For more events see Timeline
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The Galactic Civil War was a galaxy-wide conflict that started sometime after The rebellion became the Alliance to Restore the Republic, in which the Galactic Empire fought against the rebels on several planets across the galaxy. The war would last around seven years before its end with the major leaders of the Galactic Empire being killed by the rebels, the remaining forces of the Imperial Army retreating into the Unknown Regions, and the Rebellion forming the New Republic.
Prelude[]
Proclamation of the New Order[]
After a three-year, galaxy-wide conflict with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Galactic Republic emerged victorious from the Clone Wars. However, the citizens of the Republic did not know that their leader, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, was secretly a Dark Lord of the Sith who had orchestrated the war for his own profit.
The war had opposed the loyalist elements of the Republic to a Separatist movement led by former Jedi Master Dooku. The Jedi Order, despite its official role as peacekeepers, agreed to lead the newly formed Grand Army of the Republic, leading its clone troopers into battle along several fronts throughout the galaxy. The role the Jedi played in the war caused their numbers to dwindle, both from the losses they suffered on the battlefield and from certain individuals like Barriss Offee who rebelled against the Order for abandoning its beliefs. They also began to lose support among not only the political elite of the Republic but also the growing military leadership of the Grand Army and a galactic population that they had become increasingly distant from. Protests against them became common, and their peacekeeping duties having been discarded, criminal cartels they had once held in check rose up to reclaim lost ground.
In addition to the Jedi's decline, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine ensured his own rise as the Senate constantly increased his powers, suspending his term limits and allowing him greater control over both the military and the Republic. By the end of the war, his powers had virtually become limitless and his relationship with the Jedi Council had deteriorated to such an extent that they had begun to consider removing him from power should he refuse to return his emergency powers to the Senate. When Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker brought them proof that Palpatine was actually Darth Sidious, they attempted to arrest him. However, their attempt failed when Skywalker betrayed them and pledged his allegiance to Sidious as his new apprentice, Darth Vader.
Sidious initiated the culmination of the Sith's long plan to eliminate both the Jedi and the Republic, ordering the clone troopers to execute Order 66 which called for the execution of their Jedi commanders while Vader led an attack upon their Temple on Coruscant. Although many clones had come to love and respect their Jedi officers, each trooper had been implanted with a behavioral modification biochip, which forced them to obey the order. With his Jedi enemies eliminated, the Republic and its military apparatus under his control and any opposition spent by years of war, Sidious declared himself Emperor and announced the Republic's reorganization into the Galactic Empire, one cheering Senators accepted to ensure security and stability after the chaos of the Clone Wars.
The Empire quickly moved to assess its military, with which it would control the galaxy; Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin was dispatched to the clone homeworld of Kamino, informing Prime Minister Lama Su that the Imperial regime was calling the role of clones into question. Interested in the possible effectiveness of Clone Force 99, an elite team of enhanced clones who called themselves "the Bad Batch," Tarkin deployed them on a mission to Onderon, claiming they would wipe out a force of Separatist insurgents. However, Clone Sergeant "Hunter" ordered his squad to stop their mission after seeing the supposed insurgents included children, meaning their targets included refugees. Taken prisoner by the rebels, their leader, former-Republic fighter Saw Gerrera, warned the squad that small rebel groups were the only thing stopping Palpatine from controlling the galaxy, telling them that a civil war was on the horizon. Similarly, former Republic Intelligence ranger Matese later told smuggler Has Obitt that galactic conflict was merely "on pause," with certain groups seeking former Separatist equipment to use for when another war broke out.
The remnants of the Old Republic[]
Although he intended to use his Empire to seize unlimited power, Darth Sidious entertained a facade that the new regime was merely a continuation of the Republic. However, this was a play to prevent his enemies from gathering enough strength to openly act against him. He reorganized the former Galactic Senate of the Republic into the new Imperial Senate. Although this new body did not possess as much power as its predecessor, it did retain the ability to pass legislation. Most Senators refrained from engaging in direct criticism of the Emperor as the Empire grew stronger, but the Senate soon became divided between followers of the New Order and those who still wished for a return to democracy. These Senators worked as hard as they could to rein in the Empire's excesses and soon became as the only check to the Emperor's power.
Most prominent among the Emperor's silent opposition were former members of the Loyalist Committee, such as Bail Organa of Alderaan and Mon Mothma of Chandrila, who hoped that they could make a difference from the inside, but to no avail. Nevertheless, they came to hold enough weight in the Senate to influence the Empire's decisions, as the new regime's higher-levels constantly feared a potential uprising against their rule. Chief among their achievements, the Senators limited the influence of the new Imperial Military by outlawing the forced conscription of stormtroopers, regular beings brought into the Empire's service after the clone troopers were phased out of military service, and preventing beings from being sold into slavery for failing to honor debt commitment. Following the brutal suppression of the planet Lasan and the near-genocide of its people, they banned the use of T-7 ion disruptor rifles after they were used on the Lasat. And they tried to alleviate the suffering of populations caught in the Empire's web of expansion. When the planet Wobani became snared in the Commodities Enhancement Program, their economy collapsed due to their inability to meet the Empire's quotas and a severe humanitarian crisis occurred on the world. Senators Organa and Mothma, along with their allies in the Senate, negotiated with the Empire for weeks to ensure the relocation of Wobani's citizens. However, these efforts failed due to the intervention of Organa's adopted daughter, Princess Leia Organa, who led an unauthorized mercy mission to Wobani, rescuing hundreds of its citizens but angering the Empire enough for them to end negotiations with the Senate.