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The war unofficially began when Anakin Skywalker, seduced by the power of the Dark Side of The Force, became Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith. The situation had begun to deteriorate when Palpatine (who by this time had become the Galactic Emperor) and Vader ordered the extermination of the Jedi Knights (aside from the converted and corrupted Anakin, two other Jedi survived - Obi-Wan KenobiGeneral Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi is a Jedi Knight in the fictional Star Wars universe. He taught both Anakin and Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. In Episodes IV through VI, Kenobi was played by Alec Guinness. In the prequels, Episodes I through III, h and Master YodaMaster Yoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. Yoda" is Sanskrit for "warrior. Background Yoda (896 BBY 4 ABY), standing only 2 foot 1 inch (. 66 meter), is arguably the most powerful Jedi Master in Star Wars and one of the senior members).
A new and evil Imperial Order (through both fear and force) was declared throughout the galaxy, and as a result the Rebel Alliance was created to oppose the new Galactic Empire. The Emperor was pleased with a rebellion against his rule, because it would give him an excuse to get rid of the last remains of the Galactic RepublicThe Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good. Senator Palpatine Galactic Republic Form of Government Federal Republic Official language Basic Capital Coruscant Head of Go. He could simultaneously display the awesome power of the Imperial Starfleet and clamp down on unrest against his rule. This confidence in his regime's power became his greatest weakness.
The Rebel Alliance was not very successful in its early years. But the Battle of YavinThe Battle of Yavin was a major battle set in the fictional Star Wars universe, during the Galactic Civil War. The opposing sides were the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. The battle was arranged after the crew and passengers of the Millennium Falc (0 BBY), which resulted in the destruction of Death StarThe Death Star is a moon-sized planetoid military space station in the fictional Star Wars universe. Description The Galactic Empire's ultimate terror weapon, the Death Stars were battle stations several hundred kilometers in diameter and mounting a direc, marked a turning point in the war and galactic history. The Empire struck back (in The Empire Strikes Back), destroying the Rebel base on Hoth and began building a new Death Star. This second Death Star was destroyed in the Battle of Endor (4 ABY), which also resulted in the deaths of Palpatine and his right-hand man, Darth Vader (who, as Anakin Skywalker, had returned from the Dark Side and sacrificed his life to save his son Luke). With that, the Empire suffered its most grievous defeat thus far, and one of the greatest in the entire Galactic Civil War.
The Empire then fell into warlordism, but it was still a formidable threat, and controlled much of the galaxy. The Rebel Alliance proclaimed itself the New Republic and began a campaign of recapturing vital Imperial worlds, including Coruscant the former capital of the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Empire alike. After several years they succeeded. The Empire rose again several times under powerful leaders such as Grand Admiral Thrawn and a series of clones of Palpatine but was always thwarted when those leaders were killed.
Later, a peace treaty was finally signed between the tiny fraction of the galaxy that was under the control of what remained of the Empire and the New Republic, 19 years after the Rebels' victory at Yavin. At this time the Imperial Remnant, led by Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, consisted of eight backwater sectors bordering the Unknown Regions in the Outer Rim.
List of major battles: