Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

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In the fictional Star Wars universe, the Galactic Empire was the regime established by then Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to replace the Galactic Republic. It consisted of over one million member worlds and fifty million colonies, protectorates and governorships.

Promoted as a "New Order" to replace the inefficiencies and injustices of the old Galactic Republic, the Empire rapidly became a totalitarian regime, and was overthrown after a 23-year struggle with the Rebel Alliance.

Origins of the Empire

The Galactic Empire was born out of the old Galactic Republic. However, the seeds of change were planted during the Clone Wars, the epic war between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

When the extent of the Separatist threat became clear, the Old Republic Senate, the legislature of the Republic, granted Chancellor Palpatine emergency powers to deal with the Separatist threat. This conflict allowed Palpatine to remain in office well past the limits set forth by the Galactic Constitution. The newly titled Supreme Chancellor Palpatine promised to step down and return his powers to the Senate once peace was restored to the galaxy.

Palpatine took advantage of the conflict to greatly increase the Chancellor's power. The Jedi began to distrust the Chancellor's motives, fearing he had come under the influence of the dreaded Sith. However, Palpatine was, in fact, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, and had been playing the Republic and the Separatists against each other.

As the war dragged on, the Chancellor's power continued to grow until he became somehow a dictator. When it became clear that Palpatine was a Sith Lord, the Jedi tried and failed to arrest him. He used this event as justification to execute Order 66, commanding all clone troopers to turn on their Jedi commanders. In an emergency Senate session, Palpatine declared the Jedi traitors and enemies of the Republic. Secure in his power and position, Palpatine issued the Declaration of a New Order and declared himself Emperor almost nineteen years before the Battle of Yavin.

"...The Republic will be reorganized into the first GALACTIC EMPIRE, for a safe and secure society!" - Palpatine, after telling the Senate of the Jedi plot to take over the Republic and the Senate.

"So this is how Liberty dies...with thunderous applause." said Padmé Amidala to Bail Organa after Palpatine's Speech.

Palpatine's Empire promised to trade frailty for strength, chaos for order, and uncertainty for decisiveness. The citizens of the newly formed government enthusiastically supported the vision outlined in the Declaration. Most of the Senate supported him as well, though several more cautious senators chose to watch to see how he would handle the affairs of state while only a few conscientious ones like Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa realized the disastrous event that had just occurred (the two were among the main founders of a rebel group that would later, after merging with a number of other groups, be renamed the Rebel Alliance). The transition from Republic to Empire was relatively smooth; in retrospect, the foundation of the Empire had already been set down during Palpatine’s chancellorship. In the latter stages of the Clone Wars, he had already appointed regional governors over the various worlds of the Republic.

Led by Darth Vader, the Emperor's army of Clone troopers (now Stormtroopers) and other organizations of Sith/Dark Jedi agents all but exterminated the Jedi Order, seemingly eliminating the last threat to his power. During the first years of the Empire, Coruscant was renamed Imperial Center and the galaxy saw the single largest military buildup in history. Initially, popular support for the policies of Palpatine’s administration was high.

Organization of Power

Emperor Palpatine ruled the Empire with absolute power, with third-in-command Sate Pestage as Grand Vizier (the Head of Government, who was running the Empire day to day by the Battle of Endor). Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith, was the Emperor's second-in-command as well as the Military Executor and Supreme Commander of the Imperial Forces. Two of Palpatine's top advisors were Janus Greejatus and Sim Aloo, who accompanied Palpatine on the second Death Star. The leadership of the Empire was called the Imperial Inner Circle, led by Palpatine.

The Senate existed for 19 years after the Empire's establishment as the Imperial Senate, but was little more than an advisory council. Palpatine dissolved it shortly before the Battle of Yavin. Officially the Imperial Senate was "suspended for the duration of the Galactic emergency" (meaning the rebellion), but this euphemism fooled nobody, everyone knew that the Imperial Senate would never meet again. Below the Emperor, real power was in the hands of Sector Moffs such as Tarkin, and other regional governors. A Council of Moffs was established to govern individual sectors and regions of the Empire more efficiently.

The Empire was at least less centralized but far more efficient than the Republic. Much power was sent into the hands of the regional moffs and governors, in contrast to the Republic's structure, which had no intermediary between low-level planetary affairs and those of the Senate. This power was backed up by the use of state terrorism which threatened any defiance to the government with military retaliation. The basis was the "Tarkin Doctrine," which theorized that it was more efficient to use massive displays of force than to spend the large amounts of money thought necessary to rein in opposition to Palpatine's will. The instrument of this power was the military, which included the Imperial Stormtroopers; a large fleet of intimidating war vehicles such as the Imperial Navy's Star Destroyers and the Imperial Army's All Terrain Armoured Transports (AT-ATs or imperial walkers) which were intended in part to spread fear as well as destroy the enemy. This policy reached its zenith with the construction of the planet-destroying Death Star.

There seems to be a deeper reason elaborate titles and hierarchies were such a common feature of Palpatine's Empire — however high and however much a man might serve the Empire, they always had something to aspire to: a soldier might aspire to be selected to be a storm trooper, and storm troopers could strive for entry into the various specialized special forces; special forces operatives could hope to one day enter the Royal Guard; even Royal Guardsmen could advance further, by impressing the Emperor and being promoted to Sovereign Protectors, or by triumphing against fellow Guardsmen in "brutal two-man duels, fought for the Emperor [and the Court]'s decree." Officers in the Imperial Starfleet had Grand Admirals to look up to, and civil servants Grand Moffs. These goals, impossibly out of reach for nearly all, served to spur competition, harden and strengthen the competitors, distract them from the system they were competing in (thus propping up) and its leader. Indeed, there are distinct resemblances between how the Emperor cultivated Force-sensitives and how Lord Kaan managed his Sith forces.

In the Expanded Universe, the Imperial Interim Ruling Council was formed following the Emperor's death to organize and maintain the Galactic Empire from final collapse. However, its foundation was destroyed by infighting and warlordism.

Resistance to Imperial Rule

Disturbed by Palpatine's new dictatorship, three of the most influential senators - Bail Organa of Alderaan, Garm Bel Iblis of Corellia, and Mon Mothma of Chandrila - met in secret to sign the Corellian Treaty, forming the Alliance to Restore the Republic, more commonly referred to as the Rebel Alliance. The threat of Rebellion allowed Palpatine to resort to more executive powers and more military retaliations. During the long period of time that took place between Episodes III and IV, the Rebellion was all but crushed by the Empire, and its leaders were constantly forced into hiding while others were killed.

The Death Star, a moon-sized space station (whose construction began at the end of Episode III) with sufficient firepower to destroy a planet was designed to be the supreme tool of the Empire's irresistible power. While most planets could afford planetary deflector shields capable of warding off virtually any conventional attack, there was no defense against the Death Star, a reality that promised unassailable power for the Empire. The station's commander, Grand Moff Tarkin demonstrated that power when he coldbloodedly destroyed the populated planet of Alderaan merely as a show of force. However soon after that atrocity, the station was assaulted by a small force of Rebel starfighters in an engagement called the Battle of Yavin which ended with the Death Star's destruction at the hands of Luke Skywalker. The victory was the Rebel Alliance's first major success against the Empire, and sympathy for the rebellion started growing. Furthermore, the threat of Skywalker himself became evident to the Emperor when he learned that in addition to being Darth Vader's son, Skywalker showed tremendous potential to become the first of a new generation of Jedi Knights to oppose the Empire.

Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader died during the Battle of Endor, shortly before the destruction of the second Death Star and a great portion of the Imperial Navy's highest ranking officers. Although the Empire was too large and well-organized to be destroyed with one blow, it became corrupt following Palpatine's death; for the next decade and more the Rebels, renamed the New Republic, fought to free the galaxy from remnant Imperials styling themselves as independent warlords, as well as Imperial loyalists such as Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ysanne Isard. These battles are chronicled in the many novels licensed by Lucasfilm. See Expanded Universe.

The Empire and xenophobic racism

In the first three released Star Wars movies, almost all members of the Empire are portrayed as white British males speaking with a Received Pronunciation accent. This was done for both logistical reasons (much of the filming was done in Britain), and for dramatic reasons (as attested to by director Irvin Kershner, who even overdubbed a rebel who was played by a British actor to fit with this scheme). The exceptions are the stormtroopers who all have much the same intonation (non-British), and some Imperial officers in A New Hope who were played by Americans. In contrast, most, though not all, of the main protagonists of the Rebel Alliance have American accents. This is similar to many historical pictures featuring Romans as the villains, such as Masada (miniseries), in which all of the Romans are British and all of the Jews are American.

The Rebel Alliance as shown in the movies seems to be comprised of a variety of human races and alien species. The reason for this is never revealed in the movies, but it led many fans and authors writing derivative works to assume that the Empire was xenophobic. On the other hand, with the exception of Chewbacca, no non-human member of the Rebel Alliance was shown until [[Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi|Return of the Jedi]].

Theories suggest that perhaps the human species is the most numerous species in the galaxy and would account for so many being shown within the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. A second explanation is that perhaps only humans care enough about administration of the galaxy to risk their lives in military organizations contesting the privilege. When shown on screen to American audiences, this polarity of accents and ideals between a mighty empire and a determined group of rebels reflects past American history, specifically the Revolutionary War. It may be that those from the core of the galaxy tended to have British accents, and core connections were what got one to high positions, with some notable exceptions such as Admiral Piett. It should also be noted that in various sources from the expanded universe, this "British accent" has been called a "Coruscanti accent", as in an accent of someone from the planet Coruscant.

In the Expanded Universe, the Empire emphasized human and, to a lesser extent, humanoid supremacy, with other alien species like Wookiees subject to slavery. (The Emperor did appreciate some talented aliens, such as Darth Maul and Grand Admiral Thrawn.) Antislavery laws were repealed and legislation legalizing the persecution of nonhumans was passed. Peaceful demonstrations were dispersed using extreme force, often killing and maiming thousands, as during the Ghorman Massacre in which Grand Moff Tarkin ordered his ship to land on a platform full of protesters. The planets of the Empire were no longer given a say in the government, but were now kept in line by the thousands of sector groups of the Imperial Starfleet, each containing at least twenty-four Imperial-class Star Destroyers and several thousand lesser ships. Disillusioned senators who had tried unsuccessfully to use legal means, and the time-honored system of checks and balances, now sought to end Palpatine’s rule through rebellion. Several corrupt supporters also allied themselves with the Empire in order to maintain a secure money flow for their own profit while secretly supporting the Rebellion.

This explains why almost every Imperial in Episodes IV, V, and VI is human. It is believed by some that non-humans like Darth Maul with whom Palpatine interacts in [[Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace]] fall within the spectrum of humanoid. It so follows that while the Empire was unquestionably specist, there is little to suggest that the Emperor himself was. For example, he elevated Thrawn, who was a Chiss, to Grand Admiral. In fact, some facts of the Expanded Universe imply that the privy councilors and advisors that filled Palpatine's court and ran the Empire on a day-to-day basis were the specists, and applied "High Human Culture" on their own accord. (Various accounts say that Emperor Palpatine declared a "thousand year empire", paralleling the Third Reich. This similarly racist regime also claimed to last for a thousand years, but crumbled in a short time, just like the Galactic Empire.)

The Post-Endor Empire

After a peace treaty was signed with the New Republic, what remained of the Empire was the Imperial Remnant, a shadow of its former glory. It consisted of 8 backwater sectors in the Outer Rim and its capital world was Bastion. Its head of state was Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon. During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, the Imperial Remnant allied with the New Republic and its successor-state the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances (or for short, Galactic Alliance, or GFFA). It appears that the Remnant will play an increasingly important role in galactic affairs all out of proportion to its small economy and military while restoring order and glory to the Empire.

To counter this treachery, Imperial loyalists founded the Second Imperium (most likely renaming the former empire as the First Empire). Though weaker than its predecessor, the Second Imperium was bolstered by the Shadow Academy, a Dark Jedi training institute built to counter Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum. This new empire never succeeded, and more than once it came into hostile contact with elements of the Imperial Remnant, which had renounced its Sith origins.

In the upcoming "Legacy" series from Dark Horse Comics (set some 140 years after the fall of Palpatine at the Battle of Endor) there is mention of a "resurgent Empire." Whether or not this new government is connected with Palptine's Empire or the Remnant thereof remains to be seen.

Bad or Good?

While to some it may seem incredible, in recent years a debate has arisen as to whether the Galactic Empire was truly as evil as Lucas portrayed it. While it isn't a very serious or large debate, it is growing, having even been the topic of essays by noted intellectuals such as Jonathan V Last and Glenn Lamont, who each wrote on opposing sides (Jonathan for the empire, Glenn against). The debate has also inspired the creation of many fan websites, works of fan-fiction, and has occupied a significant amount of board space on internet forums. Opinions are as numerous as there are Star Wars fans, but generally the debate can be narrowed down to three competing philosophies.

1. The Empire is unquestionably good, à la "The Case For The Empire" by Last.
2. The Empire is unquestionably evil, à la "No Case For The Empire" by Lamont.
3. Star Wars is a Greek tragedy with no definite villain.

While for all intents and purposes Lucas is the "God" of Star Wars (hence if he says the Empire is evil, it is) all three of these competing arguments tend to reject this theory as unimaginative.

Proponents of the first argument, that the Empire is good, tend to focus only on the films, claiming them to be the only true works of the canon, whereas their critics claim that they are only avoiding the Expanded Universe because it contains more proof of the Empire's evil. Empire proponents, however, say that the only reason Lucas even made an Expanded Universe was because he realized he had made the film Empire too benign (or at least not obviously evil enough), and had to manfacture an evil background for it.

There are, however, some pro-Empire debaters who, after doing a considerable amount of "homework", have come up with their own evidence from the Expanded Universe; supposedly proving the Empire to be good. A good example of this is the characters of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Gilad Pellaeon, two Imperial characters portrayed in a largely positive light. There are even hints that Thrawn was attempting to unify the galaxy in order to stage a defence against the Yuuzhan Vong, a relatively benign goal. It could very well have proven fruitfull had it succeaded, as the Yuuzhan Vong seemed to consider the Empire the most deadly threat to their designs, and might not have attacked at all if they thought they'd be facing its full strength and undivided attention.

The difference between Pro-Empire and Pro-Alliance revolves largely around personal preferences. For instance, when Last discusses the murder of Luke Skywalker's Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, he states that "They are not given due process, but they are traitors." Since Last is Pro-Empire, he focused on the idea that Luke's aunt and uncle were traitors and therefore, getting their comeuppance. A Pro-Alliance person, however, would probably find the words "...Not given due process..." more important. These personal differances may be a reflection of fans' veiws on similar real-world topics. While both sides have merit to their arguments, Pro-Alliance is the "more" commonly held belief among fans.

Ultimately, the third argument was born out of an attempt to compromise. Instead of either side being truly good or evil, they are both seen as "human", with strengths and weaknesses. More importantly, as "humans" Star Wars characters are capable of overreacting/correcting. Thus when debators like Last say that the Empire had good reason to destroy Alderaan, followers of the third philosophy may agree with him, but argue that the destruction was probably not the best or most rational option for dealing with the wayward planet. Even if Alderaan was a clear and present danger, the ramifications of its destruction stirred anti-Empire sentiment, and provided a just reason for the Rebels to destroy it. Alternatively, they would agree with Last's statement that Skywalker's aunt and uncle were traitors, but would also prefer that they were brought to trial. The majority of those who take this third view don't really support the Empire per se, but believe the Alliance to be no better (pointing out that the Alliance's methods were really just as brutal and unmerciful as the Empire's); and that by trying to "swat flies with a sledgehammer", the Empire was essentially asking for it.

Another argument (though it can be said to be more of a thought experiment than the others) that the Empire is good comes from the prequel trilogy. In episodes II and III, the Confederacy of Independent Systems is a confederacy of systems that want to break away from the Galactic Republic. The CIS, therefore, can be related to the Rebel Alliance from episodes IV, V and VI. However, in episodes II and III, the CIS are portrayed as evil and the Republic as good, despite the CIS-Rebel and Republic-Empire connections. This therefore means, that, if the prequel perspective was applied to the original trilogy, the Empire would be good and the Rebels bad. The only reason, though, that the Empire is portrayed as bad versus the good Republic is that the Empire is ruled by a Sith, versus the Republic by a (supposedly) non-Force-using being.

Imperial Leaders

• Palpatine 19 BBY - 4 ABY (Note: The Empire factionalized after Palpatine's death, and heavy in-fighting between various fleet commanders jockeying for position ensued. Only on rare occasions was one leader able to assert themselves as unquestioned leader of all Imperial forces after this)
• Sate Pestage 4 - 5 ABY
• Paltr Carvin 5 ABY
• Trioculus 5 ABY (in opposition to Pestage and Isard)
• Kadann 5 ABY (in opposition to Pestage and Isard)
• Ysanne Isard 5 - 8 ABY
• Thrawn 8 - 9 ABY (Note: Re-unified most Imperial factions)
• Palpatine (clone) 10 - 11 ABY (Note: Re-unified all Imperial factions, after they broke up again upon Thrawn's death)
• Carnor Jax 11 ABY
• Burr Nolyds 11 ABY
• Xandel Carivus 11 ABY
• Daala 12 ABY (Note: Re-unifed all Imperial factions, by assassinating the leaders of all other factions at a gathering. Voluntarily resigned and passed on leadership to Pellaeon).
• Gilad Pellaeon + Moffs 13-30 ABY

See also

• Isaac Asimov's Galactic Empire
• Rank insignia of the Galactic Empire
• Galactic Republic (Star Wars)
• Rebel Alliance
• New Republic (Star Wars)
• Galactic Alliance
• Imperium Of Man
• List of Star Wars Imperial personnel

External links

• [Domus Publica]
• [The Case for the Empire]
• [No Case for the Empire]
• [Galactic Empire Databank]

External Online Fan Societies / Clubs

• [The Empire Reborn] - Roleplaying & gaming society (PC Games)
• [The Dark Sith Lords] - Roleplay society for a new Galactic Empire.

''
Major governments
Chiss | Confederacy of Independent Systems | Corporate Sector Authority | Galactic Alliance | Galactic Empire | Galactic Republic | Hapes Consortium | Imperial Remnant New Republic | Pentastar Alignment | Rebel Alliance | Sith Empire | Ssi-ruuvi Imperium | The Centrality | Tion Hegemony | Yuuzhan Vong
See also
| Star Wars galaxy | | |

 

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