Even the much feared deathstars 1&2 were each destroyed in their first battles by weak and desperate rebel opponents before the help of Starfleet teleportation, Warp speed without hyperspace, Genesis torpedos, Time travel knowledge and more. Empire is xenophobic and would antagonize everyone in the STU, Leading to an 'enemy of enemy is friend' alliance two galaxies in size fighting against them. Starfleet would certainly befriend and ally with rebels, Bringing all available federation tech advantages, Adopting, Adapting and improving or replacing relevant existing SWU technology, And give rebels unprecedented technological superiority. This failure at basic governance resulted in their defeat even without Federation assistance. Constantly struggling to maintain an authoritarian state yet their territory is overrun by crime lords, Smugglers, Slavers, Pirates, Bounty hunters, Assassin's, Rebels, And more. Carries hallmarks of a civilization in decline such as long established infrastructure neglected and falling apart, Splintering factions seeking power, Stagnation of research, Declining and lost technologies, Etc. Infantry were poorly trained, An entire legion of their best troops were defeated by stone age technology midget teddy bears. Chain of command suffered from chronic shortages of experienced officers due to simple mistakes and nofault occurence resulting in public execution of innocent senior officers. They were led by a tyrant preoccupied by selfish motives with no care for effective government. They were incompetent, Corrupt, And hated everywhere. But trying to negotiate with fanatical jerks, would work no better for them than it does for Israel when they agree to ceasefires no matter how many times their enemy keeps firing anyway. Teleporters (against non-shielded, usually stationary targets). I do give the federation credit: They have better armor (no armor, is better than storm trooper armor). The federation certainly would not be dumb enough to fall for the mind tricks, the lightening on the other hand. Even were the Federation to adapt and cease falling for this, sooner or later they would probably try getting all the leadership (unarmed) together into a big room to share feelings. Next consider that light-sabers are a religious artifact, and the federation loves respecting all religions. The Phantom Menace showed the havoc that light-sabers can unleash inside ships that are actually well defended. Yet they are terrible at handling hostiles on their ships. There are so many more storm troopers than red-shirted crew members that the Federation would run out and have to start sacrificing main characters long before the Empire would.Д®ach have their advantages, however the Federation loves to invite people onto their ships to talk. He is too focused on mating with alien life forms, so the only mystical power he uses is his sex drive, and the only exhaust vent he fires into is between a green chick's legs.)ДЄnother way to think of it is that the storm troopers serve the same function as the guys in the landing party who are wearing the red uniforms: they are the disposable ones who die without accomplishing anything. The Federation could not win unless the Jedi stood with them and taught Spock to use the Force.

It is only due to the return of the Jedi order that the rebels stand a chance. Without the Jedi helping the Alliance, the Empire wins. Starfleet would have very little to offer the Rebel Alliance in terms of resistance assistance or military capability. It has a diplomatic, humanitarian and scientific mission, not a military imperial one. If it were just between the Empire and the Federation, then the Federation would lose badly because it is not a military Starfleet.

The empire vs the federation