significant threat if they were that scattered.

 

I would say the Rebels were everywhere or at least at some point. When Mon Mothma said that the Empire was spread throughout the galaxy in an effort to engage the Alliance, I assumed that the Rebels where spread out too.

 

I'd say that, from the lines throughout the trilogy and the novels, the Rebels kept their forces scattered so that one blow from the Empire wouldn't snub it out. In the words of one Imperial madwoman, "The Rebbellion is a fire. You must either put out every hotspot or deny it fuel".

However, Hoth was the one time where the Empire caught most of the Rebel forces in the one place, IIRC, and if they had succeeded in destroying the base before the evacuation, then the Rebellion would have been broken.

 

In order to fight the Empire the rebels would need to be scattered in order to spread Anti-Imperial propaganda and such across the galaxy to rally folks to their cause. When the Rebel Fleet attacks DS2 I would suspect there were many more rebels throughout the galaxy to carry on the Rebellion if the fleet fell at Endor. It would also be reasonable that small amounts of rebels made themselves "noticeable" on other planets in hopes of luring away the Imperial fleet at Endor to leave the DS "relatively unprotected". Of course these efforts, if they occured, were in vain as we see the Fleet had not left Endor.

 

I agree that many Rebels probably were not at Endor. However, I must disagree with a certain implication. I believe the Rebels massed all the firepower they could for the Endor operation. If it was spaceworthy, then it went to war. Some soldiers and politicians may not have participated in the Endor operation, but I believe any ship that could, was there.

 

I agree with Errant. Almost the entire Rebellion was at Endor. Just look at all the big wigs that showed up to join the fight. Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, and all of our classic heroes in the same place at the same time. If the major leaders of the Alliance were at Endor then there couldn't be many other rebels elsewhere in the galaxy.

 

I think the Rebal Alliance was limited, in terms of resources, and had to be very selective on where the engaged in battle.

By committing such a large fleet to Endor, they were hoping to go "all in" with the hope that they could destroy both DSII and Palpatine...effectively ending the Empire.

Yavin and Hoth seem to prove that they had to keep their men and ships constantly on the move...because one probe droid would bring the entire Imperial war machine on them.

 

Still, the Alliance had many advantages because many Civilians from all over the Galaxy jouned it, and therefore it didn't matter much if it was scatterred.

 

But what good are recruits if the Rebellion does not have the resources to supply them with the weapons of war?

I don't believe manpower was the issue, but rather the weapons. In war manpower is only as good as the weapons they use. If there are 1 million fighters and two million qualified pilots in the Rebellion, then one million are going to have to wait on the benches until more fighters become avaible for them.