The Conscription Act was a piece of legislation adopted by the Galactic Senate in 1,384 BBY. It imposed military conscription on many Republic worlds to bolster the depleted Republic Armed Forces.
Background[]
By 1,384 BBY, the New Sith Wars had been raging off-and-on for six hundred and sixteen years. Sith factions had arisen with more or less strength during that time, but the Republic now faced more concerted opposition from the Supreme Modality and the New Sith Empire, both of which both employed dark side Force users in large numbers and exhibited a historically unwonted ability to keep those dark siders in order and collaborative. The Republic had been steadily pushed back on the Perlemian Trade Route and, despite winning the Battle of Allanteen, felt imperiled on the Corellian Run as well.
For much of the wars, military force had been supplied by the Core Worlds, with smaller contributions from the other galactic regions. The fall of large swaths of the Mid Rim heightened concerns about the Republic's ability to protect its border systems; many worlds on what had suddenly become the border of Republic control began considering conscription to generate enough force to beat back the Sith.
Legislative history[]
Subcommittee[]
By the fifth month of 1,384, the Conscription Act was being debated by a subcommittee of the Senate Military Oversight Committee. Numerous military witnesses testified before the subcommittee on the matter, but generals and admirals in the field were divided on the act; some welcomed the prospect of an influx of new soldiers, but many were concerned about the time needed to train them and the quality of unwilling conscripts.
As drafted, the Act would impose conscription on all Republic worlds (proportionate to each world's population). Senator Jendaya Rose of Corellia opposed this provision, as Corellia already made major contributions to the Republic war effort both in materiel (largely the product of the Corellian Engineering Corporation) and the many Corellians serving in the Republic military. However, Senators Khrys Fenesto of Osarian, Gelrosto Wol-sed of Berchest, and Tesunu Banardi of Obroa-skai felt the time was ripe to challenge Rose's political dominance in the Senate. Positioning themselves as speaking for the forgotten Republic worlds in defiance of Core domination of the Republic, they rallied enough support to pass the Act, unamended, to the full SMOC against Rose's opposition.
The Act's passage was considered a serious political challenge to Rose, and was the subject of rampant political commentary for the following weeks.
Full committee[]
Jedi Master Nawsa Arodion counseled Rose and her staff on the crucial importance of not dividing the Republic between Core and Rim, though she accepted the likely need for conscription. Rose convinced Nach Drydon, Senator of Anaxes and Chair of SMOC, to allow the bill to be forwarded to the full Senate rather than burying it in procedure; she did so in part to honor Arodion's request, but also because she and Drydon had devised a more effective plan to see the Act amended and crush the opposition.
Senate debate[]
By the time the Conscription Act reached the full Senate, three factions had formed: the Universalists (led by Fenesto, Wol-sed, and Banardi), who favored universal conscription; the Equitablists (led by Rose and Drydon), who favored amending the act to exempt worlds based on various other contributions to the war effort; and the Conscientists (led by Senators Refni Ik'lakt of Caamas and Jerex Antilles of Alderaan, and sometimes derisively called “the Pacifists”), who opposed mandatory conscription on principle. Many senators had pledged themselves to the two main pro-conscription camps with varying degrees of enthusiasm (relatively few supported the Conscientists), but a sizeable fraction of the Senate remained uncommitted.
Initial debate on the Act was organized with the Universalists and Equitablists presenting their arguments, despite the objections of the Conscientists at being excluded. Each group was allowed three speakers, alternating, to express its position; the Universalists selected Wol-sed, Banardi, and Fenesto, while the Equitablists chose Drydon, Senator Fraaki Lambed of Duro, and Rose. Though pundits and many senators considered the first five speeches largely a wash in effect, Rose's “Have You No Shame?” speech not only galvanized more tepid support among those worlds she proposed to exempt, but also swayed many senators from other systems.
Senate debate carried on for a few days, but, as Masters Arodion and Qiuedaru Jembrunz and Supreme Chancellor Nulu Thini predicted within moments of Rose's speech, the debate was functionally over. Eventually, rather than allow the Equitablists to scuttle the Act altogether, Banardi defected from the Universalists and proposed Rose's amendment to the full Senate; despite Fenesto's and Wol-sed's attempt to rally support, it passed by an overwhelming margin. After a few more amendments from the floor, the Conscription Act as amended passed the following day.
Key provisions[]
The foremost provision of the Conscription Act imposed military conscription on non-exempt Republic worlds, represented as a fraction of the total population of military service age (the definition of which varied by species). Systems (not individual planets) could be exempted based on current service figures among their citizens, financial contributions to the Republic's overall military budget, the presence of vital Republic military resources (such as shipyards) and consequent material supply, or a combination of the three.
The Act also created a Military Conscription Processing Service to handle the bureaucracy of inducting the many new recruits, and authorized the initial appropriation to fund the MCPS.
Response[]
The Republic at large was as divided over the Act as the Senate, and many protests erupted both during the debate and in the wake of passage (both those opposed to conscription altogether and those protesting the exemptions).
Several Sith Lords also expressed concerns about the Act, feeling that a surge of Republic recruits would bog down military campaigns which had already made progress only in fits and starts.
Appearances[]
- The Hundredth Day (Mentioned only)
- Vendetta III: The Void