Galactic Civil War

The Galactic Civil War, also called the revolution or simply the Rebellion, was a galactic power struggle in which the Alliance to Restore the Republic, better known as the Rebel Alliance, waged war against the ruling Galactic Empire to restore democratic rule. Lasting from 4 BBY to 5 ABY, its origins reached back to the Clone Wars, when the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order equipped rebel cells to fight the Confederacy. After Sheev Palpatine, secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, transformed the Republic into the Empire and destroyed the Jedi Order, those cells turned against the new regime and gradually coalesced into the Alliance.

Origins#

The roots of the rebellion lay in the Clone Wars, when rebel cells were first equipped to fight the Confederacy. After Palpatine transformed the Republic into the Empire and carried out the Great Jedi Purge, many of these cells began fighting the new regime. Under the leadership of Senators Mon Mothma and Bail Organa, the scattered groups were gradually organized into rebel cells that coalesced into the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The war had begun by 4 BBY, and the Alliance was formally established in 2 BBY with Mon Mothma's Declaration of Rebellion.

Scarif and Yavin#

In 1 BBY the Alliance scored its first major victory by stealing the plans to the Death Star, the Empire's planet-destroying battle station, at the Battle of Scarif. The plans reached the Alliance through Princess Leia Organa, aided by companions including Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca. Analysis of the plans revealed a weakness, and at the Battle of Yavin, Skywalker, with Solo's assistance, destroyed the Death Star. A series of follow-up attacks, including an assault on the Empire's primary weapons factory, left the Empire reeling.

Hoth and the fugitive years#

The Empire hunted the Alliance across the galaxy under the leadership of the Emperor's right hand, the Sith Lord Darth Vader, in his role as supreme commander of the Imperial fleet. Vader's forces located the Alliance on the ice world of Hoth, and the resulting Battle of Hoth forced the rebels into retreat and scattered their fleet. The fleet was eventually reunited during Operation Starlight and revealed its survival to the galaxy through the Unity Day attack, sustaining the rebellion through years of setbacks.

Endor and the fall of the Emperor#

The turning point came in 4 ABY at the Battle of Endor, where the Alliance struck at the Empire's second Death Star and its shield generator on the forest moon below. The station was destroyed, and aboard it the conflict reached its climax when Anakin Skywalker, redeemed from the dark side, turned on his Sith master to save his son, killing the Emperor. With Palpatine dead and the second Death Star destroyed, the Imperial fleet suffered a crippling defeat and retreated, and the Empire began to crumble.

Operation: Cinder and the final campaigns#

Even in death the Emperor struck back through the posthumous contingency plan Operation: Cinder, an effort to devastate worlds, including Naboo, with climate disruption arrays. Alliance forces foiled the plan, and the New Republic successfully defended Naboo through the subsequent invasions. As the Empire fractured into warlord remnants, surviving leaders attempted to regroup. Admiral Rae Sloane sought to unite the Empire's last commanders through the Imperial Future Council, but the Rebellion on Akiva, inspired by Norra Wexley and aided by the secret defector Gallius Rax, killed or captured key Imperial figures. The Empire made its last great stand at the Battle of Jakku.

The Galactic Concordance and aftermath#

The war ended in 5 ABY with the signing of the Galactic Concordance, a peace settlement that confirmed the Empire's defeat. The Alliance, victorious, declared itself the New Republic in homage to the Old Republic it had fought to restore, and went on to capture most of the former Imperial territories. Yet the Empire's defeat was not its complete destruction. Fragments of the old regime survived as warlord factions on distant worlds, and remnant Imperial forces would in time give rise to the First Order in the Unknown Regions.