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Biography

The Galactic Empire is a fictional autocracy featured in the Star Wars franchise. It was first introduced in the 1977 film Star Wars and appears in its two sequels: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). It is the main antagonistic faction of the original trilogy. An oppressive, autocratic regime with a complicated bureaucracy, the Galactic Empire seeks to ensure singular rule and social control over every planet and civilization within the galaxy. At its peak, the Galactic Empire sprawls over much of the known Star Wars galaxy, which consists of millions of star systems and billions more fringe colonies, shipyards, fortress worlds, and outer territories. The Empire's origins are depicted in the prequel Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), where it replaces the Galactic Republic at the end of the Clone Wars orchestrated by the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, Palpatine. Palpatine is also secretly the Sith lord Darth Sidious, who masterminded the war in order to destroy the Jedi and restore the Sith to power. Palpatine falsely accuses the Jedi of causing the Clone Wars, a secessionist war, to weaken the Republic and gain power. Palpatine manipulates the Galactic Senate into using clone troopers created during the conflict to wipe out the Jedi. After engineering these threats himself, Palpatine reorganizes the Republic into a state that could "ensure the security and continuing stability, and [provide] a safe and secure society" – a galactic empire with himself as its Emperor. The Senate overwhelmingly supports this decision and lauds Palpatine's apparent resolve, bravery, and selflessness. Though Palpatine's Sith identity remains a secret to all but a handful of individuals, his apprentice, the Sith Lord Darth Vader maintains a more public presence, acting as a personification of the Empire's power. By the time of Episode IV – A New Hope, the Empire has transformed into a fully autocratic regime, opposed by the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The completion of the Death Star, a doomsday weapon, allows Palpatine to dissolve the powerless Imperial Senate. The Galactic Empire is described and portrayed in various Star Wars media as a brutal dictatorship, one based on "anthropocentrism, nationalization, state terrorism, xenophobia, enslavement and genocide of non-humans, power projection, threat of lethal force, and, above all else, constant fear".[1] The Empire is defeated in Return of the Jedi, but the First Order is formed by Imperial remnants in the sequel trilogy, set 30 years later.