Galactic Civil War
The Galactic Civil War (approx. 19 BBY - 4 ABY) is a fictional war from the Star Wars series of movies, featured thus far in the original trilogy of films A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The war was fought between the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance.
The war unofficially began when Anakin Skywalker, seduced by the power of the Dark Side of The Force, became Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith. The situation had begun to deteriorate when Palpatine (who by this time had become the Galactic Emperor) and Vader ordered the extermination of the Jedi Knights (aside from the converted and corrupted Anakin, two other Jedi survived - Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda).
A new and evil Imperial Order (through both fear and force) was declared throughout the galaxy, and as a result the Rebel Alliance was created to oppose the new Galactic Empire. The Emperor was pleased with a rebellion against his rule, because it would give him an excuse to get rid of the last remains of the Galactic Republic. He could simultaneously display the awesome power of the Imperial Starfleet and clamp down on unrest against his rule. This confidence in his regime's power became his greatest weakness.
The Rebel Alliance was not very successful in its early years. But the Battle of Yavin (0 BBY), which resulted in the destruction of Death Star, marked a turning point in the war and galactic history. The Empire struck back (in The Empire Strikes Back), destroying the Rebel base on Hoth and began building a new Death Star. This second Death Star was destroyed in the Battle of Endor (4 ABY), which also resulted in the deaths of Palpatine and his right-hand man, Darth Vader (who, as Anakin Skywalker, had returned from the Dark Side and sacrificed his life to save his son Luke). With that, the Empire appeared to have suffered its final defeat and the bloody Galactic Civil War had unofficially ended.
Please note that all information that follows is from the Expanded Universe.
The Empire then fell into warlordism, but it was still a formidable threat, and controlled much of the galaxy. The Rebel Alliance proclaimed itself the New Republic and began a campaign of recapturing vital Imperial worlds, including Coruscant the former capital of the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Empire alike. After several years they succeeded. The Empire rose again several times under powerful leaders such as Grand Admiral Thrawn and a series of clones of Palpatine but was always thwarted when those leaders were killed.
Later, a peace treaty was finally signed between the tiny fraction of the galaxy that was under the control of what remained of the Empire and the New Republic, 20 years after the Rebels' victory at Yavin. At this time the Imperial Remnant, led by Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, consisted of eight backwater sectors bordering the Unknown Regions in the Outer Rim.
List of major battles:
