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Clone Wars (Star Wars)

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Films

   Primary battles of the Clone Wars
   Geonosis – Rhen Var – Raxus Prime – Alaris Prime – Thule – Kamino –
   Ohma-D'an – Muunilinst – Mon Calamari – Dantooine – Ilum – Yavin IV –
   Hypori – Haruun Kal – Jabiim – Coruscant – Utapau – Mustafar – Felucia
   – Kashyyyk – Cato Neimoidia – Mygeeto – Saleucami – List of minor Clone
   Wars battles

   The Clone Wars (also known as the Clone War) are a series of fictional
   intragalactic battles in George Lucas's science fiction saga Star Wars.
   The conflict is first mentioned in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
   (1977), but not featured in Star Wars fiction until the second and
   third episodes of the six-part Star Wars film series: Attack of the
   Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). The animated microseries
   Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003-2005) chronicle the major campaigns of the
   war. Additional events and stories are detailed in a multimedia
   campaign consisting of Star Wars literature and video games. Many of
   the events featured have parallels in history, politics, and mythology
   from which Lucas and other writers drew inspiration. Critics and film
   historians debate which parallels are most prominent or consistent.

   The Clone Wars begin during the Separatist Crisis when thousands of
   star systems secede from the Galactic Republic to form the Confederacy
   of Independent Systems (CIS). The first battle occurs on the CIS planet
   Geonosis as the Republic's new clone army, led by Jedi generals,
   combats the Separatists' battle droids. War quickly spreads across the
   galaxy and eventually reaches the Republic's capital, Coruscant. The
   Clone Wars end shortly after the Great Jedi Purge, the Separatist
   Massacre on Mustafar, and the establishment of the Galactic Empire. The
   events causing the war and those leading to its conclusion are
   orchestrated by the Republic's chief executive, Supreme Chancellor
   Palpatine.
   Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Origins

   The beginnings of the war are first portrayed in the 1999 film The
   Phantom Menace (the first chapter but fourth release in the series) as
   the Invasion of Theed and the Battle of Naboo. However, the real
   tension begins with the Separatist Crisis, a series of debates in the
   Galactic Republic that are referred to in Attack of the Clones, and
   began about two years prior to the start of that film. By the beginning
   of Attack of the Clones, many star systems had seceded from the
   Republic. The tension caused by this secession eventually led to the
   outbreak of war.

   The war is engineered by Senator Palpatine to facilitate his own rise
   to power and the formation of the Galactic Empire. He plays both sides
   against each other — as a Republic Senator (and later Chancellor)
   advocating more centralized powers to keep the Republic together, and
   as the mysterious Sith Lord Darth Sidious, by advising the Separatists.
   The Clone Wars thus become the first of two major civil wars in the
   Star Wars galaxy, the other being the Galactic Civil War featured in A
   New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi
   (1983).

Story

   The origins of the Clone Wars began 32 years before the events of A New
   Hope (the first film produced in the series). The opening of the war,
   referred to in the prequel trilogy as the Battle of Naboo, is portrayed
   in The Phantom Menace. The Trade Federation, a major galactic trade
   organization secretly controlled by the Sith, blockaded the planet
   Naboo and demanded the capitulation of the world by its Queen, Padmé
   Amidala. Queen Amidala refused and requested help from the Republic,
   the group responsible for governing the Star Wars galaxy. The Republic
   responded by sending two Jedi ambassadors, Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his
   apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi, to help free the world. After a few small
   skirmishes, including an assassination attempt by a Sith warrior named
   Darth Maul, the Jedi and Naboo military liberated the world with the
   help of the native Gungans, represented in the film by the
   computer-animated character Jar-Jar Binks.

   Shortly after these events, the Jedi Dooku resigned his commission and
   returned to his homeworld of Serenno. Unbeknownst to the Jedi Council
   (the "ruling body" of the Jedi), Dooku had fallen under the control of
   the evil Sith master Darth Sidious. Dooku and Sidious arranged for an
   army of clones to be produced by the Kaminoans under the name of the
   Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas. This is portrayed as a mystery during the rising
   action of Attack of the Clones.

   By this time, the Republic was facing internal opposition as several
   thousand worlds seceded. The Republic Senate proposed the Military
   Creation Act, with allowed for the development of a large military.
   While most senators supported the act, it saw great opposition from
   Padmé Amidala, who by now was the senator for Naboo. The act never came
   to a vote, due to the discovery of the Confederacy of Independent
   Systems' military force on Geonosis and the subsequent Battle of
   Geonosis, which saw the loss of numerous Jedi Knights and the bounty
   hunter Jango Fett. Chancellor Palpatine, the head of state of the
   Republic, was quickly granted emergency powers by the Republic Senate.
   He used these powers to raise the Grand Army of the Republic, a large
   military force made up of clone troopers illicitly commissioned by
   Dooku and Sidious. The Battle of Geonosis marks the end of Attack of
   the Clones.

   During the in-universe time period between Attack of the Clones and
   Revenge of the Sith, conflict between the Republic and the Separatists
   increased and expanded, which is chronicled in an extensive Multimedia
   campaign. During the early months, Dooku seizes control of a weapon
   called the Dark Reaper (seen in the video game and Boba Fett:
   Crossfire). After several years, the Republic begins the Outer Rim
   Sieges, which is also primarily chronicled in the multimedia campaign
   and Revenge of the Sith, the third film in the trilogy.

   Three years after the Battle of Geonosis, Revenge of the Sith, opens
   with the CIS' attempt to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine on the Republic
   capital world of Coruscant. The Chancellor was rescued, due to the
   efforts of Jedi Master Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

   During this point in the timeline, the Outer Rim Sieges were in full
   swing. One of the key battles of the Outer Rim Sieges was the Battle of
   Utapau, depicted in Revenge of the Sith. The Separatist leader, General
   Grievous, was killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi in this battle. Other Outer Rim
   skirmishes — such as the Battle of Belderone — occur in the animated
   series and several novels.

   Meanwhile, battles continued to rage all across the Star Wars galaxy.
   The Jedi, who were the commanders of the Republic military, were
   scattered across the galaxy at battles as diverse as Mygeeto, Felucia,
   and Kashyyyk (the latter being commanded by the Jedi Master Yoda, a
   main character in the films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the
   Jedi).

   It was during this part of the story that Anakin Skywalker fell prey to
   the dark side. Stumbling into a duel between Mace Windu and Chancellor
   Palpatine, Skywalker slashed Windu's lightsaber arm off, allowing
   Palpatine to kill Windu. He was soon renamed Darth Vader and completely
   fell under the sway of the dark side.

   Palpatine dispatched Skywalker to Mustafar to kill off the rest of the
   CIS leaders, while he himself issued Order 66, an order for all the
   clone troopers to execute their Jedi commanders. The few survivors of
   the Great Jedi Purge included Yoda and Kenobi. With the extermination
   of the Jedi and the Confederacy leadership, Palpatine marks an end to
   the Republic, thus creating the Galactic Empire. Revenge of the Sith
   then undergoes its climax with personal battles between Yoda/Palpatine
   and Kenobi/Skywalker. A geonosian named Gizor Delso escaped Darth
   Vaders Elimination ofthe separatist leaders and went on to reopen a
   mustafar droid factory to create a new droid army nad restart the clone
   wars. He was eliminated along with his army by a contingent of the
   501st unit of the Imperial army.

Allusions

   Like all themes within Star Wars, the Clone Wars borrows from multiple
   mythical, literary, and historical influences and parallels. Writers
   and critics have debated over which parallels are most prominent or
   consistent.

Political

   In the Star Wars timeline, both the Clone Wars and its results are
   portrayed as the process which shifted the Galactic Republic from a
   democracy to a dictatorship. In a 2002 TIME Magazine interview, Star
   Wars creator George Lucas explains:

          "All democracies turn into dictatorships—but not by coup. The
          people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julius
          Caesar or Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general
          population goes along with the idea. What kinds of things push
          people and institutions in this direction? That's the issue I've
          been exploring: how did the Republic turn into the Empire? … How
          does a good person go bad, and how does a democracy become a
          dictatorship?"

   Lucas answered those questions in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of
   the Sith. In Attack of the Clones, Palpatine orchestrates the
   Separatist movement (and the Clone Wars that followed) to worry the
   citizens of the Republic, thus forcing the senate to grant him
   emergency powers. According to character Obi-Wan Kenobi, these powers
   increase as the Clone Wars extend into a search for General Grevious,
   who replaces Count Dooku as Separatist leader. During Revenge of the
   Sith, Palpatine declares himself Emperor by blaming the Jedi for the
   Republic's problems, resulting in a Jedi purge via Order 66.

   Comparisons have been made between the political aspects of the Clone
   Wars and the events leading up to World War II. Radio host Clyde Lewis'
   article on historical similarities in Star Wars claims that Palpatine's
   tactics parallel those of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany; both leaders
   used wars and scapegoats to manipulate society's emotional state, thus
   providing the leadership with support and power. This viewpoint was
   also expressed in an editorial on the Clone Wars Unofficial Website.
   Another writer compares the Clone Wars with World War II in general,
   basing his argument on the fact that Lucas was born during the baby
   boomer generation, and the dark times featured in the original trilogy
   rival the dark, uncertain Cold War. Lucas, however, cited in multiple
   interviews that one of his primary influences for the political
   backdrop behind the Clone Wars (and all of Star Wars) was the
   Vietnam/Watergate era, when leaders embraced corruption for what they
   thought was the best course of action.

   There is a variety of opinions on the historical parallels between the
   political aspects of the Clone Wars and the War in Iraq. In claiming
   that the Star Wars galaxy under the deceitful Palpatine parallels the
   modern issues of the United States, an editorial on Antiwar.com states
   that "[Star Wars] establishes first the generally agreeable premise
   that it's right to overthrow oppressive government, before bringing
   into focus something more discomforting – that the corrupt tyranny
   referred to is our own". Additionally, an article from AlterNet claims
   that "like Palpatine, the Bush administration has been able to feed on
   people's fears to gain more power". However, in an interview with Kiro
   7 News, Star Wars producer Rick McCallum explained:

          "George is a product of Vietnam, not a product of Bush. [The
          political aspects of the Clone Wars] has been in the context of
          every script I've ever read—every draft—way before Bush became
          president…"

   Lucas claims, however, that he could see political parallels between
   the Vietnam and Iraq wars. Nevertheless, he states that "When I wrote
   [the backstory/Clone Wars], Iraq didn't exist".

Military

   The Clone Wars involve parallels to the American Civil War in many
   respects. The Confederacy of Independent Systems shares a similar name
   to the Confederate States of America; it also seceeded from the
   Republic, much like the south seceeded from the Union. Like Confederate
   General Robert E. Lee, Count Dooku was respected by his enemies, and
   had he survived, he most likely would have been accepted by them.

   Order 66 — one of the major events at the conflict's conclusion in
   Revenge of the Sith — features several real-world parallels. Order 66
   also echoes the destruction of the Knights Templar order, another order
   of protectors who were raided by the secular forces such as King Philip
   IV's. In addition, the ultimate (and secret) order to begin their
   dissolution was given by a trusted leader—the Pope, in the case of the
   Knights Templar (the Knights Templar, like all monastic orders,
   ultimately derived its authority and permission to exist from the Pope;
   the Jedi order existed independently of the office of Supreme
   Chancellor, but were about to be brought under its legal umbrella in
   Revenge of the Sith, instead of deriving its existence from the Old
   Republic in general, and its legislature specifically).

Star Wars

   A portion of the vehicles developed by the Lucasfilm graphic designers,
   including the AT-TE and the AT-XT walkers, were created to enhance the
   technological continuity of the Clone Wars in relation to the Galactic
   Civil War, the central conflict in the original trilogy of Star Wars
   films. Other examples of technological continutity is displayed at the
   Battle of Coruscant, in which ARC-170 starfighters were designed with
   S-foils, much like those seen in the ship designs of the original
   films.

   In the original trilogy, the Clone Wars are only referenced in A New
   Hope. Lucas stated that he first designed a backstory which preceded
   the original film trilogy — the events surrounding the Clone War era.
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   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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