Why Does The Galactic Republic Not Have A Standing Army?

It makes no sense. They keep no standard army, so how can they expect to keep peace and order in the galaxy with less than 10,000 Jedi Knights? The galaxies population is most likely in the quintillions, {meaning more than 1,000,000,000,000,000 people}. This means that the Jedi would have no chance defending the galaxy on it's own in the event of a major war. If they had a standing army before the events at Geonosis and the start of the Clone Wars, there'd be no possible way Palpatine could have complete domination of it the way he did with the subserviant Clones, so he could have never came to power in the first place.


***EU Alert***

All right, I'll admit it: I'm an EUer. According the the EU, the Republic had an army and a Navy for a while, but disbanded it after the last Sith War.

Why? Where's the intelligence in that? There is no way any system of government can stand for long without an army and a navy. Perhaps that is why the Republic lasted for 20,000 someodd years when it HAD one, but less than 2,000 after it disbanded the Millitary.

 

There's little reason to keep a standing galaxy wide army when the galaxy is at peace.
Each planet or guild seems to have an army to deal with their own security concerns. Naboo had one, the Trade Federation obviously had an army, and I would imagine that Coruscant and Corellia had standing armed forces.
The Jedi were never intended to be an army. It's better to think of them as being like the Rangers from the American old west. They wander around dispensing justice on thier own, but have the authority to call on local law enforcement if they need help.

 

But that means if a large number of these planets alligned themselves against the Republic {ala the Seperatist movement}, or even just one very powerful planet, say Corellia, decided they wanted to overthrow the government, the Republic would have no central millitary to call upon to put the rebellion down.

This is why, IMO, the Empire is the more theoretically logical system of government.

 

But that means if a large number of these planets alligned themselves against the Republic {ala the Seperatist movement}, or even just one very powerful planet, say Corellia, decided they wanted to overthrow the government, the Republic would have no central millitary to call upon to put the rebellion down.

You answered your own question there. "If." There hadn't been a problem for a millennium, and therefore there was no need for an army to deal with problems, as they were nonexistent. Since there's no internal strife, and no outside enemies, an army is a waste of resources, and any relatively small problems that do pop up can be dealt with on the local level with Naboo-like security forces. And when a bunch of planets did decide to break away - well, we saw what happened then.

 

You might as well ask why Earth doesn't have a standing army of it's own.

 

earth dosent have an army because we dont unite behind the UN. so therefore, i assume that the GFFA dosent completely unite behind the republic.

 

I think the Republic was a little overconfident. By all means they had the right to be overconfident--for thousands of years the Jedi Knight alone kept peace in an entire galaxy full of trillions of beings. I don't think it ever occured to the Republic that they'd need a regular army corps while the Jedi were around...then the Separists came into play.

 

Yes, a standing army would have been a sensible idea. However, with no threats I doubt they could justify the creation or maintenance of one to the Senate, especially when the Senate is full of representatives to whom it is in their best interests for the Republic not to have a regular army (eg, Trade Federation). And, with all the corruption in recent years, it is unlikely they have the money.

 

An army would be a wasted resource when you live in a government that hasn't seen open warfare for over 1,000 years.

 

I don't mean a huge, sprawling, multi-billion trooper millitary gargantuan like the Empire had. I mean a smaller, several million troop millitia that might be used as a police and/or exploratory force as well as a standing army. Maybe a small navy as well.

In any case, if there would be no hope to ever be able to assemble an army in peace time, if I were a Senator, I'd definately make sure there was at least a provision in the Constitution that allowed for a draft of some kind to quickly form a millitary if it were ever neeeded.

 

Psychotic
In any case, if there would be no hope to ever be able to assemble an army in peace time, if I were a Senator, I'd definately make sure there was at least a provision in the Constitution that allowed for a draft of some kind to quickly form a millitary if it were ever neeeded.

Exactly. The problem is, one senator can?t make something happen, and many senators would not agree with you on that, feeling comfortable in systems with a strong military tradition or just too plain corrupt and/or stupid to consider the idea.

 

>>>>I mean a smaller, several million troop millitia that might be used as a police and/or exploratory force as well as a standing army.

What would be the need, when you've got the Jedi acting as "guardians of peace and justice"?

 

There had been no major threats for centuries. The Jedi were more than enough to deal with minor squabbles.

 

Because it's really the Galactic Debating Society. A lot like the UN, only less annoying.

I don't know why they can't borrow fleets and armies from their members to rescue Naboo.

Or why, since the Galactic Debating Society has no military, Amidala doesn't just go to a system that does and which has been friendly to Naboo and ask them for help.

 

I don't mean a huge, sprawling, multi-billion trooper millitary gargantuan like the Empire had. I mean a smaller, several million troop millitia that might be used as a police and/or exploratory force as well as a standing army. Maybe a small navy as well.

- Imagine 1,000 years ago, GFFA time, there was a stand army of one million and a few hundred ships(smaller than ISDs) constituting a navy. After 50 years and no wars, it would be scaled down to 500,000 men and maybe 50 ships. 200 years pass and now it's 100,000 men and a few ships just to ferry the army to problem zones. Another 500 years pass and the Senate, and the people, grow tired of feeding and paying 100,000 men for doing nothing and taking care of ships they never use and disband the standing army. Perhaps at that time they try to add a constitutional article that would allow for an army to be drafted quickly. After 150 years, they're probably still working on the opening line.

With the Republic, it's pretty easy to see why there would be no standing army.

~ DS5

 

I agree, it's kind of a ridiculous concept but I can see a slight parallel to the formation of the American Republic.

Initially, the idea of a standing army was repugnant to most of the Founders. Militias were supposed to defend the Republic and individual states.

Indeed, they associated the standing army with an occupation force loyal to the Crown or the Empire or Autocrat or Oligarchs but not loyal to or accountable to the people.

Thing is, a galaxy-wide Republic would be foolish not to have a military, even if it only brought together various planetary and sector fleets and militias under unified command in times of need.

 

You might as well ask why Earth doesn't have a standing army of it's own.

The Republic is a nation, this does not address the question. If we followed that line of thought, why doesn't Earth have a senate? The Republic did.

Yeah, I didn't like the Republic not having an army. So what was Padme hoping the Republic would do about Naboo? Taunt the TF to death?

 

DS

No, I think she was hoping they'd issue a stern condemnation in the harshest possible language--maybe even issue sanctions...maybe even a corrupt program that allows the TF to give the Nubians a subsistence level of support while using the rest of the funds and supplies to build more droid armies.

What's really lame is that the Republic doesn't even have a fleet--It's called, "The Military Creation Act" for a reason.

Here is this Republic, which allegedly is the AUTHORITY(and legal authority has the monopoly on legal violence, Jeebus, did George take a poli sci class?) in most of the galaxy and it doesn't have a fleet or an army? Did the noble Republic use mercenaries to fulfill its objectives?

Who knows, it's more likely Lucas can't even think through the logic of his own ideas.

 

I doubt the Republic has ever been faced with a threat as large as the Seperatists that it would need an army of equal size.

 

Maybe Padme thought a Senate condemnation of the Trade Federation would make it easier for her to find allies? She'd clearly have preferred to avoid a real war, which might have been possible if she could have gotten enough allies to scare off the TF.

I'm not sure Lucas' vision is so dumb. It calls itself a Republic. But do we have to accept that it really is? Senators conduct themselves more like Ambassadors in many ways. I wonder if Lucas is showing how an organization like the Republic can be relied on, and fail the trust placed in it... there are certainly historical precedents. And mis-naming an organization is hardly unprecedented either.

The Republic has to create a military in a hurry (and Padme's opposition to this seems very strange, considering that if not for Anakins' blind luck Naboo would have become a possession of the TF in the absence of a Republic military). When you rush, you make mistakes. Those mistakes helped Palpatine take control of the new military.

 

Standing armies have a history of threatening Republics and their stability.

And as some danger grows in the galaxy, private armies of commerce have arisen to protect different interests.

Lucas is merely following historical precedent.

 

They did have a standing army for years, but they got tired, so they had to sit down for a bit, then they never got up. Mind you, I don't blame them, sitting down is quite nice, really, especially if you've been standing for an awfully long time.

 

It was never needed to protect them. They never saw such an uprise coming? Did you think this as soon as you saw. Im guessing no, only after AOTC do we see how stupid they really where.

 

Also, perhaps Chancellor Valorum felt it saved money on chairs.

 

Do various members of the Republic have their own planetary armies and defensive units?