The name given to the regime established by Chancellor Palpatine when he assumed the position of galactic Emperor and instituted his New Order, in the wake of the Clone Wars. The basic belief of the Empire was to rule by fear of force rather than by force itself. Palpatine became the Emperor, and built a huge war machine in order to instill fear. Palpatine's use of the Dark Side of the Force bolstered his ability to control the galaxy, until he was destroyed during the Battle of Endor. After that, the Empire floundered for a number of years. Various warlords and Imperial officers tried to re-establish momentum for the Empire in a series of skirmishes with the New Republic, but none was able to triumph over it. Even the reborn Emperor Palpatine tried to strike back from a hidden base on Byss, but could not defeat Luke Skywalker and the New Republic. The Empire splintered into many factions, until Grand Admiral Thrawn returned from the Unknown Regions and tried to bring the Galactic Empire back under a single rulers. Thrawn's death forced the surviving Imperial leaders to realize that their span of control was dwindling, and the Empire was reduced the the entity known as the Imperial Remnant. In the wake of the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Imperial Remnant began to regain power, although the Moff Council was often at odds with Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon. After the death of Darth Caedus, the Imperial Remnant was seen by the rest of the galaxy as a stable form of government, and the vision of the Galactic Empire was once again reformed when Jagged Fel assumed the role of Head of State. As it gained power under the leadership of the Fel Emperors, the Galactic Empire gave way to the New Empire.

Source Abbreviations Listing - E4, E5 E6, HTTE, DE1, JS, E3N, OWS, FJ1