Clone Wars

The Clone Wars (22–19 BBY) were a galaxy-spanning conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, which had seceded from the Republic. Also referred to singularly as the Clone War, they were named after the clone troopers used by the Grand Army of the Republic against the Separatist Droid Army. Due to the high volume of battle droids deployed in the conflict, the war would also be known as the Droid War. Furthermore, the existence of the Confederacy granted the conflict other names, such as the Separatist War, Separatist rebellion, and Separatist uprising. With both clones and droids being fielded in enormous numbers by each respective side, they were the largest military forces in galactic history, and fighting between them swept through the galaxy for three, nearly four, years.

Prior to the conflict, Darth Sidious, under his alter ego Sheev Palpatine, had spent years amassing political power, eventually using the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo to become the Republic's Supreme Chancellor. Through his Sith apprentice Count Dooku, he sparked the Separatist Crisis, causing thousands of Republic star systems to secede and form a new government as the Confederacy, with Dooku as its Head of State. Beginning with the First Battle of Geonosis, the conflict quickly spread throughout the galaxy with both sides scoring significant victories. At different points in the war it seemed that either side was likely to triumph over the other. At the war's outset, both sides vied for control of major hyperspace lanes to gain strategic advantage. That particular struggle ended with a Republic victory when Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, secured an alliance between the Republic and the Hutt Clan.

Battles, skirmishes, raids, and other actions continued for the next two years, with notable battles occurring on Ryloth, Felucia, Malastare, and Kamino. During this time, the Separatists developed various super weapons, including more traditional weapons such as the ion cannons of the battleship Malevolence, as well as biological weapons such as a variant of the Blue Shadow Virus. Meanwhile, the Republic launched several key offensives, including the Second Battle of Geonosis, which obliterated Geonosis' battle droid foundries, and a failed Jedi-led operation to capture Supreme Commander of the Droid Army General Grievous at Saleucami. Amidst the escalating conflict, many planets—including Mandalore and other members of the Council of Neutral Systems—struggled to maintain their neutrality, but found it difficult to escape the carnage.

Over a year into the war, Republic Senator Padmé Amidala and Separatist Senator Mina Bonteri collaborated on an initiative to end the fighting. However, their collaboration ended after Dooku and Grievous' bombing of the Republic capital on Coruscant. Later, a peace conference on Mandalore also failed to resolve the conflict. With no end in sight, the Jedi worked with local militaries, including Mon Cala's military and Naboo's Gungan Grand Army, and covertly trained an insurgent rebel cell to retake Onderon from Separatist occupation. Similarly, the Confederacy relied upon factions such as the Umbaran Militia and the Zygerrian Slave Empire. Furthermore, a proxy war materialized when Mother Talzin and her son, the now rogue Sith Lord Maul, strove to exact their revenge on both the Sith and the Jedi.

During the war's third and final year, the Republic drove the Separatists into redoubts within the Outer Rim Territories, initiating a campaign termed the Outer Rim Sieges. In an effort to reverse the course of the war, Grievous launched a massive strike on Coruscant through the Deep Core. Much of the Confederate fleet was lost in the assault, along with Head of State Count Dooku, who was betrayed and sacrificed by Sidious as part of his plot to lure Skywalker to the Dark Side. The Confederacy quickly lost its core leadership in quick succession, with Grievous subsequently falling in battle during the Battle of Utapau, and the Separatist Council being massacred on Mustafar. This, coupled with the issuing of Order 66 and the deactivation of the droid army, led to the total capitulation of the Confederacy and, with it, an end to the war.

Unbeknownst to the majority of those involved—combatants and bureaucrats alike—the conflict was orchestrated, facilitated, instigated, and eventually resolved by Darth Sidious, whose ultimate goal was to restore the Sith Empire and to transform the Republic into the Galactic Empire with himself as Emperor by completely eradicating the Jedi Order. Sidious was deceiving both sides. Sidious's deception was eventually exposed by Sidious himself who revealed himself as the Sith Lord and cause of the Clone Wars. Evading arrest by Mace Windu and a cadre of Jedi, Sidious would succeed in this endeavor with the aid of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who Sidious manipulated to betray the Jedi and join the dark side of the Force and molded into his new apprentice Darth Vader. Sidious publicly and deceitfully branded the Jedi as traitors and triggered Order 66, which forced the Republic's clone troopers to betray and execute their Jedi Generals, thereby initiating a galaxy-wide Great Jedi Purge. Palpatine then declared an end to the Clone Wars in an extraordinary session of the Senate and proclaimed the transformation of the Republic into the First Galactic Empire, and the Galactic Senate into the Imperial Senate.

Text and facts from the “Clone Wars” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.