The Surprising Link Between Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean
Most Star Wars fans have never realized that this franchise shares a surprising link with Pirates of the Caribbean (and it’s not just that the Sequel Trilogy will have you crying “where’s the rum?!” like Jack Sparrow). In those iconic pirate films, one of the most persistent foes to worry about was the East India Trading Company, whose power and influence stretched from one side of the globe to another. As it turns out, the Trade Federation whom we are introduced to in the Star Wars film The Phantom Menace is just an intergalactic version of the East India Company.
The East India Company
For this link between Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean to make any sense, we’re going to need to conduct a brief history lesson. In real life, the East India Company was formed in 1600, and its purpose was built right into the name: this company was created so that English merchants could engage in trade with Eastern India. While the early focus was on exotic spices, the trade company would eventually facilitate the trade of cotton, tea, optimum, and just about everything in between.
In Johnny Depp’s famous films, the East India Company functions a bit like the Empire in Star Wars. In both the films and in real life, the EIC was so successful that they eventually had their own fleet of vessels and control over many areas in the East. Because piracy was bad for business, this company spent plenty of time in the Pirates of the Caribbean films trying to take out the likes of Jack Sparrow.
The Trade Federation
Four years before we were introduced to Johnny Depp’s iconic pirate, we saw a radical reinterpretation of the East India Company onscreen in the Star Wars prequel The Phantom Menace. A long time ago, in a now-deleted article far, far away, the official Star Wars website explicitly compared the Trade Federation to the EIC. The article compares the Nemoidians running the Trade Federation with Governor Jan Pieterszoon Coen; he didn’t appear in Pirates of the Caribbean but in reality, he was a man who “thought he didn’t have to answer to anyone.”
The Trade Federation’s Fleet
The Star Wars site extended this comparison to the future Pirates of the Caribbean and effectively answered fans’ biggest questions about the Trade Federation. For example, fans often wondered why an empire of merchants would have powerful fleets and robotic armies. But as the site notes, the EIC in real life “possessed warships to protect their precious cargoes,” just as the Trade Federation has fleets necessary to protect its own goods (and initiate the occasional blockade).
The Real Life Company Was Just As Militaristic
The other big question Star Wars fans have always had about the Trade Federation is why they were so surprisingly militaristic in invading the peaceful planet of Naboo. However, the runaway financial success of the East India Company meant that these future Pirates of the Caribbean foes “had the authority to wage war, negotiate treaties, and establish their own colonies.” That seems to perfectly predict the behavior of the Trade Federation, an organization that will go to any lengths in order to protect its bottom line.
The Trade Federation Didn’t Work Quite As Well
Their real-life analog had quite the bottom line to protect: at the height of its power, the East India Company was worth a staggering $7.9 trillion dollars. As portrayed onscreen in The Phantom Menace, the Trade Federation of Star Wars wasn’t nearly as effective, coming across as quite possibly the worst trading empire we’ve ever heard of. But in the parlance of Pirates of the Caribbean, we have heard of them, which means this federation of droids and double-dealings may be more effective villains than fans give them credit for.
