Many years ago I made a series of posts in the Photos of the Kaiserreich thread that were basically just excuses to post my Star Wars prequel rewrite ideas. Well, those ideas have evolved, so I figured why not, might as well do them for TNO as well. First, though, the originals.
Star Wars: The Original Trilogy
The original trilogy is much the same in terms of plot at OTL, but several worldbuilding details are different. The Outer Rim is explicitly said to have been independent in relatively recent history, before it was conquered in the Clone Wars. In order to mirror Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, the Galactic Empire is explicitly a human supremacist society dominated by the Core Worlds, with aliens either enslaved or the targets of outright genocide. The destruction of Alderaan(in TNOTL explicitly opposed to the Empire and center of the Rebel Alliance from the beginning), for instance, has more focus placed on it, with Grand Moff Tarkin, primary antagonist of the first film, explicitly calling the people of Alderaan inferior by virtue of not being part of the Core. This particularly comes into focus in the finale of the trilogy,
Return of the Jedi, where the Wookies, the people of Chewbacca, one of the central characters, are enslaved on their home planet Kashyyk to build the Empire's Second Death Star. A key part of the third film centers around Han Solo and Princess Leia sparking a slave uprising amongst the Wookies, who then defeat the technologically superior Empire in Kashyyk's jungle in a moment aimed towards being evocative of the fall of Hans Huttig's Grossafrikaner Reichstaat. Overall the ongoing Cold War meant that the Empire resembled Nazi Germany more explicitly than OTL.
Luke is also tempted to give into his anger in this trilogy as well, but critics in TNOTL have often seen this plot point as a commentary on the Ultranationalist ideology expressed by figures such as Dimitri Yazov before his defeat at the hands of the Kingdom of Siberia (later Rus) and Long Yun in China, where revenge is held to be the primary goal of a state, above even the welfare of its own people. This is further reinforced by a new conflict for Princess Leia, who must balance her desire to avenge Alderaan with the strategic needs of the Rebel Alliance. George Lucas, however, has denied that such nuanced political commentary was ever his goal. The redemption of Darth Vader was also met with slightly more controversy at the time than OTL, with Nazi and Japanese atrocities in the West Russian and Great Asian Wars respectively still fresh in people's minds. This led to redemption in media generally being treated more mindfully than OTL in the 80s and 90s, with Vader's redemption being viewed as the archetypal redemption arc in much the same way that of Zuko is OTL. Vader's redemption was also somewhat toned down, and he does not appear as a force ghost in the celebrations at the end of
Return of the Jedi. Luke accepts him as his father and he does still choose to break free of Emperor Palpatine's control, but he is not considered to have regained his status as a Jedi.
In the slightly better racial climate brought about by the two term presidency of Robert Kennedy, the films were also more diverse from the beginning, with many more minorities in background roles even in the first movie. The character of Lando Calrissian was also met with much less controversy.
The trilogy ends in a slightly different way to OTL as well; here, the Outer Rim's worlds manage to break free of the Empire's rule, with particular focus being paid to a Wookie Republic established on Kashyyk and Princess Leia overseeing the restoration of the Kingdom of Alderaan as its queen on one of Alderaan's moons. The Empire is also not completely gone; after Palpatine's death Admiral Piett, a somewhat sympathetic antagonist, stages a coup and restores the Republic, recognizing the independence of the Outer Rim. Thus ended the Original Trilogy.
Star Wars started out as a movie about hope in a dark world. When A New Hope was released in 1977 Nazi Germany seemed to be stronger than ever, and Kishi's Japan was winning the Great Asian War. A movie where the heroes defeat totalitarianism in a rollicking adventure seemed to be what the United States needed. The trilogy ended, however, in a changed world. The Kingdom of Rus had defeated Nazi Germany, aligning towards the OFN and democratizing. The Great Asian War had ended in a Chinese victory, with China seeming set to follow a similar course. The American ideals that the original trilogy trumpeted seemed set to march into a brave new world. And yet when a Star Wars movie would next grace the silver screen the world would have changed again. The Star Wars Prequels would take a very different attitude towards the United States.