Chapter 16: Contention
Figure 1: State of the Galaxy at the Signing of the Treaty of Mimban:
Part 1: A Contention of Ti
The sixteenth and final chapter of this chronology concerns the current galactic epoch: the Contention Period. Owing to the contemporary nature of the era, its official designation remains the subject of considerable debate among historians, academic institutions, and the governnts of the successor states themselves. Among the more prominent alternatives is the term Warring States Period, first popularised in Wottlet Scarsir's widely acclaid Historia Galactica.
Given the ongoing historiographical dispute surrounding the nonclature of the present age, the opening section of this chapter will concern itself primarily with explaining this chronology's adoption of the term Contention Period over Warring States Period and other commonly proposed designations.
To understand this debate, it is first necessary to examine how galactic epochs traditionally acquire their nas. More fundantally, one must ask at what point the galaxy collectively recognises that it has entered a new historical era. In most cases, epochal divisions are formalised centuries, if not millennia, after the events themselves, allowing historians the benefit of distance and comparative perspective. Only through such detachnt can broad historical developnts be categorised with any degree of objectivity.
The clearest examples of this practice are the millennial epochal divisions of the Rianitus, Subterra, and Manderon Periods, all of which were defined long after their respective eras had concluded.
On rarer occasions, however, events of such extraordinary magnitude occur that contemporaries themselves beco aware they are witnessing the close of one age and the beginning of another. This phenonon was observed only a single epoch prior to our own, when the Ruusan Reformations heralded the beginning of what would later beco known as the Great Peace of the Republic.
Herein lies the second aspect of the debate. Even when historians recognise the ergence of a new epoch in real ti, by what authority can they presu to na it without the benefit of hindsight? For this reason, contemporary chroniclers of the Ruusan Reformations initially employed the tentative designation Ruusan Period, nad simply for the event that precipitated it. Only centuries later, once the extraordinary absence of large-scale galactic conflict had beco apparent, did the era acquire the title by which it is now universally rembered: the Great Peace of the Republic.
Likewise, virtually all recognised academic bodies today agree that the Great Peace effectively ended in the year 13 GrS with the outbreak of the Galactic Civil War, also known as the Clone Wars. In the years following the Treaty of Mimban, nurous independent historians and institutions sought to define the era that followed, only to encounter the sa dilemma that had confronted their predecessors millennia earlier: how does one na an epoch whose ultimate character remains unknowable to those living within it?
It was during this period of uncertainty that Wottlet Scarsir, in Volu 71 of his widely acclaid Historia Galactica, first coined the na Warring States Period. This designation, alongside other contemporary labels such as the Shattering, the Anarchy, and the Galactic Struggle, gained considerable popularity during the imdiate post-Mimban years.
Scarsir's terminology, however, reflected the prevailing pessimism of the age in which it was coined. To him, and to countless citizens across the galaxy, an uninterrupted volu of galactic history had ended in apparent catastrophe. Through fifteen epochs and twenty-five millennia, the Galactic Republic had stood as the sole hegemon of the galaxy. Though challenged at various tis by powers such as Xim the Despot, Mandalore, Zakuul, and the Sith Empires, history had consistently reaffird the Republic's permanence. Rival powers rose and fell, and the Republic remained.
This continuity had beco so deeply embedded within galactic civilization that the existence of a politically unified galaxy under the banner of the Republic ca to be viewed as an historical constant, even the natural state of galactic civilization.
For the first ti since recorded galactic history began, the Galactic Republic had ceased to exist as a singular governing entity. As various successor states fought over its crumbling remains, it was hardly unreasonable for contemporaries to believe they had entered an era defined primarily by endemic warfare, unstable alliances, and widespread societal collapse.
And in a sense, that was not wholly incorrect.
Yet as the years passed and the initial upheavals of the post-Republic era subsided, the galaxy gradually settled into a new astropolitical equilibrium. Conflict remained endemic, but with the ergence of durable states, regional powers, and increasingly formalised diplomatic systems. The condition of the galaxy evolved beyond the implications of the term Warring States Period, which, while perhaps appropriate during the imdiate aftermath of Mimban, grew progressively less accurate with ti.
With the advantage of retrospection, this chronology therefore adopts the term Contention Period as the more precise descriptor for the present epoch: an era characterised not solely by open warfare, but by continuous political, military, economic, and ideological competition among the successor powers of the forr Republic.
It must nevertheless be acknowledged that all epochal terminology remains inherently provisional. Historians writing a thousand years hence may well regard our chosen designation with the sa inadequacy we now perceive in the earliest attempts to define our own age.
For the present, however, it remains the most suitable term available to us.Part 2: One Empire and Three Republics
The One Empire and Three Republics Period is the current era of political upheaval and division within the Galactic Interior since 16 GrS. Toward the end of the Galactic Civil War, the Senate of the Galactic Republic granted increasingly expansive executive powers to the incumbent Supre Chancellor, Sheev Palpatine. Mounting war exhaustion and growing institutional distrust culminated in the publication of the Gallian Manifesto, a widely circulated political treatise condemning the Palpatine administration and the Senate's managent of the Galactic Civil War, calling for a return to free democracy and the "Restoration of the Republic."
In the succeeding weeks, the Alliance to Restore the Republic publicly claid authorship over the Gallian Manifesto, precipitating the secession of over a dozen sectors from the Coruscanti regi. This included Core Founders such as Alderaan, Chandrila, Corellia, Duro, and Humbarine, with roughly a third of the Core Worlds seceding with them concentrated in Arrowhead and Corellian Run. Collectively, these sectors proclaid themselves the legitimate continuation of the Galactic Republic in opposition to the Coruscanti governnt. Henceforth, this polity beca known variously as the Restorationist Republic or the Secessionist Republic. It is also referred to as the Chandrilan Republic, even despite Chandrila's eventual fall to the Loyalists, owing to the prominence of its founder, forr Chandrilan senator Mon Mothma, who has served as Chancellor since the state's formation.
The Restorationist secession was soon followed by the withdrawal of the Tapani Federation. Long resentful of increasing Coruscanti overreach and bureaucratic and military centralisation in the northern Core, the Tapani Noble Houses exploited the upheaval to formalise their autonomy. Unlike both northern republics whose respective governnts continued to claim legitimacy over the forr Galactic Republic in its entirety, the Tapani Federation pursued no broader reunificationist ambitions and instead focused on consolidating its hold over the Freeworlds of the Southern Core. Although formally organised as a republic, political participation within the Federation remained historically restricted to the hereditary aristocracy of the Tapani Sector and the mbers of the Great Council, which elected the office of Pri Minister. Originally, the Freeworlds were denied any aningful role in the governnt, but recent internal pressure and unrest compelled the Tapani Noble Houses to expand suffrage and representation beyond the traditional aristocratic class.
Despite the major secessions, the remaining Galactic Republic retained extensive territory and considerable institutional continuity. Half of the Core Worlds remained loyal to Coruscant, together with the overwhelming majority of the Northern Dependencies and New Territories in the Inner Rim, Expansion Regions, and Mid Rim. This Loyalist Republic, as it is known as, continues to assert legal and astrographical claims over the entirety of the forr Galactic Republic and regards itself as the sole legitimate galactic governnt. While nominally retaining the constitutional frawork of the pre-war Republic, the Loyalist state has beco increasingly associated with the prolonged rule of Supre Chancellor Palpatine, who has repeatedly declared his intention to remain in office until "the Republic is restored to its forr glory." Such declarations have placed the Loyalists in direct ideological and territorial opposition not only to the Restorationists–whose own governnt claims identical legitimacy–but also to the wider constellation of successor powers throughout the galaxy.
In the Deep Core rules the Empire of the Deep Core, or the Tetan Monarchy, a hereditary monarchy with an unbroken lineage dating back over five thousand years. During the Galactic Civil War, the ascension of Empress Eara Lota marked a decisive shift in imperial foreign policy. Seeking to escape Coruscanti domination, the Empire entered into a clandestine alliance with the Confederacy of Independent Systems. In exchange for rebelling against the Republic, the Confederacy provided the Tetan state with military advisors, industrial materiel, armants, and logistical support. Facing rival states vastly superior in population, industry, and territorial scale, the Empire subsequently adopted a defensive strategic doctrine centred upon heavily fortified hyperlane chokepoints, hidden Deep Core routes, and a comparatively small yet highly disciplined military establishnt trained according to Confederate doctrine.
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Relations among the four major powers of the Galactic Interior have since been characterised by intermittent warfare, fluid allegiances, and shifting balances of power. Although the stated political objectives of both the Loyalist and Restorationist governnts remain fundantally irreconcilable with the continued existence of rival successor states, ideological hostility has not prevented temporary alliances of convenience. Since the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War, each of the four powers has acted, intentionally or otherwise, as a counterweight against the ambitions of the others, resulting in a precarious equilibrium sustained through strategic opportunism. At various points throughout this period, the Confederacy of Independent Systems has also intervened in Interior affairs, typically in pursuit of maintaining division among the forr Republic territories.Part 3: Expansion in the Outer Rim
The Confederacy of Independent Systems erged from the Galactic Civil War as the single most powerful galactic polity, spanning much of the Mid and Outer Rim. Having secured the majority of its warti objectives through the Treaty of Mimban–primarily the formal secession from the Galactic Republic–many contemporary observers regarded the Confederacy as the galaxy's inevitable new superpower. Possessing the largest standing military in existence, an ideologically energised populace, and imnse territorial depth, it was widely feared that the Confederacy would soon continue its Coreward campaign within years.
Such expectations ultimately proved premature.
The brief post-war honeymoon that followed Confederate Victory quickly gave way to extre internal instability. The doctrine of Separatism, while highly effective as a revolutionary and warti ideology, proved insufficient as a unifying principle for governance once its central objective–the defeat of the Galactic Republic–had been achieved. Unlike the rigid ideological systems employed by many historical states, Separatism had never demanded political, economic, or cultural uniformity among its adherents. Its sole prerequisite had been opposition to Core rule and support for secession from the Republic.
As a consequence, the post-war Confederacy inherited an exceptionally heterogeneous political landscape composed of competing alien species, incompatible economic and political ideologies, rival regional identities, and sharply divergent visions for the future of the state itself. Exacerbated by the schism between the Raxus Governnt and the Serenno Governnt, the imdiate years following the Treaty of Mimban left the central administration paralysed.
It is out of this instability erged the so-called Triumvirate Governnt, an informal balance of power between three dominant blocs; a powerful military caste in the Confederate Ard Forces, the gacorporate monopolies, and the civilian bureaucratic elite of Parliant. Bereft of inherited institutions from the Galactic Republic, the constant uphill challenge of constructing an entirely new state apparatus while simultaneously diating the conflicting interests of the triumvirs led many contemporary analysts to believe there existed a genuine possibility that the Confederacy would fragnt before it could fully consolidate its victory.
It was at this critical juncture that one mber of the Triumvirate moved decisively to break the deadlock.
In 17 GrS, General Sev'rance Tann, Supre Commander of the Confederate Ard Forces and Grand Marshal of the Armies of the Outer Rim, delivered an ultimatum before the Confederate Parliant. Unless a new unifying national doctrine could be established, Tann warned, the Confederate Ard Forces would be compelled to take "drastic asures" to preserve the integrity of the state. Widely interpreted as an implicit threat of military intervention, the declaration nevertheless succeeded in forcing unprecedented cooperation between the triumvir factions, culminating in the adoption of the National Unification Doctrine, more commonly abbreviated as the Nat-U Doctrine.
To this day, the Nat-U Doctrine is regarded by many historians as among the most consequential legislative and ideological developnts in modern galactic history, and arguably the direct catalyst for the rise of the contemporary Confederate superpower. Rather than pursuing imdiate confrontation with the fractured successor states of the forr Republic, as many within the galaxy had anticipated, the Doctrine abandoned the fragile warti rhetoric of 'common enemy' that had characterised classical Separatism. In its place, it emphasised the necessity of a permanent 'national mission' intended to provide the Confederacy with a long-term unifying purpose beyond re resistance to the Interior.
Thus began the Expansion Period in the Outer Rim.
In 18 GrS, with the support of the Confederate Ard Forces, Parliant ratified the Anti-Slavery Act, formally condemning and outlawing all forms of slavery within Confederate territory, including indentured servitude and debt bondage. The legislation proved imnsely popular among the Confederate public and rapidly beca one of the defining political initiatives of the early Nat-U era. Enforcent actions carried out by the military, however, inflicted severe economic losses upon nurous gacorporations operating throughout the Rim, many of which had relied extensively upon exploitative labour systems. Forced to emancipate indentured workforces and rapidly expand paid employnt, the corporations soon demanded substantial compensation from the state.
The military leadership responded by proposing the opening of new prospection and settlent zones within the unclaid territories of the Outer Rim. Simultaneously, buoyed by the political success of the Anti-Slavery Act, the bureaucratic triumvirs successfully expanded the scope of the legislation itself: from prohibiting slavery "within the Confederate territory" to opposing slavery "throughout the Outer Rim" as a whole.
An ultimatum was subsequently delivered to the Zygerrian Slaver Empire in the Trans-Hydian frontier demanding the imdiate abolition of slavery. At the insistence of Zygerrian Pri Minister Atai Molec, the ultimatum was rejected.
Within days, the Confederate Second Fleet Group under Admiral Trench entered the Trans-Hydian in force, followed closely by tens of thousands of prospecting, industrial, construction, and colonial vessels operated by the corporate triumvirs. According to later accounts, Queen Miraj Scintel of Zygerria, upon witnessing the arrival of the Confederate fleet in orbit, ordered the execution of her Pri Minister, Atai Molec, before imdiately offering unconditional surrender to Admiral Trench.
The Confederacy did not stop at the abolition of slavery in the Trans-Hydian. Hundreds of previously independent worlds were subsequently colonised or incorporated into Confederate administration, and eight new sectors were formally integrated into the state. This campaign beca known as the First Expansion, or the First Anti-Slavery Crusade.
This cycle of ideological self-justification and territorial expansion would beco the defining chanism of the Nat-U Doctrine, with half a dozen subsequent expansion campaigns following in rapid succession.
The Second Expansion, also known as the Second Anti-Slavery Crusade, brought the Confederacy into direct conflict with its principal rival power in the Outer Rim: Hutt Space. The campaign concluded with the annexation of large portions of the western marches previously dominated by the Hutt clans. The Third Expansion witnessed the reactivation of the Confederate First Fleet Group, whose inaugural campaign focused upon reclaiming the Hydian Way from the long-estranged Serenno Governnt. During the Fourth Expansion, the Third and Fourth Fleet Groups advanced deep into the Trailing Sectors, eliminating remaining Republic holdouts while expanding into extensive tracts of unclaid and independent space in the Outer Rim.
Following the precedent established during the First Expansion, each subsequent campaign was frad not rely as a military operation, but as a grand 'national project.' The Nat-U Doctrine effectively harnessed the collective power of all three triumvir factions–the military, the corporations, and the bureaucratic apparatus–toward a singular expansionist mission intended to unify the disparate peoples of the Confederacy through shared purpose and perpetual mobilisation.
Successive parliantary incentive programs encouraging economic investnt in developing mber-states, coupled with the ever-growing material demands of the Confederate Ard Forces, propelled the Outer Rim into an era of unprecedented industrialisation, infrastructural expansion, and demographic migration. Vast military-industrial conglorates and gacorporate enterprises beca the primary architects of this transformation, reshaping entire sectors through colonisation, resource extraction, and strategic developnt.
The Confederacy of Independent Systems remains the preeminent power of the Outer Rim, its economy and political order increasingly dependent upon continuous expansion and the maintenance of the National Mission. Its relentless pursuit of 'national unification' has repeatedly brought it into conflict with rival powers such as the Hutt Cartels, the Three Republics of the Galactic Interior, and nurous independent frontier polities. Yet despite periodic military setbacks and mounting criticism abroad, the Nat-U Doctrine continues to command broad dostic legitimacy within Confederate society, and has beco inseparable from the very identity of the modern Separatist state.
Figure 2: State of the Galaxy in the Year ██ GrS:
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