Galactic Empire

The Galactic Empire had its origin in the Galactic Republic, now more commonly referred to as the Old Republic. One Senator Palpatine, of the backwater planet Naboo, was in fact a Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious. He manipulated the Republic's political systems, first using the greedy Trade Federation as a pawn; by having the TradeFeds blockade Naboo, he demonstrated that the Senate of the Republic was too bloated and corrupt to deal with even such a comparatively minor incident. He then used this situation to his benefit, by getting Queen Amidala of Naboo to call for a vote of no confidence in the reigning Chancellor. Palpatine was then elected to the vacant postition of Chancellor.

Palpatine's machinations continued. Years earlier, he had begun a two-pronged plan: on the one hand, he instigated a secessionist movement, using his pupil Darth Tyranus, otherwise known as Count Dooku, to lead a number of major corporate entities and dissatisfied worlds. On the other hand, Sidious was also ultimately (and secretly) responsible for the Kaminoans' creation of a fully equipped clone army. When the seperatists declared their Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Republic saw that war was unavoidable, and readily made use of the clone army despite the mystery surrounding its origins. Palpatine had been a popular Chancellor, so when war finally broke out he was granted an extended term and special war powers without any difficulty. Thus he retained control over the Republic going into the Clone War.

Eventually, Sidious/Palpatine orchestrated a plan by which he commanded the clone Army of the Republic to turn on the Jedi, who he branded as traitors. The Jedi were hunted down, and all but a few were exterminated. Palpatine declared himself Emperor, claiming that the new Galactic Empire would amend the stagnation and corruption of the Old Republic.

Palpatine eventually cemented his power by disbanding the Senate, becoming the sole authority in his Empire. Oppression of all kinds was rampant under his reign: crime syndicates flourished, slavery was a common practice, and rebellious individuals and worlds faced brutal reprimands. At the same time, business boomed from a perpetual war economy, and military technology continued to advance. New worlds were absorbed into the Empire, providing fresh labor and new markets. Thorough propaganda convinced many of the beneovlent intent of the Empire; those who were not convinced were still too misinformed to act. Only a small fraction of the Empire successfully defected to the burgeoning Alliance to Restore the Republic, or Rebel Alliance for short.

The Rebel's exploitation of the Emperor's arrogance proved to be the downfall of the Galactic Empire. The first Death Star, intended to be a superweapon of mass terror, was destroyed by a few Rebel fighters due to an overlooked weakness - and moreover it stirred feelings of rebellion in formerly neutral worlds, rather than fear as had been intended. Though the Rebels suffered a serious blow at Hoth, they were able to regroup in time to fall into a trap laid by the Emperor: a second Death Star, under construction and seemingly vulnerable. Yet the battlestation was 'fully armed and operational,' and it was only through Palpatine's conceited oversight that the Rebels could exploit a weakness in the Emperor's plan and destroy not only the DS II, but Palpatine himself. Thus ended the rule of the Galactic Empire.

Record 68 - group - Last update 28 Mar 2007, 23:04:47

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