Linguistic Universalization Initiative

The Linguistic Universalization Initiative was a project carried out by the Galactic Republic initiated in 139 BBY to spread Galactic Basic Standard as the galactic community's universal language.

History
Before the project, less than 2% of inhabited Republic worlds spoke Basic as a first language. This caused many issues in the fields of trade, diplomacy, education, and tourism, often requiring translators or translation devices for said interactions between Humans that spoke drastically differing languages. Sometime around 140 BBY, the Galactic Senate passed the Linguistic Universalization Initiative Act, which, if effective, would spread the Basic language as a native tongue to more than 50% of Republic space, and would make Basic the lingua franca of trade and diplomacy. Before this, Middle Coruscanti, Modern Coruscanti, and Traditional Corellian were the lingua francas among spacers in and outside of Republic space, with virtually each inhabited planet having its own native language (though many Human languages had similar origins, and, although varying between planets, could be grouped into larger lingual categories such as the Core languages that encompassed Corellian, Coruscanti, Alderaanian, and their descendants, which included Basic). Months after the bill was passed, the Initiative went underway; universities and tutors were required by law to teach Basic vocabulary and grammar to their students, with Aurebesh - based on traditional Alderaanian scripture - as the agreed-upon standard alphabet. Another alphabet taught in these schools was Galactic High Standard, historically known as Latin, though this alphabet was considered outdated as it existed millennia before Basic's conception. By 50 BBY, the project was deemed to have been a success, with exactly 79% of Republic worlds hosting populations that spoke Basic or similar creoles as a native language alongside their traditional languages, including those inhabited by non-Humans. In 46 BBY, the Galactic Senate declared Basic as the Galactic Republic's primary language.

The project was legally terminated with the rise of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, though schools were still required by law to teach Basic and Basic scripts, only adding onto the number of worlds that began speaking Basic.

Controversy
Many populations disagreed with the project, as they felt the Republic was forcing them to replace languages that had been spoken for millennia with a foreign tongue. Even back in the Core Worlds, many Basic-speaking protesters often berated the Republic government for these acts. A movement even arose out of these protests, known as the Freespeakers, who, despite speaking Basic as a native language, intentionally began speaking exotic languages in the presence of law enforcement and government officials and held many protests at schools that taught Basic. A terrorist attack on a university on Chandrila in 56 BBY was linked to this controversy.

The public eventually came to accept the Initiative, and it actually received higher approval ratings in later years as it was considered necessary for an interconnected galactic community.