History of the Empire

Beginnings

The Empire has its origins in the Old Republic, a faulty system of government which relied on three sources of power:

• The Senate – a representative body, drawing its membership from throughout the galaxy.
• The Jedi – an order of knights, few in numbers, which acted as a gendarmerie and also had a quasi-diplomatic role in resolving interplanetary disputes.
• Financial Institutions – e.g., the Trade Federation – providing economic power and commerce.

This system worked well so long as the Senate was able to be decisive and the Republic was small enough for the Jedi to patrol, and the institutions of economic power were willing to abide by Senate decisions, rather than resort to coercion or bribery. However this system came under increasing strain as the Republic grew. The sheer numbers of Senators meant that decision-making had become unwieldly, if not impossible, and any decisions that were made were implemented by corrupt bureaucrats. These bureaucrats could smugly expect to face no retribution as the Senate continued to dither. Worse, the Jedi increasingly found they could not patrol, nor control, every sector in which their presence was required. Smuggling rings, such as those run by the Hutts, flourished. The Trade Federation and other financial institutions built private armies to enforce their will. The galaxy was descending into chaos.

Senator Palpatine

Sidious

Into this situation entered Senator Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, a modest man from the modest planet of Naboo. A man of exceptional political gifts and understanding, as well as powerful in the ways of the Dark Side of the Force, he saw that the present order was at once too weak to bring stability to the galaxy, and yet was too entrenched to be easily removed: too many elites profited by the system, particularly the bureaucracy. It is fair to say that the Jedi remained uncorrupted, but their services were being used to preserve a corrupt order, a critique echoed by the dissident Jedi Count Dooku. This critique was blithely dismissed by the Jedi Council and Count Dooku was forced out.

The only way for the galaxy to achieve any level of stability and uncorrupt government, Palpatine reasoned, would be to knock down the pillars of the established disorder and put a new order in its place. Palpatine foresaw this order having several elements:

• A New Military – the new government would have a single military force, large enough to quash any interplanetary disputes. Private armies held by the present Senate members were to be discouraged if not destroyed.
• Regional Government – The Senate would have its power devolved to regional governors who would in turn be loyal to a new central authority. The central authority, having the power of the military at its disposal, would have an effective tool to keep the regions in line.
• Authoritarianism – the Senate was weak because it spoke with no authority; for stability to be ensured, the centre would have to speak with authority and will from then on.

Destruction of the Old Republic

Using his Sith apprentices, and subtle political machinations, Senator Palpatine moved to knock down the Old Republic. First, he showed up the weakness of the Senate by engineering a crisis on Naboo, in which the Trade Federation tried to blockade the planet. The Senate’s inability to take effective action opened the door for Palpatine to benefit from sympathy for his planet. Chancellor Valorum was deposed and Palpatine replaced him.

At the same time, Palpatine managed to begin eroding the power of the Jedi by having his apprentice Darth Maul dispose of Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn. While Darth Maul was killed by Obi Wan Kenobi, the reappearance of the Sith both alarmed and surprised the Jedi: it put the stodgy old order on the defensive.

After achieving some of his objectives with the Naboo incident, Palpatine began further moves: he converted the dissident Jedi Count Dooku to the Dark Side and involved him in his plans to establish the New Order. Count Dooku in turn began a Separatist movement whose military operations were paid for by the financial institutions, including the discredited Trade Federation.

At approximately the same time, an order was placed on Kamino for a clone army, based on the famed bounty hunter Jango Fett. This force, superior to any droid army that could be constructed, would form the basis of the new military Palpatine intended to establish.

Meanwhile, Palpatine used the Separatist crisis he had engineered to get the Senate to give him emergency powers. Any trouble the Jedi might have given him were limited by their numbers being depleted by Separatist forces.

The war’s intensity and length had the ultimate result of weakening the Jedi still further and increasing Palpatine’s power. With victory, Palpatine was able to cripple the financial institutions as they were caught on the wrong side.

The Jedi were finally eliminated when Palpatine converted the powerful young Jedi, Anakin Skywalker, to the Dark Side, and persuaded him to assist in sweeping these final elements of the old system away.

The Empire

Tie Fighter Two

With the old order finally demolished, the newly-declared Emperor Palpatine and his young apprentice Anakin Skywalker (now known as Darth Vader), worked to establish the new. By and large, they were successful. The Senate was reduced to a rump and then eliminated entirely. Regional governorships were established. The military patrolled the Galaxy and kept order. Smuggling operations were severely curtailed. Corrupt bureaucrats were executed.

However the Empire did have its opponents, namely those who held privileged positions in the old order, e.g., former Senators such as Mon Mothma and Bail Organa. The latter had helped the few remaining Jedi by hiding one of Anakin Skywalker’s offspring, Leia Skywalker (later Leia Organa). His son, Luke Skywalker, was spirited away to live on the remote desert planet of Tatooine.

The opponents of Empire created a force to restore the old, corrupt order, entitled “The Alliance to Restore the Republic”, otherwise known as the “Rebel Alliance”. These rebels began to wage guerilla war against the Empire, using members of the aristocracy, such as Leia Organa, to pass information to different Rebel cells. In spite of the elimination of Rebel strongholds such as Alderaan, the Rebels did manage to score a victory by destroying the first Death Star at the Battle of Yavin. This was a desperate blow as the battle station was intended to supplement the Imperial starfleet’s power. The person directly responsible for the destruction of the first Death Star was none other than Luke Skywalker.

The Empire did manage to fight back and destroyed a significant Rebel base on the planet Hoth. Darth Vader made an attempt to convert his son to the cause of the Empire and the Dark Side, but young Skywalker escaped.

End of Empire & Anarchy

The Rebellion was ultimately successful. At the Battle of Endor, the second Death Star, which was in the final stages of construction, was destroyed and the Emperor perished just before it did. Darth Vader died as well, from injuries he sustained after having lost a lightsaber duel to his son. However, in spite of the loss of the central Imperial infrastructure, the regional governors remained, as well as much of the Imperial battlefleet. The stability and order that the Empire represented, was replaced instead with a much larger war, with the Alliance, the old battlefleets and criminal organisations all fighting for dominance.