Palpatine Didn't Cause the Clone Wars... It Was Inevitable

[@GenerationTech]

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[@edwarddorsey8609]

😃😄😁alan"🤨 [" THE DOLPHIN'S" ] BE FRIENDS WITH THE DONLPHINS!

[@luckimonster2298]

Allen I think Grandmaster Satele have the most beautiful lightsaber 😃. I think I want one made of wood tho 🤔...maybe made of Kashyyyk wood 😊

[@chancejordan4126]

My question is how much was influenced and agendas pushed by the sith for the last 1000 years could have the republic turned the situation around with out the sith in the shadows manipulating the banking, political system and general order in the galaxy ?

[@adamcarey6093]

Are there any good Mandalorian armors out there? Always see lightsaber ads. Never see armor ones. Like clone trooper phase 2 and Mandalorian etc

[@rexlumontad5644]

Palpatine merely saw the tensions within all planets of the Republic as an opportunity to rise his way to the top from Senator to Chancellor and eventually Emperor.

[@jamesricker3997]

The majority of the tensions were inflamed by Darth Plagus

[@XSilver_WaterX]

As well with the Force's troll boredom to infuse the calm hatred into Plagus. They should have let the Vyligahh's to reset the Galactic Constant.

[@nandoreusde1002]

Those tensions where there also in the time of Darth Bane

[@heartwork86]

No.. this had been planned out, going back to Plagueis and Tennebrea

[@justinboyett8843]

Chaos is a ladder

[@reychop]

The scary thing is, this has been happening in democracies around the world. When enough voters are convinced, free societies can turn autocratic and deliver long held rights into the hand of a charming dictator by simply offering a little bit better value than status quo.

[@nikik5567]

This is the big problem with the democratic system as a whole. When u have people who don’t have a dog in the fight making decisions for the ones that do, it leads to problems cuz it almost always leads to some type of mob mentality and the idea that “the majority is right” even when that majority doesn’t have a clue how the things they’re voting on actually work on the ground. They can’t see they’re voting their rights away or for something that in the long run will cause more harm than good.

[@robertnelson9599]

Cough...Russia...

[@aidanf353]

@@robertnelson9599 if you can’t see any other nations with this issue, you are already lost

[@ZeethK92]

It's scary how often thus happens in the real world.

[@chocomalk]

@@robertnelson9599 Russia is really not a good example lol Ukraine would be closer but even then not a good example. Canada and Turkey are better fits as each are on a downward spiral from previous years.

[@SlurpeeBoy9999]

There is no avoiding war. It can only be postponed to the advantage of others. - Niccolo Machiavelli

[@alexcamacho1842]

The civil war may have been inevitable but the Sith’s machinations certainly sped it up

[@JabezFuutonSpecialis]

True, but that's the point. The Sith took advantage of the situation, but they didn't create it themselves. The Republic's bloated size (no one government can successfully manage the entire galaxy after all) and corruption in the Senate, and Jedi subservience to the Republic rather than calling it out on it's poorer decisions led to war being inevitable.

[@Burning-Twilight]

Ever since the Rule of Two the Sith had learned that the best way to finally achieve their goals was to operate in the shadows. And from these shadows the Sith carefully and precisely struck at the very foundations of the Republic and even the Jedi themselves. Had they not undergone these tactics then there may have been a chance to prevent so much death and suffering from their machinations.

[@enoughothis]

Exactly! It made quite clear in the Darth Plagueis novel that the Sith were doing everything in their power to foster resentment and cause instability everywhere they could.

[@Hunter_6430]

Divisions of the Republic being formalized was on the distant-ish horizon, but Sidious absolutely accelerated it. Directly playing a part in the blockade of Naboo (his homeworld, mind you), influencing Dooku to bringing together the big bucks of industry to fund a Confederacy army, etc. Sidious saw a situation that might have happened on its own around the time of The Force Awakens and said “how can I make all of this **exponentially worse?** “

[@MrSteveK1138]

This makes me think of WW1 where many prior events built up to make the war inevitable. But after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austria-Hungry Foreign Minister Graf von Berchtold sent the ultimatum to Serbia. He threw the match into the powder keg, starting WW1. Palpatine took advantage of the eventual Clone Wars and used the events as an opportunity to gain power. And The Empire. He may not have really started the war, but allowed it to begin. Just as Berchold.

[@theanathema3062]

I would say that the Serbian government and their funded insurgent cells in the territory of Sarajevo lit the match, considering that they killed a member of the Austrian monarchy, but other than that, I agree

[@granatmof]

WW1 was inevitable and many leader saw oppurtunity. Cheif among them was the German leader. So traditionally before WW1 to be recognized as a world power, you needed to defeat a world power. Wilhelm and his advisors thought hit France hard, getting them to surrender and Germany would be seen as a peer state on the world state. The US did it WITH Spain just a few decades ago, and Japan had done it with Russia, though racism prevented seeing Japan as a real peer for European powers. What really changed in WW1 is the scale of the nations at the time. Germany struck with a mighty blow that would have cause any nation to surrender a generation prior, but every nation had the population and resources to take a bit hit and then hit back. Wars stopped being bar fights, and became Kaiju slugging it out in the middle of cities. For the STAR wars galaxy, the Republic was huge, and even unarmed, a few systems could maybe be lost due to a military buildup from a small portion of systems, but the entire Republic wouldn't fall. 4000 bby the Mandalorians could not take the Republic because even then it was huge, and by 20 bby it was ginormous.

[@MrSteveK1138]

@@theanathema3062 Excellent point

[@MrSteveK1138]

@@granatmof The Outer Rim = Pre WW1 (post Ottoman) Balkans

[@ravanpee1325]

@@granatmof Chief among them were the French who stopped Tzar Nikolaus to stop the mobilization of the Russian army

[@stevenmorris7969]

It's interesting that Padme wasn't more sympathetic to the Seperatists given Naboo's position in the galaxy. She was definitely more balanced than most characters of the era and had some moments where it looked like she might help reacha a peaceful settlement, but I would have thought given this history, she might be a more vocal advocate for their rights.

[@drkinferno72]

She never forgave Nate gunray

[@kaikudo5745]

She had her own personal grudge against Gunray. Also Padme was a fool. The idea that 'institutions might be failing but the ideals are still alive' is flawed and stupid. Institutions start failing when ideals have already died or taking their last breath.

[@aaronaukema1284]

In the CW series, she WAS a bit more sympathetic to the Separatists. That's why Dooku and Sidious organized a Separatist assault on Coruscant: to keep her and her allies on the Republic side.

[@Vietmac1993]

In Revenge of the Sith, Padme questioned if the Republic was on the right side of the war.

[@joshbull623]

The most unbelievable thing about star wars isn't the force. It is the fact that the Galactic Republic treated its non core worlds the way it did, had no intelligence or military, and ignored growing threats for 1,000 years without anything like the Clone wars happening sooner.

[@TheStephaneAdam]

It's just big fantasy numbers syndrome. It would make WAY more sense if you divided all the timespans by ten. I can buy the Republic being more or less stable for 250 years, given that it changed and evolved over that timespan and the sheer scale of the galaxy. But 2 500 years? Do you have any idea how much *stuff* happens in 2 500 years? The entire history of china, which broke up a dozen times and was conquered totally or in parts quite often.

[@joshbull623]

@@TheStephaneAdam Agreed.

[@aaronaukema1284]

It makes sense, from a story perspective, when you consider the Jedi. They were the Galaxy's peace keepers. At first, after the Sith War, and after the Mandalorians self-destructed, each planet would have had it's own military/security to keep the peace, as the Jedi were powerful and trustworthy. Over time, the Jedi would ally themselves more and more with the Senate and the Chancellor, and the resulting peace would mean less and less need for planetary security...which leads us to manipulation of Sidious. Recall, he was able to spin the idea that the Jedi were lackeys of the Chancellor, and thus already biased (as the Tales of the Jedi show) and not truly concerned about peace. Without the Jedi, the idea of a 1000 year reign of peace in a republic is laughable.

[@echo5327]

@@aaronaukema1284this is what I was gonna say, the Jedi helped stabilize the system by acting as powerful arbiters who laid down the law. No one could realistically bring enough strength to bear to bring down a Jedi and so when they told people to drop their guns they would. The tales of the Jedi Dooku episode is a good example of this

[@EnclaveSOC-102]

A civil war between the Republic and Confederacy was already inevitable, Palpatine only instigated it by using the clone army as a means of adding fuel to the fire when fighting had broke out.

[@thechroniclegamer4285]

I mean Palpatine was instructing the two leading members of the confederacy so

[@casbot71]

Chancellor Valorum agrees on the Senate floor to let the CIS leave the Republic. *Senator Palpatine:* [*surprised Pikkachu face] He then realises that Valorum doesn't know the Republic has more than just a token judicial force to enforce its authority with....

[@nikik5567]

I kinda thought this was common sense. He didn’t cause the problems that led to the war. He simply shaped the events to work to his benefit. There was always going to end up being some kind of conflict

[@libertariandragon9142]

Agreed. All Palpatine and the Rule of Two Sith did was add to the problems and tensions in a manner that would provide them the greatest benefit. While at the same time insuring their anonymity. Anything more then that would've revealed their existence and lead to their destruction.

[@theliato3809]

The only way one could see it being the Siths fault directly is if we take all the upheaval and disruption they caused way back during the great galactic war/new sith wars

[@libertariandragon9142]

@@theliato3809 Which wouldn't have had much effect since by the point of the Clone Wars the Republic had had around a thousand years to rebuild. The Sith certainly had no direct influence on events until Sidious became a senator.

[@theliato3809]

@@libertariandragon9142 Its hard to say given we have a thousand years between the events of the Battle of Russan and the following reformation and the events of the PT. Its a long period of time to cover the actions of the Sith Order since Darth Baine took charge. We also don't know how much may have been repaired from the damage dealt by the Sith Empire and the new Sith wars but was then undone by other events.

[@libertariandragon9142]

@@theliato3809 Exactly my point. However the Sith had to remain hidden so we can reasonably assume that Bane ensured that the Rule of Two Sith had direct and obvious connection to previous Sith orders. The Sith Holocrons were all the connection they needed and could easily be hidden. Anything more could likely have put the Sith in danger of complete annihilation. This is the same reason why I doubt they were all that direct until Palpatine came along.

[@catcatcatcatcatcatcatcatcatca]

I wish more people talked about pay-later arrangements like you do. If you miss the payments they become a very expensive payday-loan - something heavily regulated by states for their easily destructive nature for workers who use them.

[@jacob4920]

Palpatine didn't CAUSE the Clone Wars, but he sure had a hand in making sure that it happened while HE was in power! His Sith Apprentice also happened to be the guy who sowed the seeds of Outer Rim rebellion (Dooku). He secretly funded a Clone Army, on Camino, under the false nameplate of Syfodias. He also basically orchestrated the Nemoidian siege of the Planet Naboo, in Episode I. So yeah, the foundations of the Galactic Civil War go back thousands of years. But Palpatine is the dude who LIT THE SPARK OF WAR! Let that not be overshadowed in this discussion!

[@jerm70]

He caused the Clone Wars but another war would have taken its place. The Jedi would consider the CIS as a Sith movement regardless of if that was true or not.

[@theechoproject899]

@@jerm70 they thought the Sith were gone until Qui-Gon died. both Tales of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace cover this.

[@Gamma2224]

Palpatine. Like a good authoritarian, took advantage of a situation and manipulated to his benefit.

[@supremefankai5480]

The Republic made it too easy for the Sith to subtly influence the course of Galactic history over that thousand years leading up to their final stroke in the Clone Wars. I would bet the Sith were responsible for the lack of taxing of the Outer Rim, and then the reintroduction of taxation when everything was nice and primed. And of course the Jedi never saw it coming at all...

[@theliato3809]

They had hands in it through Plagius business ties. But the basic idea in of itself is something that could be brought up by average people in the senate.

[@AbsurdFalcon]

In the Plagueis Novel (parts canon) the Free Trade Zones were designed to encourage tax free trade between planets, the Sith then assisted the Trade Federation into owning a monopoly, killed their direct competitors, manipulated the senate into giving more small worlds power over the zones in exchange for giving the TFA a seat in the senate, then backed a terrorist organization targeting the TFA, which led to the creation of the droid army as a defense force, then help Nute Gunray rise up the ranks of the TFA, then arranged for a shipment of currency by Gunray to be attacked by the terrorists, which made the TFA cry to the Senate that they needed more battle droids, then Sidious convinced Valorem to let them have their army in exchange for taxing the Free Trade Zones again, then had the terrorists try to attack Valorem in broad daylight, used the attack to relocate the negotiations to Eriadu, arranged the terrorists to attack the meeting, also arranged for the missing currency to be deposited into Valorems bank account by the terrorists, ensured the leadership of the TFA died in the attack except for Nute Gunray, leaked the reports on the currency to make it look like Valorem was being bribed by the TFA, and convinced the TFA to blockade Naboo in protest of the new taxation.

[@supremefankai5480]

@@AbsurdFalcon and that's just the culmination of those centuries of amassing power.

[@AbsurdFalcon]

@@supremefankai5480 Agreed. Even Bane and Zannah in the Bane Trilogy spent a fair bit of time insighting uprisings by finding secessionist terrorist groups and feeding them resources/information. It was a part of the Grand Plan that the Sith would corrupt the Republic from within and every generation of Sith assisted in tearing the Republic apart.

[@Jiub_SN]

Because the Jedi were guardians of the republic but didn't want to be super involved in the politics of it. Even if they disagreed with a policy, they wouldn't get involved unless people were going to be hurt by an event or policy

[@MrRonald327]

War is never simple.

[@SwagbitoUchiha]

Sheev the Accelerationist simply performed an Autocracy speedrun

[@homieslayer1807]

Autocracy any% TAS (the force)

[@analerma3837]

2:31 thank you very much

[@Eleolius]

Tiny thing to add to the history lecture on Civil War in US: The North's Industrialization was overwhelmingly financed by Southern cotton-slavery, as textile mills drove our early factories that only could afford to diversify once textile profits provided. It also drove the North and the UK's abolition movement to occur popularly ONLY when both societies had ridden the backs of Southern slavery for cheap cotton to a point they didn't need either cheap cotton or cotton at all anymore. They refused to invest in the South in a manner that would allow it another alternative, instead being willing to crash it's economy without providing an economic alternative to slavery to them: We see this post civil War in Reconstruction where the south's economy never recovered until well after the Great Depression as the industrial/urban North was happy to leave the South in poverty and dependance on the Federal Government/city based financial firms. To this day, the "Deep South" is economically well behind the coastal/northern cities in echoes of the old conflict. Slavery was unquestionably evil and inefficient once technology and background economic capacity spooled up, but the understanding of the realities of the real contexts at the time are vital to understanding- and preventing future civil wars. The progressive/wealthy elites/interest groups MUST NOT force impossibilities on their poorer countrymen- just as local elites must not oppress others for profit. We have to rise together and ensure we don't leave other's behind in haste, or build our futures on their broken, starved bodies and suffering.

[@ShinChara]

We've moved the slave labor to Xinjiang.

[@Intranetusa]

Lol, slavery was not an institution that benefited poor southern countrymen. It was primarily wealthy southern elites and the better off who owned slaves. Getting rid of slavery would've benefited the poor southerners since it would cause an increase in wages for cheap labor. So it was not progressive elites standing in the way of the poor, but conservative pro-slavery elites who wanted to keep slavery as a source of their cheap labor.

[@TeNe-ur5sx]

The narrative that the south financed the north is false. I'm not sure whether you mean finance in the literal sense or profit. But the south didn't even come close to funding the federal government as a whole since 1) property taxes, income taxes, and sales taxes didn't exist. We had tarrifs on imports. And 2) it was New York State that funded the federal government the most. There's even a source below from 1859 to 1860 that proves NY funded 2/3rds of the federal government. Sources: I can't post links because of censorship but it's easy to look up. You can search ".gov civil war tax records" and that explains what was taxed. And any copy of the Annual report of the chamber of commerce of the state of New York for 1859-1860.

[@Jiub_SN]

@@TeNe-ur5sxhe means financed in the sense that the south provided cheap cash crops for the north's factory's, and that was the entire base of the south's economy. The point was that abolitionists were asking for something to occur without considering the effects it would have and why the south was so against the idea. They provided them no alternative to their own major industry and when the north didn't need that industry as much they started to push for abolitionism resulting in the civil war. Not saying that they also weren't racist, but realistically if there had been profitable industry in the south still ongoing it's pretty unlikely the north would've pushed the south to separatism, and if they had given them some economic support or alternatives there may have been no civil war.

[@LibertyandFreedom4]

No, I do not think that is correct. Yes, the north did profit from cheap goods from the south, (how much we do not know) but the plantation owners were given no incentive to change the status quo. In fact, any changes would have upended over 100 years of established social order and a quasi-caste system that had been in place. Aristocratic landowners held all the positions of power and in turn their friends or family would as well, by bringing in an industrial revolution to the south it would have eventually caused a revolution amongst the poor. Europe is a prime example as the more industrialized it became the more and more the monarchies of Europe began to lose their grip on total power, until finally they either cease to exist or just became a symbol of the nation.

[@berkaltuglu8140]

Mace: "SithLordSaysWhat" Palpatine: Ni-"

[@kingbooomer9231]

Palpatine didn’t start the Clone Wars, he merely inherited the Sith Plan (that is the root of the clone wars) and assumed control of both sides

[@jamesricker3997]

I think the original plan was for the Separatists to win. The Confederacy would have been controlled by Darth Plagus.

[@zachleavitt250]

Nice use of Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter and Enders Game. Love your analysis of Star Wars, keep it up.

[@nimblehealer199]

You're right Alan. Memorial Day is not about political affiliation. It's about remembering those who gave their lives to preserve our freedom. May they Rest in Heaven.

[@stevencastleberry7799]

Never question the senate, if you do he will spin lunge like a maniac and slaughter everyone in the room like a glowing red beyblade

[@badgamemaster]

Have you guys ever thought about making a video about Disney breaking George Lucas' rule for Star Wars, like the no glasses rule and so on... you could tell more about the rules and you take if they are good or bad as well if it is good or bad that the rules are broken.

[@evilchaosboy]

Hey! I thought that was really boss of you in giving that warning about the sponsor's payment plan (which really wasn't much of a plan anyway) Anyways, props to you. Well, just look at the mess on this ONE single planet! It's almost beyond comprehension when you are dealing with 1000's(?) or millions of "countries" or "states"!?!

[@grubybakedhippi]

In some part of our mind every day take a little time to remember those who served as well fought and died and not just a few days a year

[@McSquizzy962]

“It was you, You started this war” “EH WRONG, These people hated each other way before we ever got here. We just had to keep the hate train a-goin.”

[@ericremotesteam]

When will Generation Tech and Corey Loses do a collaberative analysis series on the nature of Galactic politics in Star Wars? 👀

[@andrest.pierre1710]

I always enjoy how you dive into the more complicated topics within Star Wars and compare it to controversial, real life events without maintaining a personal bias. Really sheds a new light on both the saga and our world today and history

[@zanepennington2999]

Unrelated, but I really appreciate you talking about memorial day with such respect. As a combat veteran. Thank you so much.

[@Siryphas]

Don't forget, the Sith's Great Plan was the work of generations of Sith. We have no way of knowing how much of an influence they had on the state of affairs leading up to the Clone Wars. We know Plagieus had been very hands-on in creating conflict. So, I don't know if the Clone Wars would have been inevitable without Sith meddling.

[@Zehamas]

Anyone else notice the TV in the background keep twitching?

[@TERMICOBRA]

Monopolies and their concentration of economic/political power is why Fascism (Industrial monopoly) and Socialism (collectivist monopoly) have always led to high amounts of Democide ( "the intentional killing of an unarmed or disarmed person by government agents acting in their authoritative capacity and pursuant to government policy or high command."[1][2]). "Political mass murder grows increasingly common as political power becomes unconstrained. At the other end of the scale, where power is diffuse, checked, and balanced, political violence is a rarity. According to Rummel, "the more power a regime has, the more likely people will be killed. This is a major reason for promoting freedom."[10] Rummel argued that "concentrated political power is the most dangerous thing on earth."[11]" wikipedia on democide. So the Sith would simply encourage a monopoly wherever they saw an opportunity and it didn't matter if it was far left or far right. This would take diffused power from individuals and hand it to a concentrated few.

[@GenerationTech]

Well said

[@yoseidman4166]

One of your best. So great how you teach lessons about our own world through these videos.

[@thomasstuart2936]

So, the takeaway here is that mismanaged government provides fertile ground for evil to grow.

[@analerma3837]

Palpatine: no no no power unlimited power

[@keenantrent1574]

Like everyone knows the galaxy is huge war was bound to happen in any time

[@theliato3809]

More people, more problems, more blaster poppin’ off.

[@AbsurdFalcon]

The Clone Wars would not have happened without the assistance of the Sith manipulating things behind the scenes. A prime example is how the Free Trade Zones were designed to encourage trade with the outer/mid rim but the Sith assisted the Trade Federation into owning a monopoly by both killing their direct competitors and manipulating the political process and influencing Valorem.

[@theliato3809]

It wasn’t too out their for them to push for such a concept though without the sith

[@duplicitouscanadian3073]

Nah, the conflict was inevitable. The Sith just sped things up and manipulated the results to their own ends.

[@owenjones3929]

I love how one of the biggest complaints about episode one was how political and uninteresting it was, talking about taxes and trade routes. But I think this video shows it maybe just needed a bit more depth and context, because this was fascinating to watch.

[@larkmacgregor3143]

There could have been no Clone Wars without the clones. There would have been no clones without Palpatine. Also the separatists were were manipulated in many ways that they would never have been had Palpatine not been scheming to subvert the Republic for his own power. So it doesn't seem very "inevitable" to me that there would have been this war. It's possible that without Palpatine's interference, there could have been a diplomatic settlement of the separatists' grievances.

[@tyrannicpuppy]

For all we know, without the millennia of backroom plotting by the many Sith involved, the Confederacy could have simply served to create an Outer Rim government, separate from the Republic and the core worlds. It's not like the Star Wars galaxy actually has a full Rim to worry about. Over half that galaxy is impossible to navigate, meaning even the massive Outer Rim that is populated isn't that huge. Two big governments sharing the galaxy would be a lot better than trying to have one very centrally placed government trying to manage everything. It would lessen the stress on the Republic and bring true representation to the Outer systems. Seems like it would be beneficial to both sides. But the Sith had their own ends they needed to meet. So it had to be war. Only way they could truly strike at the Jedi without revealing themselves. A battle they could not win with the Rule of Two. They needed something else big and external to destroy the Order and clear the way for their rise.

[@larkmacgregor3143]

@@tyrannicpuppy But Palpatine functionally *was* the Sith at that point. Darth Plageus had no other apprentices, so Palpatine had to find an apprentice for himself after he killed his own master, and that, I believe, was Dooku. So Sideous began his manipulation of the separatists by taking one of their leaders as his own, playing both sides of the chessboard. So, if there had not been Palpatine to push the separatists into making war on the Republic; and if Palpatine hadn't caused the creation of the Clones, the Republic wouldn't have had the ability to fight back. In other words: No Palpatine, no war. Maybe it would have happened anyway, but there's nothing "inevitable" about it.

[@tyrannicpuppy]

@@larkmacgregor3143 I know. I agree with you. A confrontation of some sort was inevitable, most likely protests and blockades and the like leading to negotiation, but not a war. It was millennia of Sith meddling that led to war because that was THEIR goal. War to eradicate the Jedi. Palpatine was the Sith that finally saw the culmination of the plan, but it was a plan of so many Sith instituted over such an incredibly long time. Palpatine could have done nothing if the Sith before him had not made all their machinations first.

[@theechoproject899]

I don't believe it to be inevitable either, but for another reason. What it really came down to was the Jedi. If Dooku was able to stop the slide of Jedi, or more accurately, Yoda opened his mind to the reports Dooku brought and returned the Jedi to serving the people and not the senate... the war doesn't happen, the Sith don't win and Anakin is not needed. The Jedi held the fate of the galaxy in their hands. they were at the height of their power and blew it. the timing between Dooku leaving in 42BBY and Anakin being 9 in 32BBY doesn't feel coincidental to me, it feels like the force saying... "Ok Jedi, this is the chosen one. last chance to repent and turn back to me, or I'm rebuilding the Jedi from the ground up." And we all know what happened next.

[@Jiub_SN]

The core problems that caused so many to break away were always there though. Palpatine sparked the war, but the reasons for the war had been growing for years

[@krisgonynor689]

Did Alan say that the Naboo region had 300 million stars??? Our own galaxy, about the same sized as the Star Wars one, has about 100 Billion stars (and counting), as far as we know. For that small a region of space to have 300 million stars, it would have to be a supercluster of stars of some sort. I know that distances aren't canon, but that region just looks way to small to hold that many stars. Maybe 300,000, but even then that would still mean that they would all be less than a lightyear from each other. Yes, I checked Wookiepedia, and it says 300 million stars. But most of those are labeled as "Barren" stars, which I assume means no planets around them. (Which itself seems strange, as we've found most stars in our own galaxy have at least one planet). But only 46 settled worlds, and 40,000 other settlements, which sounds like a lot, but it really depends on if they are small moon bases, asteroid mining colonies, or giant habitats. Those 40,000 other settlements probably don't equal a major cities worth of people - a few million at the most. I just don't see that small region of space having that many stars, unless they are all red dwarfs? What Alan is describing is American today: a nation divided by blue cities and red states. Or urban liberals vs rural and semirural conservatives. There are more people living in my FL county than in Idaho, for example. Yet we don't have the same level of representation at the Federal level of government - we don't even have local self control over ourselves, the government in Tallahassee does tells us how to live.

[@raybarry4307]

Wow !!! I've been watching this channel for years and l can definitely say This is one of the best videos you've ever put out. It really puts things in context. ❤ (That's for the episode- not you 😂😂😂). Great job.

[@Thequanicoman]

I am the senate

[@442dudeathefront]

Not yet!

[@cellyyymo]

It’s treason then

[@Black-goku-rose199]

It’s treason then

[@gavinbarnes4701]

It's treason then

[@MrJakeros]

*unholy screaming*

[@krzosu]

particularly true - because he didnt cause it - but many sith before him set it up towards that exact end by stimulating conflicts and divisions- each one of them was putting a stone towards that exact goal - he merely triggered it when most of the pieces were in place in his favor.

[@XenoJehuty84]

Yep, the Sith had their hands in most conflicts since Darth Bane reformed the order with the 'Rule of Two'.. operating in the shadows to take a step further towards the extermination of the Jedi and galactic conquest.

[@elsamariahertervig6171]

Thank you for this amazing video, I can't express how much I love the content you make. You must be have such a knowledge about Star Wars and the history of our planet too. This might be my favourite Star Wars video ever, you talk about three of the things I have so much intrest in, history, wars and Star Wars. You must spend quite a lot of time doing research and other time consuming things to make these videos. You obviously care about making quality, inertesting and entertaining content for us, thank you for that. I am not from the U.S but I've learned a lot of history because I've been so interested in our history since I was a child. The history of all the diffrent countries and cultures on this planet, but especially the history of wars. I was so glad when you mentioned the Clone Wars being similar to the U.S civil war because nobody I know about has done that. I tried to discuss it with a few SW fans who dismissed me with anger. After I watched the Clone Wars series I came to the conclution that it is quite comparable to the U.S civil war for many reasons. People wont compare the two because George Lucas said it was based on the Vietnam war, sure some aspects can be compared to the Vietnam war but it can also be compared to most other wars that have been fought on our planet. All wars are fought for the same reasons, greed and power, whether that war is on this planet or in the galaxy far, far away.

[@_np7]

Great video as usual, I rediscovered your channel a few weeks ago and have been watching all of your recent videos! :D F in the chat for focus being on the mic.

[@analerma3837]

Long live the empire

[@midzyblinkonce7716]

I’ll be honest, as a European, I’m surprised by the number of Americans who have died in service since the country’s creation. I’m honestly confused how it could be so low (don’t get me wrong, we shouldn’t have anyone dying in any war, and if all war could be prevented, even more tragic) but considering two world wars and all the wars in American history, it is not much compared to a lot other of other countries in the world in that same span of time.

[@Whoopu2]

All the Sith did was fan the flames of seperatism that had long been simmering and provide a leader to rally behind.

[@strongwiseandfree]

Thank you for continuing to make interesting Star Wars content

[@StephenTurnerVlogs]

Great research man! It's a brilliant extrapolation of earth history into the SW galactic history. Possibly more so than Lucas himself!

[@Raymanta82]

Ironically one thing that would've helped consolidate power in the sparsely populated Outer Rim? A Death Star!😅

[@Aim54Delta]

On the context of the American civil war: It's not as simple as industrialization vs slave labor, either. The North had more slaves and indenture in factories than the South. There was a general consensus in the South that slavery was to be ended, but there were debates as to how it should go about it. Manumission of slaves was extremely common and state legislatures started limiting the process out of fears of demographic shifts and education among voters. The plantations were the mega-corps of the day and held immense influence within governmental chambers, as did various factory industrialists within the North. Arguably, the expansion of industry into the south was as much a cause of the war as anything else. The political north wanted more power over the political south and the industrialists did not like competition from the South. There were also issues with regard to international trade and who was conducting it. Slavery, thus, became a very strong moral facade to play before the public. Remember - the same people arguing the moral virtues of the north for freeing the slaves then turn around and prop up The Jungle and the labor union battles against factories as the defining aspects of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Civil wars are rarely so convenient as governments against people. It's people against people - a schizm within the interests of two groups within the same nation, at least as they perceive their relative interests. You're right - I'm just saying that it goes even deeper and becomes more nuanced.

[@nailin18]

You know I always had this theory, that the Clone Wars might have been the best thing that could have happened to the Galaxy at that time. If it hadn't been for the manipulation by Darth Sidious the Galaxy would have not only had one big war, but instead, a hundred different small wars that would have broken the Republic in a hundred different pieces, and that could have set Galactic civilization into a Dark Age, pretty much the same worst case scenario of Azimov's Foundation Series. However, by concentrating all the problems of the Republic in two well defined parties in one big conflict, suddenly it became a much more feasible problem to solve, and whoever won the conflict inherited Galactic civilization and the direction for it to go, all very efficient in a very brutal way. Palpatine just may have saved galactic civilization from a fate much darker than the one he gave, shame he was evil and crazy.

[@luisemoralesfalcon4716]

He just light the fire in a manner that benefited him, count past work of the Sith.

[@FernandoMartinez-pv1id]

A lot of similarities between the Separtist Alliance and the Confederates States of America. Slavery was no question the driving force of the Civil War, but the idea that there weren't so many other dominos falling along the way is insane. There were also false things the CIS were fighting for as well just like the CSA. One example is States Rights for the South. They weren't the only ones fighting for States Rights and Taxes, many in The North was as well. The Separtists were for independent system goverments to have their strength increased which many in the Republic agreed with as well.

[@casbot71]

It was all Darth Jar Jar's fault....

[@rippingtons60]

Kelleran Beq: “Yeah about that……….”

[@Dostoron]

the sith had long ceased to be able to align stars in their favor, but they have become VERY good at taking advantage of star alignments.

[@austinschmitt2915]

Dude getting more government/history style information about Star Wars is amazing.

[@crabwalkarms7347]

That was very well said concering the causes of the civil war and its causes.

[@OuterRimPride]

Exactly!

[@abhinandanvasudevan6540]

Alan on point as usual

[@Mankorra_Gomorrah]

A few weeks ago I went on a long winded, red string on a board style rant to my friend about how the clone wars were really the result of a horribly bungled attempt to spur development in the outer rim which backfired and led to insane corruption, corporations with more power than many states and a widespread public resentment against said corporations. The republic was, at its own slow pace, poised to basically undo everything that had allowed the various megacorps to exist and they saw the writing on the wall. It’s not too shocking that some of them decided that since they were going out of business anyway they might as well try and create a separatist state that will continue these advantages policies. All palpatine had to do was organize them.

[@TheRiskybizniz]

I just noticed that your Rex helmet is missing the P2 weld. nice

[@jpritchett42]

I feel that, without the Sith's interference, the clone wars instead could have been a peaceful and mutually agreeable secesion of the outer-rim from the republic. Instead, both sides suddenly found themselves with large, disposable, militaries and little reason not to fight out their grievences on a galactic scale.

[@gungasc]

The late fees are atrocious and no one told those people. That company must be hurting for money.

[@bloodknight7420]

Then in conclusion the Jedi where responsible for all the republic’s corruption all over the galactic regional system’s and the Empire 🧎‍♂️our Emperor Palpatine is a savior from their evil

[@MrPapamaci88]

Good teachable moment here! As long as there are two or more separate factions in a social or international system that are either dependent, co-dependent or simply unequal, war is ALWAYS a guarantee. No matter how good the system of a society, be that national or international, if they can't properly address these issues, there WILL be a war. That's why there will be more than a few wars in Europe if the EU fails due to ethnic tensions, territorial disputes, multi-century old bigotry and hatred. The EU is currently the best attempt at diffusing these problems by allowing free movement between the member states and encouraging mixing the population. The problem is that even within the EU there are outliers like Orbán who thrive from the hate and will sabotage these efforts to spark social conflict. Outside forces like Russia do more than a little to sabotage things by for example funding extremist parties and movements within the EU. Africa and the Middle-East, which were carved up by the colonial powers long ago, not along ethnic lines also ensured that these territories will keep seeing conflicts just because of ethnic tensions. Sadly there are more than ethnic issues there, Africa is currently industrializing fast in many regions, playing catch-up like India did before they became the relatively strong regional power that give even China - an industrial powerhouse - pause. I'd say the next really big war will be in Africa due to the huge inequality between its many regions. Considering how fast African population rises and how fast many countries there are building themselves up, it will be horrifying to see. Usually when common sense no longer prevails and cannot at least mitigate these issues, that's when humans get all uppity and become senseless, emotional creatures who whip themselves up into a frenzy. Star Wars perfectly mirrors these things.

[@andrewmatelski6027]

We’re just gonna ignore the Sith has been secretly causing and guiding most of the tensions and issues for the past 1000 years 😅😅

[@louisduarte8763]

I always thought the closest real-world historic parallel to the Fall of the Galactic Republic into the Empire was the Roman Republic's transformation into an Empire.

[@Arkancide]

There is no way in hell anyone can convince me that times were 'peaceful' during the Republic Eras. Especially when there was no Republic military. Millions of species, languages, religions, cultures, and planets could not possibly go without conflict. Piracy, gangs, slavers, ambitious planetary and regional governments, religious wars, resource wars, and blood feuds would be going on EVERYWHERE. I do not believe I can be persuaded to think any non-interventionist Republic presiding over such extreme diversity could ever be anything but chaos and madness. The 'Clone Wars' seems to have only been a thing because Palpatine engineered opposition to the chaos. And creating the Galactic Empire was the best move forward, imo. Obviously his Sith nonsense ended up ruining it, but still.

[@Big_Boss4269]

“Hey man, we didn’t start the fire” Nah, you just threw hyper fuel on it

[@theliato3809]

Clone wars are called the clone wars because many different wars were involved in the build up and then seeped into the main war itself. The galactic civil war is called that because you had two different governments claiming the authority of sovereign of galactic civilization within the same territorial authority

[@isaackim7675]

Episode II Palpatine, “I love democracy. I love the Republic.” Episode III Palpatine, “I don’t trust democracy nor the Republic.”

[@theliato3809]

The republic wasn’t exactly reconnecting the Rakatan empire and it’s formation was really that you had these dense clusters of powerful wealthy worlds that couldn’t really exert force over each other and when caught on the path of a dangerous foe United together alongside the Jedi to face said threat and founded a republic afterwards

[@shoresean1237]

One economic SW issue I'd like to see addressed: Were the First Order and the Resistance/New Rebellion both actually buying from the exact same sources? The reason I ask this is, one the source for this was a betraying slicer who may have wanted to demoralize the Rebels with gaslighting to keep them from coming after him. Now, that doesn't mean he was wrong, but having thought this over, the First Order seemed to have deep pockets despite evolving from a 'remnant', while the Resistance/Rebels got some funding from the New Republic, but obviously not much, and Leia's fortune would only carry so far. They seemed more like scroungers akin to the first Rebellion, so would they really have been in position to buy from these profiteers? I accuse the slicer not so much of outright lying but likely exaggeration again, in order to make finding him and intro'ing him to a lightsaber less of a priority.

[@redendive5068]

as a very financially irresponsable person i appriciate the advice

[@rinokumera5907]

Amazing

[@daniels7907]

A galaxy-spanning super-state is more unrealistic than any of the supernatural stuff in sci-fi.

[@Manda-LORE]

I don't think that the author understands how much Plagueis and Sidious stoked the flames. Yes there were pre-existing tensions between core worlds and rim worlds going back to the foundation of the republic, but every single microchasm that pushed the galaxy closer and closer to war was a direct result of the Sith master plan at work. Hell, it was Plagueis's money that funded the initial downpayment for the GAR, and Sidious' s political maneuvering and strategic usage of Maul to take out rivals and obstacles that got puppets like Gunray in charge of institutions like the Trade Federation to begin with. Their clandestine funding of hostile organizations and lobbying for unfavorable legislation hype accelerated the conditions in which the clone war erupted.

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Thanks for how you told the story of the civil war very fair to the people who lived it and the states that fought against each other... Which to add the politicians of the states that formed the CSA barely voted to succeed... And Florida even fought two civil wars at the same time one against the Nothern States and one against those Floridains in the south who wished to say in the union... Much like many Planets during the Clone Wars. Which I agree with the sentiment about the Clone wars being the real civil war and the galaxic civil war being a revolution.

[@knightingale9833]

The thousand years of Sith lords before Palpatine all the way to Bane probably also had something to do with slowly destabilizing the Republic. Also, the Clone Wars are intended to remind you of the American Civil War, there are direct references. CONFEDERACY of Independent Systems, and after the ACW, former Union army soldiers created a veterans group called, The Grand Army of the Republic.

[@gun4h1r3]

Great video

[@pyeitme508]

Yep

[@thorpeaaron1110]

All Palpatine did was pull the trigger that made the war break out earlier even without Palpatine pulling the string of both the Republic and the Separatists the Clone Wars would have still occurred.

[@sashmiel6566]

War may have been inveitable, but this particular one was all Papa Palpatine.

[@quoniam426]

In other words: never let a crisis go to waste...

[@Lodrik18]

I really like the comparison to the american civil war and the short history of the republic was great! I believe the Clone Wars were intended to be somewhat different because you have robots fighting clones, so it was supposed to be more civilized but war is war and the people had to suffer because you cant sanitize it... I guess the idea of the clone wars shifted over time, the idea grew and morphed before the time came to bring it to the big screen (and many authors gave input between the first and second trilogy)

[@bankerduck4925]

Like a true politician...

[@spraycheese1383]

I’m kind of new to Star Wars and I’m curious where he gets this lore from. I have only seen the movies and am not familiar with any other world building stories outside of them.

[@carthienesdevilsadvocatenr2806]

The Republic may have been sliding towards this Civil War since the Ruusann Reformations, True, but it was the Sith that consistently greased that slope. By the time Palpatine comes onto the scene it was merely a matter of Where, When, and How. Efforts by the republic to reform may have been more effective if they had not been consistently sabotaged, however. One thing you missed, though, is that those planets and systems that got their own senators early in the Republic's history did not give them up when the republic was reformed into a sector-based senate. They still had a senator per planet, just like they always did... it was only the newcomers that where forced to share. Which went even further to breeding resentment. I think the biggest problem was the haphazard nature of the reforms, they should probably have gone for something a little more... Feudal? Is that the right word? Local govenment deals with local issues, sector senate to deal with sector issues, and let Galactic Senate focus on Galactic issues (plus setting a basic standard - a bill of Sophont Rights, for instance). But to do that, the Galactic Senate would have to devolve more localised powers to more localised governments... and until Palpatine, senators always hated to yield even the tiniest scraps of their power.

[@Hello-bi1pm]

Sounds like a Federation

[@praetorurbanus2917]

The word you're looking for is "federal," not feudal (though given the fantastic array of civilizations and species in SW, you might well see feudal government as well in some places). A federal system is one in which power is divided between at least 2 levels of government. Each level of government is given its own sphere of authority, allocating each policy area (e.g. traffic laws, defense, etc.) to the level that is theoretically best suited to deal with it. There is frequently some degree of tension between the levels, in practice, as each tries to expand its own sphere of influence and protect such against the encroachments of other levels, but on paper, it's still a sharing of power in such a way that it helps protect all the levels of power.

[@Jake.13]

Just gonna finance a few lightsabers

[@peterbrazukas7771]

Only light saber crafted by a Mandalorian SO FAR.

[@justincameron9661]

They should do a jurassic park star wars cross over and do the clone wars again and have the final battle be the t rex and spino using lightsabers

[@strongwiseandfree]

He hijacked existing movements on both sides. That's what he does.

[@bobjohnson6926]

Damn they must have been really screwing people over to make you apologize

[@dogbackwards7658]

I mean how can someone who loves Democracy and the Republic start a galactic war for self gain

[@mikec3820]

thanks alan. always great content. i can not wait for new SW shows and movies i hear too. hope they dont bork it up again lols "RAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY" 😂