system
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human
{Star Wars} Where was the Republics fleet/navy prior to the clone wars? 

Recently I've been looking at the star wars universe and I came across this question. It seems that for most of the Republics history it had a large navy and possibly army. However, by the time of the clone wars the Republic didn't seem to have a fleet, let alone any army. What happened? When did the republic go from the most powerful organization in the galaxy, to having no military power?
gpt
From the writings of Jedi Librarian Fherhn-Draal 3002 ATC (651 BBY):

"Following the Battle of Ruusan, which ended the thousand-year-long New Sith Wars, the Jedi Order, having grown extremely militant in the era since the Second Great Galactic War, believed that it was their growing martial focus and their increasing power over the Republic that had been a major instigator of the New Sith Wars. Many within the Order believed that the Jedi had abandoned their traditional role of peacekeepers and guardians of the galaxy in their attempt to finally eradicate the Sith menace. 

So, after the Battle of Ruusan, in which the remaining Sith of the galaxy sacrificed themselves to destroy a huge portion of the Jedi fleets, the Jedi Order was in shambles with their leader, Jedi Lord Hoth, born Rohlan of Kaal, Commander of the Army of Light, killed by the Dark Lord of the Sith Skere Kaan, Leader of the Brotherhood of Darkness, and his Spirit Bomb. The Supreme Chancellor Tarsus Valorum, first non-Jedi Supreme Chancellor in four centuries, approached the head of the remaining Jedi, Lord Valenthyne Farfalla, Captain of the Battleship Fairwind and heir apparent to the Supreme Chancellorship, with a plan to return the power of the Republic to the Galactic Senate, to create a peacetime state, and to demobilize the Army of the Republic. Farfalla, initially opposed to such reforms, was swayed by Valorum's proposal to return the Jedi to their role of Peacekeepers and Guardians of the Galaxy, and, in a show of support for the Chancellor, the Jedi demilitarized, renounced all military ranks, disbanded the Army of Light, dissolved the position of Jedi Commander-in-Chief, disbanded all military forces, and for the first time in Galactic history, placed themselves under the command of the government of the Republic, and were absorbed into the Judiciary."

The Ruusan Reformations were instrumental in maintaining the representational Federalism of the Galactic Republic; instead of the Jedi becoming the dominant military and political caste of the Republic, the Jedi gave up their political independence and disbanded their powerful military. Political power shifted from the Chancellery to the Senate, as military power shifted from the Jedi to the Republic. 

Unfortunately, as is the case with a strong Legislature and no major external threats, the need and desire to maintain a vast military dwindled. To maintain security, private militaries rose to the occasion. The so-called Trade Federation was one of these, though it was little more than a protection racket. 

Ultimately, the weakened Federal power of the Republic was the cause of the Clone Wars, and it was Chancellor Palpatine that saw that the fractionated legal and political power of the Republic and the Jedi constantly led to conflict, and reorganized the Republic into an Empire that had a strong centralized legal and political power, to maintain stability and solidify a true galactic government.