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  • Galactic Senate

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    Galactic Senate

    At the height of its rule, the Galactic Republic was governed by a body of Senators representing the many worlds of the galaxy. Within the cavernous Senate rotunda, hundreds of politicians would fill the viewing platforms that lined the curved walls. The Senate’s power gradually eroded after it voted emergency powers to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine during the Clone Wars, and the body was sharply divided between supporters of the war and those seeking peace. After Palpatine declared himself Emperor, power was increasingly wielded by regional governors. Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, Palpatine disbanded the Senate.

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Appearances
  • Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (Episode II)
  • Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Episode III)
  • Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (Episode I)
  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Affiliations
  • Senate Guard
Locations
  • Coruscant
  • Lothal Old Republic Senate Building
  • Coruscant Senate Building
  • Senate Office Building

History

Queen Amidala addressing the Galactic Senate

By the final days of the Republic, the Senate had become hampered by grinding bureaucracy and rampant corruption. When Queen Amidala addressed the Senate to protest the Trade Federation’s invasion of Naboo, the Trade Federation’s representative asked for proof of her allegations and suggested a commission be appointed to investigate the matter.

Senator Palpatine advising Queen Amidala during a session of the Senate

Naboo’s Senator Palpatine suggested that Amidala call for a vote of “no confidence” in Chancellor Valorum, leading to an election for a new chancellor. The post went to Palpatine, marking the beginning of his ascent to power.

Chancellor Palpatine addressing the Galactic Senate

A decade later, the Separatist Crisis left the Senate paralyzed, as star systems led by Count Dooku broke away from the Republic and prepared for war. Standing in for Senator Amidala, Naboo’s Representative Jar Jar Binks proposed granting Palpatine emergency powers. Jar Jar had unwittingly set dark events in motion.

The Zilo Beast atop the Senate building on Coruscant

During the Clone Wars, Palpatine ordered the mighty Zillo Beast brought to Coruscant from Malastare for study. The beast broke free of its restraints and rampaged across the planet to the Senate Building, where it grabbed Palpatine’s shuttle before being killed.

Cad Bane discussing his hostage terms with Chancellor Palpatine

Another attack on the Senate was led by the notorious bounty hunter Cad Bane, who took several senators hostage. Bane bartered their lives for the release of the imprisoned criminal Ziro the Hutt.

Senator Amidala addressing the Galactic Senate

The Clone Wars left the Senate split between supporters of the war and those who despaired at the death toll and feared the growing power of the galaxy’s military-industrial complex. Padmé opposed a bill to deregulate the Banking Clan, pushing instead for peace negotiations with the Separatists.

Count Dooku reporting the death of Mina Bonteri to the Galactic Senate

The peace negotiations led nowhere. First Separatist droids plunged Coruscant into darkness, and then Count Dooku angrily addressed the Senate, reporting that a Republic attack had killed Mina Bonteri, a Separatist senator who’d advocated for peace. Shadowy figures were determined to derail any attempt at stopping the war.

Darth Sidious declaring the formation of the Galactic Empire to the Senate

As the war ground on, Palpatine amassed further powers at the expense of the Senate. With the Separatists defeated, Palpatine declared that the Republic had been replaced by the First Galactic Empire, with himself as its ruler. Amidst the applause, some senators – including Bail Organa and Mon Mothma -- were secretly making plans to resist the new Emperor.

Darth Sidious and Yoda fighting in the Galactic Senate Chamber

In a desperate attempt to stop the Sith from gaining control of the galaxy, Yoda battled Palpatine in the Senate chamber. But the revealed Sith Lord was too strong for the former Jedi grandmaster. Yoda was forced to flee, going into exile on Dagobah.

R2-D2 and Senator Bail Organa aboard the Tantive IV

As the Empire expanded and tightened its grip on the galaxy’s star systems, some brave senators publicly opposed the Emperor on Coruscant. Behind the scenes, Organa and others were working to unite disconnected resistance movements into an Alliance dedicated to restoring the Republic.

Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader announcing the Emperor's dissolution of the Senate

By the time the Rebellion began, the Senate’s power had been eroded, with regional governors appointed by the Emperor wielding more and more control over the galaxy’s people. With the Death Star nearly complete, the Emperor disbanded the Senate, confident that fear of the Death Star would silence dissent.

Video

  • video

    Palpatine's Politics

    Naboo's Senator Palpatine demonstrates his political acumen and Machiavellian tendencies when he reveals the hidden workings of the Galactic Senate to Queen Amidala.

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  • video

    So This is How Liberty Dies

    As Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declares the emergence of the first Galactic Empire, senators Amidala and Organa look on in disbelief.

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Gallery

© 2015 Disney

Galactic Senate History Gallery

  • 27 Images
    • After the Trade Federation invaded Naboo, Queen Amidala escaped the planet and reached Coruscant,...
    • For Amidala, this meager response was proof that the Senate had become too corrupt and bureaucrat...
    • Valorum had been one of Naboo’s allies, but a frustrated Amidala did as Palpatine suggested. The ...
    • A decade later, the Senate was in turmoil, roiled by fears that systems would leave the Republic ...
    • When word reached the Senate that Dooku and his allies were preparing for war, Naboo Representati...
    • The Clone Wars engulfed the galaxy, but Coruscant and the Senate often seemed unaffected. That ch...
    • The Senate was sharply divided by the war, with some senators offering full-throated support for ...
    • A major expansion of the war seemed at hand when Palpatine presented a hologram of Mandalore’s De...
    • Mandalore’s Duchess Satine risked her life to reveal that Jerec’s message had been doctored as a ...
    • When the Trade Federation threatened to invade Pantora, Senator Riyo Chuchi accused the Trade Fed...
    • The war came to Coruscant when a team of bounty hunters led by Cad Bane invaded the Senate, overp...
    • Clone troopers secured Palpatine in his office, but only quick action by Anakin saved the senator...
  • After the Trade Federation invaded Naboo, Queen Amidala escaped the planet and reached Coruscant, where she told the Senate of the Trade Federation’s attack. Federation Senator Lott Dod protested that there was no proof of her accusations, and the weak Supreme Chancellor Valorum was forced to ask Amidala if she would agree to the appointment of a commission to investigate the charges.

  • For Amidala, this meager response was proof that the Senate had become too corrupt and bureaucratic to govern. She angrily denounced the body, then listened gravely as Naboo’s Senator Palpatine craftily proposed a new strategy: call for a no-confidence vote in Valorum.

  • Valorum had been one of Naboo’s allies, but a frustrated Amidala did as Palpatine suggested. The Senate backed her call for new elections – and the prized appointment went to Palpatine. His rise to power had begun.

  • A decade later, the Senate was in turmoil, roiled by fears that systems would leave the Republic to join Count Dooku’s Separatist movement. Amidala, now Naboo’s senator, returned to Coruscant to cast a key vote opposing the creation of a Republic army – and nearly died when an assassin blew up her ship. A grave Supreme Chancellor Palpatine told the Senate of her death – and was relieved to discover Amidala had survived.

  • When word reached the Senate that Dooku and his allies were preparing for war, Naboo Representative Jar Jar Binks spoke up and proposed giving Palpatine emergency powers during the crisis – including the right to create a Republic army. Palpatine vowed to set aside the enormous powers he’d been given as soon as he could, but he was lying – a secret Sith plot to take over the galaxy was advancing.

  • The Clone Wars engulfed the galaxy, but Coruscant and the Senate often seemed unaffected. That changed when the monstrous Zillo Beast broke free of captivity and rampaged across the cityscape, seeking out Palpatine in his Senate office. Republic gunships brought the mighty creature down outside the Senate Building.

  • The Senate was sharply divided by the war, with some senators offering full-throated support for Palpatine while others feared democracy was threatened and sought a peaceful solution. Padmé Amidala was in the latter camp, a position that sometimes left her at odds with her husband, the Jedi General Anakin Skywalker.

  • A major expansion of the war seemed at hand when Palpatine presented a hologram of Mandalore’s Deputy Minister Jerec apparently admitting that his planet needed the help of the Jedi and the Republic to counter Death Watch terrorists. The Senate voted to intervene and the Republic made invasion plans.

  • Mandalore’s Duchess Satine risked her life to reveal that Jerec’s message had been doctored as a pretext for an invasion. With the help of Senator Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the unaltered message was played for the Senate, and the invasion was called off.

  • When the Trade Federation threatened to invade Pantora, Senator Riyo Chuchi accused the Trade Federation of being in league with the Separatists despite the group’s official neutrality. The Pantoran crisis escalated when the Separatists hired thugs to abduct Chairman Papanoida’s daughters.

  • The war came to Coruscant when a team of bounty hunters led by Cad Bane invaded the Senate, overpowering Anakin Skywalker and taking several senators hostage. Bane threatened to kill the hostages unless Palpatine agreed to release Ziro the Hutt from a Republic prison.

  • Clone troopers secured Palpatine in his office, but only quick action by Anakin saved the senators from death. Bane completed his mission, escaping Coruscant with the freed Ziro the Hutt.

  • Padmé and Bail Organa were leaders of the opposition to a bill to deregulate the Banking Clan – a measure supported by representatives of the Trade Federation, Techno Union and Banking Clan, whose Separatist ties were open secrets on Coruscant.

  • With Padmé pushing for peace, the Separatist-leaning senators Lott Dod, Gume Saam and Nix Card made plans to scuttle her efforts with a Separatist attack on Coruscant itself.

  • Padmé secretly met an old friend, Separatist Senator Mina Bonteri. Their negotiations led to a Separatist peace proposal, and the Senate seemed poised to vote no on deregulating the Banking Clan. But then the planned Separatist attack plunged Coruscant into darkness.

  • Padmé urged her fellow senators not to abandon the peace process, but a message arrived from Count Dooku himself, declaring that Bonteri had been killed in a Republic attack. A seemingly furious Dooku withdrew the Separatist peace proposal.

  • With the peace proposal dead, Banking Clan representatives told Padmé and Rodia’s Senator Onaconda Farr that the organization was jacking up interest rates on its loan to the Republic, while lending the Separatists credits for an army of new battle droids.

  • After thugs wounded Bail Organa, Padmé had to step in and deliver a critical speech urging the Senate to reject the deregulation bill and stop the funding of more clone troops. Padmé warned that the war was eroding basic services relied on by regular citizens. To the consternation of Palpatine, the Senate voted against the bills, at least temporarily slowing the war.

  • Emboldened by her success, Padmé worked with Farr, Organa and Mon Mothma to cut military spending – which caused the Republic’s pro-military faction to smear her as unpatriotic. Events then took a dangerous turn when Farr was killed by poison.

  • Suspicions focused on Farr’s political enemies, such as the Kaminoan Senator Halle Burtoni. But the killer turned out to be Farr’s assistant, Representative Lolo Purs – who had killed her mentor for involving their homeworld in the Clone Wars and briefly siding with the Separatists.

  • Later in the war, evidence of corruption within the Banking Clan was revealed by former senator Rush Clovis, reviled for treasonous acts against the Republic. Clovis swore he had reformed and wanted to return the Clan to its roots as a fair system for commerce. After the Separatists agreed to back Clovis as the Banking Clan’s new head, the Republic Senate endorsed the move.

  • Clovis was sincere, but found himself enmeshed in a Separatist plot, with Dooku forcing him to raise interest rates on the Republic but not the Separatists. The Separatists then attacked the Republic delegation on the key Banking Clan world of Scipio, leading to an emergency Senate session and a Republic invasion.

  • The fighting ended with Clovis dead and Scipio in Republic hands. In the interests of stability, the Banking Clan’s Nix Card ceded control of the organization to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, now more powerful than ever.

  • The Republic pushed the Separatists into a few redoubts in the Outer Rim, but Palpatine showed no signs of giving up his wartime powers. Senators such as Bail Organa and Mon Mothma secretly laid the groundwork for an underground resistance movement – which would one day blossom into the Rebel Alliance.

  • The deaths of Dooku and General Grievous brought the Clone Wars to an end, but Palpatine did not relinquish power. Instead he declared himself the Emperor of the First Galactic Empire. To the disgust and horror of Padmé and Organa, the senators responded with thunderous applause.

  • As the Empire tightened its grip on the galaxy, the power of the Senate continued to ebb, with Palpatine’s handpicked regional governors gaining more and more control over the lives of galactic citizens. In secret, Organa and a few other brave senators worked to nurture an armed rebellion aimed at restoring the lost Republic.

  • Many Imperials saw the Senate as an annoying relic of the Republic but accepted it as necessary to keep control of the galaxy. But Palpatine disagreed, and disbanded the body. The regional governors now had direct control of their systems, and fear would keep those planets in line – fear of the Empire’s terrifying new Death Star battle station.

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Galactic Senate History Gallery

Related

  • Emperor Palpatine

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    Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious)

    The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural, and Sheev Palpatine is the most infamous follower of its doctrines. Scheming, powerful, and evil to the core, Darth Sidious restored the Sith and destroyed the Jedi Order. Living a double life, he was also Palpatine, a Naboo Senator and phantom menace. He manipulated the political system of the Galactic Republic until he was named Supreme Chancellor -- and eventually Emperor – and ruled the galaxy through fear and tyranny. The galaxy rejoiced when he died at the Battle of Endor, but Sidious had cheated death and patiently plotted a return to power.

  • Padmé Amidala

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    Padmé Amidala

    Padmé Amidala was a courageous, hopeful leader, serving as Queen and then Senator of Naboo -- and was also handy with a blaster. Despite her ideals and all she did for the cause of peace, her secret, forbidden marriage to Jedi Anakin Skywalker would prove to have dire consequences for the galaxy.

  • Jar Jar Binks

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    Jar Jar Binks

    A clumsy, well-meaning Gungan outcast on Naboo, Jar Jar Binks struggled to prove his worth throughout his life. Putting his awkward past behind him, Jar Jar left the swamps of Naboo to enter the even murkier waters of Coruscant politics, becoming a representative for his people in the galactic capital. There, his best intentions and eagerness to serve were exploited by scheming Senators and others in positions of power.

  • Supreme Chancellor Valorum

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    Supreme Chancellor Valorum

    A well-meaning civil servant whose chancellorship was hampered by corruption in the Senate and bureaucratic snarls, Valorum secretly turned to the Jedi Knights for help breaking the Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo. But Valorum was betrayed by Naboo's Senator Palpatine, who maneuvered Queen Amidala into asking the Senate for a no-confidence vote in the Supreme Chancellor's leadership. A stunned Valorum was removed from office in favor of Palpatine.

  • Bail Organa

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    Bail Organa

    A member of Alderaan's royal family and the planet's representative to the Republic Senate since the time of the Clone Wars, Bail Organa earned respect on Coruscant for his honesty and his commitment to justice. Prior to the fall of the Republic, Bail served alongside Senator Padmé Amidala as a member of Chancellor Palpatine's Loyalist Committee. The two became close friends, and recruited like-minded allies to prevent Palpatine's alarming grabs for power. At the end of the war, Bail Organa adopted Padmé's daughter Leia and raised her as an Alderaanian princess. While representing Alderaan in the Imperial Senate, he continued to work secretly with allies such as Mon Mothma and Ahsoka Tano to assist rebel cells scattered across the galaxy, working towards the day that a unified Rebellion could emerge.

  • Lott Dod

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    Lott Dod

    To hear Lott Dod tell it, the actions of Nute Gunray did not reflect the true intents of the Trade Federation, which remained loyal to the Galactic Republic. Sure, the Separatist Alliance did use Trade Federation starships and battle droids as part of their fighting forces in the Clone Wars, but this was equipment legitimately purchased in the open market. The Trade Federation was committed to commerce across the entire galaxy, and had no interest in getting caught up in territorial wars, Dodd would say. In truth, the Senator received a healthy income to ensure both sides of the war stay well equipped.

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