The Clone Wars is the first full scale war for 1,000 years. Not since the height of the Sith have the citizens of the galaxy faced a threat so dire as the conflict between the Republic and Separtists. It is a conflict that does not begin with great fleets and huge armies clashing though but gradually builds up to become one of the most devastating conflicts the galaxy has ever seen. It is not enough to examine the troop and fleet battles alone but the politics that changes the very face of the war. Examining what I term 'The Time of Rebellion', 'The Time of Total War', and 'The Time of Empire' we gain a knowledge of how masterfully the war was conducted to benefit the Sith. It, furthermore, benefited the galaxy as it would create the military engine that would eventually overthrow Palpatine and the Yuuzhan Vong.

The defeat of the Geonosians and the taking of their planet by the Jedi Knights with their Republic soldiers lead immediately to 'chasing action' where Dooku's assembled armies were scattered across Republic territories and forced to be hunted down. Mace Windu, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker personally conducted the war that was largely successful in eradicating the collected forces that had escaped Geonosis1. What the Republic failed to realize was just how discontented the populous had become and how disillusioned they were with the way things were2. While Dooku's original Separatists were largely composed of rich, capitalistic, oligarchs and super corporations, the call to Revolution had a stunning effect on the galaxy as a whole. Mobs who were unwilling or unable to influence policy to join the Separtists before, rose up and butchered their Republic leaders to take command of their planets3. Demagogues like Alto Stratus (whose defeat would not come til the second year) played on the general public’s hate for being ignored by the Senate and their fear of the Jedi Knighthood. Count Dooku himself spent most of his time, after barely escaping Anakin Skywalker’s wrath, increasing this discontent 4. The Jedi, whom had lead the 1.4 million clones brilliantly to eradicate the Geonosian threat, were suddenly called to policing action and putting down rebellion. Against discontented people whom wanted nothing more than to escape the Republic, they were overwhelmed and on the moral low-ground as they were forced to install military governors like representatives from the House of Tagge5. Though Dooku’s plans to fragment the Jedi largely failed, he succeeded in luring many to the Dark Side of the Force as well6.

The overstretched Republic military was, ironically, what the Sith masters behind the Empire wanted from the beginning. Even as the Jedi Knighthood increasingly lost its members and the conflict spread (including to direct assassination attempts at the hands of Durge and Ventress7), Chancellor Palpatine sent out a call for individuals to join the Republic’s struggle against the Separtists. Individuals like Adar Tallon8, Jan Dodonna9, and Gillead Pellaeon10 joined the call to eradicate the enemy on the Republic’s side. The Republic had always had a small navy in the Outer Rim defense force and veterans of it like failed politician Wilhuf Tarkin made their way into the conflict. Loyalist companies like the Tagge and Rendilli super conglomerates found their loyalty well repaid with more wealth and contracts than could ever be imagined for massive weapons of war. It would be the Separtists who held the resources advantage though as Sluis Van would be ardently Separtist at the beginning with key places like Mon Calamari briefly leaning towards such. The Republic’s war machine would be taken off guard by the arrival of an individual who did not use Dooku’s subtle tactics at all but directly made assaults with fleets, armies, and large scale tactics. General Grevious, a alien-cyborg, would simply then launch an attack on the still weak militarily Republic and with Operation: Durge’s Lance suceed in taking Duros amongst many other worlds11. Duros, being the gateway to Coruscant. It is at this time that the Jedi Knighthood becomes increasingly irrelevant as the Republic’s military grows and their defeats start to make individuals question their value as leaders in the conflict. The Senate takes its own hits with numerous instances of treason during the conflict that causes democratic politics to be smeared as a whole for Palpatine’s regime12.

The defeat of the Separtists is an inevitability in the Clone Wars. The Republic was never in any true danger of defeat militarily. Their size, despite resources, is miniscule in comparison to the Republic as a whole13. The arrival of large scale numbers of the Dreadnought class cruiser and the Victory class Star destroyer bring to bear enough firepower that the Jedi Knight’s force powers must seem largely irrelevant to conflicts. The military governors over Separtist territories, the first of which being Tagge of Brentaal, set the precedent for Moffs14 as the storm trooper’s natures as clones becomes a relatively open secret with numerous cloning disasters15. The predecessor for COMPNOR creates a massive surge of enthusiasm and patriotism for Palpatine’s increasingly public dictates. The use of battle-droids is also humiliated by their eradication at the hands of mechanical monstrosities like walkers and through gunships16. The actual mopping up action of the Separtists would take large portions of the Empire’s existence but it would swiftly fall into disarray once Anakin Skywalker became Dark Lord of the Sith*

In conclusion, the Republic began the war as a military infant with the Jedi Knights as its only true protection. The Separtists began as a small tark force lead by Dooku's corporate guilds that nevertheless overwhelmed the Republic's meager forces. The war resulted in a massive explosion of military growth that quickly outstripped the Jedi Knighthood and made the Republic a full military power. The Separtists were unable to keep up even as they used conventional military tactics that briefly blindsided the Republic with their brutality. It also resulted in the centralization of power with the President, future Emperor, while weakening the public's confidence in the Senate to run things.

1. ‘Clone Wars’ video game.
2. ‘Jaabim story arc’ Republic comics.
3. ‘Jedi: Shaak Ti’ and again the ‘Jaabim’ story arc.
4. ‘Legacy of the Jedi’ and ‘Jedi Dooku’
5. Holonetnews Clone War series, Insider.
6. Jedi: Mace Windu
7. ‘Graveyard moon’ and ’Blast Radius’ for examples
8. Tatooine Manhunt reference (RPG)
9. A New Hope Sourcebook (RPG)
10. Heir to the Empire sourcebook (RPG)
11. Holonet News-Clone Wars (Insider)
12. Jedi: Aalya Secura, Holonet News-Clone Wars series (Insider), Jedi: Dooku
13. Attack of the Clones
14. Holonet News, Insider
15. Heir to the Empire
16. Attack of the Clones

* pure speculation I admit

Dig the editorials? Discuss them on the Starwarz.com message boards!