Separatist Crisis

The Separatist Crisis (24 BBY–22 BBY) was the two yearlong galactic Cold War that began eight years after the Invasion of Naboo, characterized by the secession of several thousand star systems from the Galactic Republic to form the Confederacy of Independent Systems, led by the charismatic ex-Jedi Master Count Dooku. The period was marked by growing violence between Separatist- and Republic-supporting factions, the displacement of many billions of refugees, and intense debate on the issue of restoring a centralized Republic Military to counter the perceived threat from the CIS.

The crisis came to a head in 22 BBY, when a Jedi-led investigation of an assassination attempt on Senator Amidala of Naboo linked various megacorporations, including the Trade Federation, InterGalactic Banking Clan, and Techno Union to the Separatist movement. Gathering evidence that these corporations were planning to pool their droid armies to overwhelm the Republic, the Galactic Senate granted emergency powers to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who used them to acquire a clone army from Kamino and launch a pre-emptive strike on the droid foundries of Geonosis, beginning the galaxy-spanning Clone Wars.

The crisis was ultimately discovered to have been manipulated and intensified by Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith and alter ego of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who worked with Dooku to lay the groundwork for a war that would bring about the culmination of the Sith Grand Plan to destroy the Jedi Order and transform the Republic into the Sith-led Galactic Empire.

Text and facts from the “Separatist Crisis/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.