Editing Galactic Empire (Star Wars) (section)

===Origins===
'''Note''': All dates in this article are in the BBY/ABY format. This is a fictional in-universe dating system centred on the [[Battle of Yavin]] in [[Star Wars (film)|''Episode IV: A New Hope'']] in which the first Death Star is destroyed. BBY is Before the [[Battle of Yavin]]; ABY is After the Battle of Yavin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=26 years ago, Star Wars fans invented their own calendar system — 'Andor' finally makes it canon |url=https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/5-bby-andor-meaning-star-wars-timeline |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Inverse |date=21 September 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

====The Twilight of the High Republic====
The Galactic Empire is born out of the [[Declinism|declining]] [[Galactic Republic|High Republic]]; the rise of the empire wasn't sudden but instead unfolded gradually, step by step with one power grab after the next. However, its seeds of [[decadence]] are planted and nurtured by the Sith over a period of centuries, that bore fruit during the [[Clone Wars]], the epic war between the Republic and the separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) depicted in ''[[Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones|Episode II: Attack of the Clones]]'' and ''[[Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith|Episode III: Revenge of the Sith]]''. The [[Jedi|Jedi Council]], sitting atop Coruscant in their ivory tower, pride themselves in having [[genocide|permanently eradicated]] the Sith-menace, and are romanticized as guardians that ushered an unprecedented 1000-year era of peace and justice, yet beneath their solemn chants and stoic meditation lies arrogance masked as wisdom, complacency mistaken for serenity. Palpatine's ascension came with the final layer of poison instilled into a governmental system on the brink of collapse. Because of the hubristic Jedi, the corrupt senate and a civil war, Palpatine was seen by many as a savior and is easily able to take near-complete control of the Republic.

In ''[[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace|Episode I: The Phantom Menace]]'', amid a trade dispute and invasion of his homeworld of [[Naboo]],<ref name="A Long Time Ago">{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/movies/star-wars-timeline/?slide=2448029#2448029|title='A long time ago': A Star Wars timeline|last1=Smith|first1=Alyssa|last2=Romano|first2=Nick|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=December 6, 2019|access-date=February 10, 2020|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801060613/https://ew.com/movies/star-wars-timeline/?slide=2448029#2448029|url-status=live}}</ref> Senator Palpatine convinces Queen [[Padmé Amidala]] to call for a [[vote of no confidence]] in Supreme Chancellor of the Republic [[Finis Valorum]]. Palpatine is elected Supreme Chancellor in Valorum's place.<ref name="A Long Time Ago"/> For the Jedi, clairvoyant beings who sat calmly as corruption festered in the heart of the Republic, Chancellor Palpatine, a ''Sith Lord'', the greatest galactic threat the Jedi swore to oppose, rose right under their noses.

====The Clone Wars====
{{main|Clone Wars}}
As the Separatists Crisis fighting intensifies in ''Episode II'', the [[Galactic Senate]], the [[legislature]] of the Republic, grants Palpatine [[State of emergency|emergency powers]] to deal with the crisis.<ref name="A Long Time Ago"/> Palpatine promises safety at the cost of individual freedoms, all while tightening his own control over every facet of society; he promises to relinquish his powers once peace and order is restored. His first executive order creates a massive army of [[clone trooper]]s. His second executive order conscripts the Jedi as commissioned officers of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) armed forces; by seizing influence over the Jedi Council, Palpatine indirectly takes command of the GAR. His third executive order nationalizes the military-industrial and financial sectors to finance the war effort. He intentionally prolongs and exploits the Clone Wars to amass unprecedented political power, using his apprentice [[Count Dooku|Darth Tyranus]], Head of State of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, as a pawn to keep everyone distracted and focused on ending the war.

By the time of ''Episode III'', he is effectively a [[dictator]] who overstayed his term limits; he exploits the people's fears, systematically rewrites constitutional laws and crushes the institutions that threaten his goals. He orchestrates his own kidnapping by the Separatists by leaking classified information, and thereby bringing the war to the capital, [[Coruscant]], to further spread terror. The [[Jedi]] are overstretched across the galaxy trying the end the war; they distrust Palpatine's motives, fearing he has come under the influence of a [[Dark Lord of the Sith]] named Darth Sidious. Their concerns are shared by more than 2,000 loyalist, pro-democracy senators who suspect Palpatine may not return his emergency powers once the war ends. These senators set into motion plans that will eventually lead to the creation of [[Rebel Alliance|the Rebellion]]. The film reveals that Palpatine and Sidious are one and the same, and Palpatine engineered the conflicts as a [[false flag]].

====The Purge====
{{main|Great Jedi Purge}}
Palpatine reveals himself as a Sith Lord to Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, promising to save Padmé, Skywalker's secret wife, from dying in childbirth as Anakin has foreseen. Skywalker reports Palpatine's true identity to the Jedi Council; confirming their worst-case scenario and triggering a [[constitutional crisis]]. Knowing the extent of his crimes and influence, Jedi Council are forced to circumvent bureaucratic procedure to arrest him on the two charges of "instigating a war of aggression" and "high treason" (and if necessary, execute him as they would any Sith, should he resist) without consulting the Senate and without following the [[rule of law]].

However, they fell for Palpatine's trap; when Jedi Master [[Mace Windu]] confronts Palpatine, Anakin comes to Palpatine's aid, and helps him kill Windu. Desperate to save Padmé, Anakin pledges himself to the [[dark side of the Force]] and becomes Palpatine's third apprentice, [[Darth Vader]]. Palpatine declares the Jedi to be traitors, providing "irrefutable evidence" that they were the instigating masterminds behind the Clone Wars, and all but [[Great Jedi Purge|exterminates the Jedi Order]] in a galaxy-wide slaughter, while sending Vader to kill everyone in the [[Jedi Temple]] and assassinate the Separatist leaders. Vader then immediately ends the Clone War by transmitting deactivation codes to all Separatist droids in galaxy.<ref name="A Long Time Ago"/>

Two remaining Jedi, [[Obi-Wan Kenobi]] and [[Yoda]], mount a counterattack. Obi-Wan defeats Vader and leaves him for dead, but Yoda's duel with Palpatine ends in a stalemate; both Jedi flee into exile. Grievously wounded, Vader is rescued by Palpatine and fitted with cybernetics and a black suit of armor with a life-support system. After Padmé dies giving birth to twins, Yoda and Obi-Wan decide to separate the children – [[Luke Skywalker|Luke]] and [[Princess Leia|Leia]] – to hide them from the Sith. Luke goes to Vader's stepfamily on [[Tatooine]], while Leia is adopted by Senator [[Bail Organa]] of [[Alderaan]].

====The New Order====
Having "won" the war, with GAR liberators occupying every known star system, Palpatine orders them to annex planets, suppress the sectors and subjugate the people. The average citizen is oblivious to the effects of the Empire's policies; any repression or brutal behavior on the Empire's part is localized, covered up with propaganda, or just isolated in the outer rim. Secured in his power and position, with no one left to stop him, Palpatine reorganizes the Republic into the Galactic Empire, with himself as Emperor for life.<ref name="A Long Time Ago"/> He moves on to his final political opposition, the Senate; rather than dismantling it outright, he reduces it to a powerless symbol that exists only as an illusion of representation, and as an echo chamber for his rhetoric. Senators with no dedication to public service are bribed or coerced into rubberstamping Palpatine's policy; the remaining pro-democracy senators are spied upon, arrested, extorted, assassinated, or otherwise made to resign and/or disappear. Palpatine appoints governors to oversee all star systems in the Republic; these governors, later known as Imperial Moffs, report directly to Palpatine and are appointed without a vote or approval from any senators. This effectively sidelines the Senate, leaving it unable to influence how the galaxy is governed.

The Old Republic symbolisms are discarded on favor of the Imperial crest, an emblem that comes from the Galactic Roundel symbol of the ancient Bendu monks (predecessors of the Jedi). Originally a symbol of unity and non-confrontation, the wheel is perverted by Palpatine by removing two spokes, echoing Hitler's appropriation of the [[swastika]] from [[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]].