Star Wars: 10 Reasons The Galactic Empire Wasn't As Bad As Everyone Thinks
5. The Rebellion Is Clearly Unpopular
The Rebel forces appear throughout all of the films to be relatively small. On Hoth and other bases, only a couple of thousand people seem to make up the rebellion and their fleet seems to be focused on a small number of ships, very few of them capable of intense fighting. This shows how unpopular the rebellion actually is, few are willing to join them even after their huge success in destroying the first Death Star. Rebel forces on our own planet have been larger than the one shown in Star Wars despite the much smaller population available on Earth. The galaxy where these events take place is made up of millions of populated planets, with official sources stating the Empire was made up of 100 quadrillion beings. It is clear then that with such a small following the Rebellion had no popular support, suggesting that the vast majority of people were perfectly happy with the government. Otherwise, you would expect that with such a high population, more people would attempt to join fight. The argument that people would be just too scared doesnt wash either the rebellion had some incredible successes against the Empire that would surely encourage more people to take up arms. Yet this just wasnt the case, only the Mon Calamari contributed in any significant way to the insurgency.
