Imperial Military

The Imperial Military, also known as the Imperial Armed Forces or Imperial Service, was the armed forces of the Galactic Empire, and successor to the Republic Military. It was responsible for carrying out military operations throughout the galaxy as well as maintaining order on Imperial member worlds, governorships, colonies, and protectorates.

The Imperial Military was a massive organization, as Palpatine did nothing to halt the massive military build up that had produced an army of troopers and enormous weapons of mass destruction following the Clone Wars. At the height of the Empire's reign, it's military ranks were filled with tens of trillions of regular army soldiers, trillions of fleet crew, and a sizable force of stormtroopers.

The Imperial Military was under the direct control of Imperial High Command. Although the Galactic Emperor acted as the Commander-in-Chief of the Military, Palpatine rarely ever left the confines of his palace on Coruscant, leaving a relative few military personnel ever actually seeing him face to face. As such, even though the various commanders merely carried out the orders issued by the Emperor, due to the stratocratic nature of the New Order, they held considerable practical control over the Empire. The next highest rank was that of the Supreme Commander, notably held by Darth Vader. The individual who held this title had complete control over the Imperial Military, and answered only to the Emperor. In the absence of an official Emperor, the Supreme Commander often became the de-facto leader of the Empire, as was seen in the cases of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Gilad Pellaeon. This position was held by several different Imperial officials over the course of the Empire's history, including Darth Vader, Thrawn, and Gilad Pellaeon.

The Imperial Military was not only a physical superpower, but a mental one as well. Lord Vader's stormtrooper division, the 501st Legion, known as "Vader's Fist," inspired fear in any sentient species. The infamous Death Stars were used by Emperor Palpatine to frighten the galaxy's citizens into submission. Despite the enormity of the Imperial war-machine, in many instances, its ability to wage campaigns of psychological terror proved more effective at suppressing the unending scores of denizens than actual displays of power. Much of the equipment used by the Empire was designed to enhance this effect, the fear-inspiring appearance of the AT-AT being one example of this phenomena.

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