Origin
The Galactic Empire was born out of the collapsing Galactic Republic. However, its seeds are planted during the Clone Wars, the epic war between the Republic and the separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) depicted in Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
In Episode I: The Phantom Menace, amid a trade dispute and invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation, Naboo Senator Palpatine convinces Queen of Naboo Padmé Amidala to address the Galactic Senate and call for a vote of no confidence in Supreme Chancellor of the Republic Finis Valorum, due to his alleged inability to quickly end the occupation of Naboo. This allows Palpatine to be elected Supreme Chancellor.
When the extent of the separatist threat becomes clear in Episode II, the Galactic Senate, the legislature of the Republic, grants Palpatine emergency powers to deal with the crisis. This conflict allows Palpatine to remain in office after his term as Chancellor officially expires.[citation needed] Palpatine promises to return his powers to the Senate once peace and order is restored to the galaxy. His first order is to create an army of clone troopers resulting in the construction of a massive military. He takes advantage of the conflict to increase his political power, and by the time of Episode III, he is effectively a dictator.
The Jedi begin to distrust the Chancellor's motives, fearing he has come under the influence of a Dark Lord of the Sith named Darth Sidious. Palpatine insists to the Jedi that the war, and thus his emergency powers, will continue until CIS leader General Grievous is killed. Their concerns are shared by several senators, who suspect Palpatine may not return his emergency powers to the Senate as promised. Among them are two who had long supported Palpatine, Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa. The film eventually reveals that Palpatine and Sidious are one and the same, and that he has been manipulating the Republic and the CIS against each other.
The Great Jedi Purge
When the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker discovers Palpatine is actually the mysterious Sith Lord Darth Sidious, he returns to the Jedi Temple to inform Jedi Master Mace Windu what he has learned. Windu then leaves with three other Masters to arrest Palpatine, instructing Anakin to remain at the temple. Anakin ignores Mace Windu's directive and returns to the Chancellor's office to prevent the Jedi from killing him; Palpatine has manipulated him into believing that he has the power to save Anakin's pregnant wife, Padmé Amidala, from dying in childbirth. Mace Windu, with a cadre of Jedi, enters Palpatine's office and declares that he is under arrest for crimes against the Republic, and that the Senate will determine his fate. Palpatine dispenses with his false modest persona and reveals his power-hungry nature, retorting "I am the Senate!". Palpatine produces a lightsaber and quickly dispatches all but Windu. When Anakin arrives, Windu is standing over the disarmed Palpatine, prepared to strike. Anakin intervenes on Palpatine's behalf by cutting off Windu's lower arm, disarming Windu and allowing Palpatine to send Windu plunging to his death with a blast of Force lightning. Anakin then submits to the dark side of the Force, becoming Palpatine's third Sith apprentice, Darth Vader.
Palpatine declares the Jedi to be traitors and enemies of the Republic, and issues Order 66: Operation Knightfall. During the creation of the Clone Army, Palpatine ordered Jedi Master Syfo-Dyas to instruct the Kaminoans to implant a fail-safe chip into the clones, with a code embedded that allowed them to turn on their Jedi commanders, allowing for the commencement of Operation Knightfall. Led by Darth Vader, the Grand Army of the Republic, who once took orders from the Jedi, all but exterminate the Jedi Order in a massive galaxy-wide slaughter. Secure in his power and position, Palpatine reorganizes the Republic into the Galactic Empire, with himself as Emperor for life. The Senate enthusiastically supports Palpatine, although a few senators, like Padmé and Bail Organa, realize that the freedom enshrined by the Republic has been destroyed in the name of a "safe and secure society." A deleted scene in the film establishes that the two are among the main founders of the Rebel Alliance, which later arises in A New Hope.
Two remaining Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, attempt to attack and destroy the Sith once and for all. Yoda confronts Palpatine, and Obi-Wan duels his former apprentice, now Darth Vader. Obi-Wan defeats Vader and leaves him for dead, but Yoda's duel with Palpatine ends in a stalemate and he is forced to flee for his life; both Jedi are forced to go into exile. Grievously wounded, Vader is rescued by Palpatine and fitted with cybernetics and a black suit of armor with a life support system, which he will wear for the rest of his life. Padme's children, with their mother dead and their father a Sith Lord, are placed into adoptive families until the time is right for the Jedi to reappear in the galaxy and overthrow the Empire.
Government
Imperial Palace: With the end of the Clone Wars, the purging of the Jedi Order and the formation of the First Galactic Empire, Palpatine rules with absolute power as Emperor. He retains the emergency powers that had been voted to him in Attack of the Clones, allowing him to rule for decades under what amounts to martial law. Lord Darth Vader is the Emperor's second-in-command and his ruthless chief enforcer, greatly feared throughout the galaxy; a command from Vader is to be considered a command from Palpatine. In the 19 years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, Palpatine rules the galaxy from the confines of his heavily guarded Imperial Palace on Coruscant, once known as the Jedi Temple when it was the home of the Jedi Order. During that same time, Vader travels extensively to most of the galactic regions to enforce the Emperor's rule.
Senate and Grand Moffs: The Senate, now known as the Imperial Senate, nominally continues to exist, though it is virtually powerless. Palpatine dissolves the Senate (off-camera) in A New Hope after discovering that several members of the Senate are founding members of the Rebellion. Aside from Palpatine, the real power in the Empire is in the hands of planetary system-administrators (regional governors), the "Moffs" (sector governors) and the "Grand Moffs" (quadrant governors) who oversee collections of sectors such as the "Outer Rim". After Palpatine dissolves the Senate, he commissioned the regional governors with a Star Destroyer, a division of soldiers and are formally granted direct control over their planet territories; each reports directly to their respective Moffs and Grand Moffs. The Grand Moffs themselves held such prestige that they outranked Darth Vader's authority de facto; as was demonstrated by Vader's deference to Tarkin's command on the Death Star. Through this chain of command, Palpatine dictates direct control over all population centers.
Military: In Star Wars, Grand Moff Tarkin explains the Empire's military doctrine of peacekeeping, internal security, and counter-insurgency; describing its state terrorism-philosophy as "rule through fear of force rather than force itself". The instrument of this power is the military, which includes the Imperial Stormtroopers, a massive fleet of 25,000 Star Destroyers, and the Death Star, a moon-sized superweapon capable of destroying entire planets. Plans for the Death Star first appear in Attack of the Clones and construction begins at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
Imperial Guard: The Imperial Guard (or Red Guard) were elite, red-helmeted and red-cloaked stormtroopers who serve as Emperor Palpatine's personal bodyguards. In addition to strict requirements of height, strength, intelligence, and loyalty, only the most capable soldiers in the Imperial Military qualified for duty in the ranks of the Royal Guard. On occasion if needed or ordered by Palpatine, they could take orders from his apprentice, Darth Vader.
In the waning days of the Republic, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine formed a personnel security detail of red-robed guards whom he favored over the Senate Guard. He additionally began to phase out the Senate Guard with the clone shock troopers of the Coruscant Guard. Eventually, as Galactic Emperor, Palpatine disbanded the Senate Guard altogether and replaced them with his Royal Guard and the stormtroopers of the Galactic Empire.
Imperial Army Command: The Imperial Army Command (IAC) is the main ground force of the Galactic Empire. It operates massive ground combat vehicles and maintains garrisons across the galaxy. It also cooperates with other branches of the Empire in a variety of operations. The Imperial Army consists of a considerable number of legions, enough to project power throughout the galaxy. Some of the legions are stationed on the capital planet Coruscant as part of the Emperor's personal security, while others are scattered in the Imperial Navy and planetary garrisons across the galaxy. Imperial Army officers and crew typically wear the Imperial standard green uniforms when not clad in armor.
Imperial Naval Command: The Imperial Naval Command (INC), also referred to as the Imperial Starfleet, was the military arm of the Galactic Empire in charge of maintaining security, peace and order in the galaxy. Commanded by Darth Vader, it absorbed the military forces of the Galactic Republic after Palpatine's declaration of the New Order. Organization of the Imperial Navy was assigned to the Moffs.
At its peak, the Imperial Navy fielded millions of warships, including an estimated 25,000 Star Destroyers, fulfilling the Emperor's will throughout the galaxy. The Empire's central warship cadre is well structured and uniformed, but the Imperial Navy suffers against strike craft, largely due to the inadequacies of its own starfighters and point defense. The Empire's focus on size, firepower, and terror came at the expense of a well-balanced fleet. After its defeat at the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire split up into warring factions and the Imperial Starfleet along with it. While much of the remnants of the Imperial Navy were later reunited under impressive Imperial commanders, the military organization covered in this article ceased to exist shortly after the death of the Emperor.
Specific responsibilities of the Imperial Navy included defending Imperial citizens from space-based threats (such as pirates, smugglers and rebel contingents), enforcing Imperial will, and overseeing commerce through customs and blockade operations. The Imperial Navy also performed orbital bombardments and transported major ground force deployments, supporting them with space, orbital, and aerial support.
Imperial Navy officers wore the same standard uniform that their Army counterparts used but was colored grey, and both services used colored chest plaques to denote rank.
After the Battle Of Endor (4 ABY), the navy was scattered.
Imperial Starfighter Corps: The Imperial Starfighter Corps (ISC) was the starfighter pilot branch of the Galactic Empire. Although the Corps was a component of the Navy,[10] most pilots were assigned to ground operations with the Imperial Army.[11] Some Imperial starfighters include TIE (Twin Ion Engine) fighters, TIE Interceptors, TIE Defenders, TIE Strikers, TIE Silencers (by the First Order), and TIE Bombers. The corps was scattered after the Battle Of Endor (4 ABY).
Imperial Stormtrooper Corps: separate military branch from the army and navy Imperial Stormtrooper Corps (ISC) are elite corps of rapid response all-environment shock troops—organized like the Marine Corps with their own separate divisions. The Stormtroopers operate in conjunction with the Army Ground Troopers and Navy Marine Troopers—who were used as garrison forces—to reinforce and hold defensive positions until the regular military arrived. When not in their signature white armor, Stormtrooper officers wear black uniforms.
Imperial Security Bureau: The Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) are the principal military intelligence, law enforcement, and internal security agency of the Galactic Empire. The ISB was charged with matters of counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, criminal investigation, internal affairs, state security and ensuring the loyalty of citizens to the Empire. It functions autonomously as a secret police organization (ISB officers are often found as political officers in Army and Navy units). Officers of the ISB wear white uniforms. Aside from that, it happened to be one of the many umbrella organizations under the greater Commission for the Preservation of the New Order, and was larger than its sister agency Imperial Intelligence.
Imperial Central Intelligence: The Imperial Central Intelligence (ICI) was an espionage organization of the Galactic Empire that provided services to the Imperial Military, the Joint Chiefs, and Emperor Sheev Palpatine. ICI was responsible for the gathering, processing, analyzing and dissemination of information throughout the Star Wars galaxy for the purpose of national security and propaganda. Its clandestine operations allowed it to operate outside the chain of command, but had no military or law enforcement authority in itself. It had oversight of the operations of the Naval Intelligence Agency which was briefly made its own separate organization before being folded back under Imperial Intelligence. The Imperial Security Bureau was a sister agency and rival to Imperial Central Intelligence over resources, abilities, and areas of responsibility.
Galactic Civil War
With the formation of the Empire and the purge of the Jedi now complete, martial law was immediately declared throughout the galaxy. Those in hiding, or attempting to either flee from or oppose the New Imperial Order, would be subject to persecution or death. This was the start of the bloody decades-long Galactic Civil War.
In a deleted scene in Revenge of the Sith (and in fear of that incoming conflict), several influential senators including Bail Organa of Alderaan, Padme Amidala of Naboo, and Mon Mothma of Chandrila, meet in secret to form what will later become the Alliance to Restore the Republic, more commonly referred to as the Rebel Alliance. During the two decades that take place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, the Rebellion grows and becomes a formidable enemy of the Empire.
While force-sensitive kyber crystals were sacred to the Jedi and are at the core of every lightsaber, the Empire explored ways to weaponize them for more nefarious purposes. They began to mine for kyber crystals across worlds, and were notably thwarted twice in securing massive crystals by the Ghost crew and Saw Gerrera. But on Jedha they uncovered a surplus of kyber, which would be enough to power their dreaded Death Star.
The Death Star, a moon-sized battle station with sufficient firepower to destroy an entire planet, is designed to be the supreme weapon of the Empire's power. Grand Moff Willhuff Tarkin, the station's commander, shortly after informing the heads of the Imperial Military that Palpatine has dissolved the Senate, demonstrates that power in A New Hope, when he destroys Alderaan merely as a show of force. In the film's climactic scene, however, the station is assaulted by a small force of Rebel starfighters who have come into possession of the station's blueprints. The battle ends with the Death Star's destruction at the hands of Luke Skywalker, which is the Rebel Alliance's first major success against the Empire.
After three more years of conflict, the Alliance achieves a decisive victory over the Empire in Return of the Jedi. In the film's climactic battle, the Rebellion destroys the second Death Star and a number of capital ships that contain a great portion of the Imperial Navy's highest-ranking officers. During this battle, Vader redeems himself by killing Palpatine in order to save his son Luke Skywalker, but in this act of self-sacrifice he is himself mortally wounded in the process.
Successor
A year after the Battle of Endor, the Rebellion defeats the Empire during the Battle of Jakku and formally establish the New Republic.[12] The remnants of the Empire reforms as the First Order, led by Supreme Leader Snoke and former Imperial officers. They become a major faction in the galaxy in The Force Awakens and face a reformed Rebel Alliance called the Resistance.
Legends
With the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the original 1977 film, known as the Expanded Universe, were rebranded as Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014.[13][14][15] In Legends, the New Republic fights to claim the galaxy from remaining Imperials styling themselves as independent controllers of portions of the galaxy.[citation needed]
The successor to the Empire was Trioculus's Empire (ruled by Trioculus) whose successor was Thrawn's Empire (led by Grand Admiral Thrawn from Wayland in the Wayland System of the Ojoster Sector of the Outer Rim Territories) whose successor was the Dark Empire (ruled by Emperor Palpatine from Byss in the Byss System of the Deep Core) which successor was the Crimson Empire (by Carnor Jax from Ord Cantrell of the Ord Cantrell system of the Fath Sector of the Outer Rim Territories) whose successor was the Imperial Remmant whose successor was the Fel Empire.
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