Dissolution of the Imperial Senate

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Dissolution of the Imperial Senate

TheDissolution of the Imperial Senate was the dissolvement of the legislative body of theGalactic Empire, enacted by the decree ofGalactic EmperorSheev Palpatine in response to theGalactic Civil War.

Background[]

As theClone Wars came to an end,Supreme ChancellorSheev Palpatine of theGalactic Republic ordered aspecial session of Congress andproclaimed himselfGalactic Emperor, turning the old Republic into aNew Order in his image. The motion was eagerly supported by an overwhelming majority of theGalactic Senate,^[5] aided by Palpatine's important popularity following his role in the Clone Wars. In the wake of the regime change, the Galactic Senate became theImperial Senate which over time started growing weaker as theplanetarygovernors assumed more responsibility over their territories. In addition, the minority of Senators who had opposed Palpatine's declaration of the New Order, such asAlderaan SenatorBail Organa andChandrila SenatorMon Mothma, grew more and more vocal, becoming a major concern for the Emperor.^[6]

Until the dissolution of the Senate, the many atrocities of the Imperial authorities were illegal, but due to the lack of power of the Senate, it was difficult to impose sanctions against these crimes, making the Imperial officials almost above the law.^[7] However, the Emperor preserved the Senate in order to make the Empire's member worlds believe that they still had a part to play in the government. Secretly, the Emperor planned to disband the Senate since the formation of the Empire in the proclamation of the New Order, but needed its body to retain order until theplanet-killingDeath Starbattle station was completed.^[5][8] Beyond that, Palpatine needed to further cement his control over the galaxy with acts like thePublic Order Resentencing Directive, which, act by act, took away the Senate's remaining powers and more of the galaxy's freedoms.^[9] Weapons developerOrson Callan Krennic predicted the Senate would be of little concern after the dish was installed on the Death Star.^[1]

Dissolution[]

While Palpatine had always intended to dissolve the Senate once the Death Star was complete,^[11] his decision to do so^[2] in0 BBY^[3] was ultimately made without little choice if he wanted to maintain his rule.^[12] Shortly after the weapons dish was affixed to the Death Star and the weapon was successfully tested on theHoly City of themoonJedha, an act that needed to be covered up lest the Senate discover the weapon's existence,Rebel Alliance agents identifying themselves under the callsignRogue One, joined shortly thereafter by a great number of reinforcements, raided theImperial Center of Military Research on the planetScarif, where plans for the Death Star were kept. In the ensuing battle, the Death Star would once again see use in wiping out all rebel forces on the world, along with Krennic and any other Imperials caught in its wake, but Rogue One successfully managed to transmit the Death Star plans toPrincessLeia Organa,^[1] the Imperial senator of the planetAlderaan and one of the rebellion's leaders.^[2]

With the plans to the Empire's great weapon in rebel hands, it was more than possible its existence would be leaked to the Senate and media, thereby triggering a governmental crisis and damaging Palpatine's public reputation as a benevolent ruler.^[12] Palpatine'sSith apprentice^[11] and enforcer,^[10] theSith LordDarth Vader, was dispatched to recover the plans from Organa, yet they remained out of his reach when Organa hid them within theastromech droidR2-D2.^[2] All the same, the incident showed that Organa was found out to work with the enemy Rebel Alliance,^[10] something Vader and the Empire knew already but could not prove,^[2] and resulted in her arrest above the planetTatooine.^[10]

With the threat of public knowledge of the Death Star^[12] still possible so long as its plans remained out of Vader's hands^[2] but a justification found in claiming rebel infiltrators sat among the Senate,^[13] the Emperor finally issued the dissolution order^[10] and was confident the finally-completed Death Star would take its place in maintaining his rule.^[11] Along with the Imperial Senate, theTrade Federation^[14]—which had already long since been forced out of business^[15] and nationalized by the Empire^[16]—was also fully disbanded.^[14] While being detained aboard theStar DestroyerDevastator, Organa invoked her status as an senator in hopes she would be released. However, Vader informed her that the Senate was being disbanded as they spoke.^[10] Aboard the Death Star, gathered leaders of the Empire, theJoint Chiefs, were informed of the situation byGrand MoffWilhuff Tarkin.^[2]

Aftermath[]

Empire without its puppet[]

With the last remnant of the Galactic Republic out of the way, the Imperial governors now had full control over their territories.^[2] Along with the Senate, many local governing institutions were dissolved as well, leaving many qualified people unemployed.^[17] Meanwhile, theImperial Security Bureau began the process of arresting many members of the Senate, including some who had served in the past, and taking them to theArrth-Eno Prison Complex on Coruscant. The former delegates were to remain imprisoned there until the Bureau could assess the level of participation each had had with the Rebels. The Imperial authorities, however, wanted to reach out to possible sympathizers, hoping to convince them to join the "right" side.^[18]

The authorizedHoloNews outlets obediently repeated the official narrative: Rebel traitors had infiltrated the Senate, which led to a terrorist strike on a majorImperial Military installation on Scarif. Therefore, to bring a swift end to that threat and expose the insurgents among the Imperial bureaucracy, Palpatine needed to supersede and suspend the Senate for the duration of the emergency.^[13] However, the destruction of the Death Star in theBattle of Yavin shattered the Empire's hopes^[11] to maintain a rule by fear via the battle station.^[2] With the Senate gone and the Death Star destroyed, the Empire could neither hold order^[11] with a puppet legislature^[4] nor enforce it^[11] with a great symbol of fear.^[2] Beyond that, the destruction of the Death Star inspired great hope that a rebellion could succeed.^[19]

Surviving senators[]

The Rebel agentEneb Ray and other alliedspies did attempt to rescue a group of senators scheduled to be executed, but fell into a trap set by the Empire. Ultimately, theArrth-Eno Mission resulted in thedeath of all the senators and the Rebel spies, except for Ray.^[21]

Still, two of the most prominent Rebel senators managed to stay away from the Empire's grasp. Leia Organa wasrescued from the Death Star's detention, and the battle station ended up beingdestroyed by the Rebels.^[2]Mon Mothma ofChandrila, a long-time insurgent and one of the Rebel Alliance's secret founders, also managed to escape the purge that followed the Senate's dissolution.^[22] Although the assembly had long been an empty husk, Mothma felt particularly disoriented because she no longer had an official title.^[20] Similarly, Leia Organa had always hoped the Senate would be there at the end to help rebuild the galaxy once the Emperor was gone.^[10]

Appearances[]

• Star Wars: Episode IVA New Hope(First mentioned)
• A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: A New Hope junior novelization(Mentioned only)
• "Fully Operational" —From a Certain Point of View(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• "An Incident Report" —From a Certain Point of View(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• "Verge of Greatness" —From a Certain Point of View(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• "Eclipse" —From a Certain Point of View(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• "Contingency Plan" —From a Certain Point of View(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• Battlefront II: Inferno Squad(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• Princess Leia 2(Indirect mention only)
• Darth Vader (2015) 1(Mentioned only)
• Star Wars Annual (2015) 1(Mentioned only)
• Star Wars (2020) 46(Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: Uprising(Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: Squadrons(Mentioned only)
• Aftermath: Life Debt(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• Aftermath: Empire's End(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens: A Junior Novel(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)

Sources[]

• Star Wars Helmet Collection: Darth VaderWeapons & Uniforms: Imperial High Command
• Star Wars Helmet Collection: Y-wing PilotDatabank A-Z: Imperial Future Council–Inquisitorius
• Star Wars Helmet Collection: First Order TIE PilotDatabank A-Z: Sabe–The Separatist Council(Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy
• Entertainment Weekly's Ultimate Guide to Rogue One
• Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away
• Star Wars: On the Front Lines
• Star Wars: The Rebel Files(First identified as Dissolution of the Imperial Senate)
• Star Wars: Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary
• Star Wars: The Mandalorian: Guide to Season One
• Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire
• Bail Organa in theDatabank(backup link)
• Galactic Senate in theDatabank(backup link)
• Grand Moff Tarkin in theDatabank(backup link)
• Mon Mothma in theDatabank(backup link)

Notes and references[]