clone wars

The Clone Wars (22 - 19 BBY) is a fictional conflict described in the Star Wars series and featured in the two latter episodes of the prequel trilogy, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. It was first mentioned in a brief conversation between Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in . The war was fought between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems and it was followed by the Galactic Civil War. The origins of the war goes back as far as the Battle of Naboo, but the real tension began with the Separatist Crisis, which started about two years before Attack of the Clones (24 BBY) and mainly comprised of the Galactic Republic debating what to do about the Separatists. Throughout the two years, many star systems seceded from the Republic, increasing tension until the war began. The political atmosphere was comparable to that of the Cold War. It is interesting to note that this conflict is called both the "Clone War" and the "Clone Wars". Most likely this is due to the fact that it is indeed one large war across the galaxy while, at the same time, it is a series of smaller wars taking place on various planets and not always between the Separatists and the Republic. Of course, only one side uses clones in the war, but this likely due to the rule that the winning side writes history and since the Republic won, it became the Clone Wars. Another interpretation is that it was the first, or perhaps only, conflict of its type in which clones were used so extensively.

Major Events

32.0 BBY - Battle of Naboo, the Sith-controlled Trade Federation, one of the future members of the Separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems conquers Naboo but is driven from the planet by Republic Naboo Exile Resistance and Jedi forces who are aided by a freed Tatooine slave (The Phantom Menace); Darth Sidious arranges a clone army to be commissioned on Kamino
24.0 BBY - Count Dooku leads a schism in the Galactic Republic, forming the Confederacy of Independent Systems
24.0 BBY - The Military Creation Act is proposed. Senator Amidala leads opposition to it.
22.0 BBY - Battle of Geonosis (Attack of the Clones)
21.9 BBY - Hunt for the Decimator (Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns)
21.9 BBY - Dark Reaper Project (Battle of Raxus Prime, Battle of Rhen Var, first Battle of Kashyyyk, Battle of Thule) (The Clone Wars)
21.8 BBY - Battle of Kamino (Republic #50: The Defence of Kamino)
21.8 BBY - Defense of Naboo (Republic #51: The New Face of War)
21.7 BBY - Battle of Muunilist (Clone Wars micro-series)
21.7 BBY - Battle of Mon Calamari (Clone Wars micro-series)
21.7 BBY - Battle of Dantooine (Clone Wars micro-series)
21.7 BBY - Attack on Ilum (Clone Wars micro-series)
21.7 BBY - Battle of Hypori (Clone Wars micro-series)
21.5 BBY - Haruun Kal Crisis (Shatterpoint)
21.2 BBY - Rise of the Cortosis Battle Droids (The New Droid Army)
21.0 BBY - The Spaarti Incident (Hero of Cartao)
21.0 BBY - The Bio-Droid Threat (The Cestus Deception)
20.8 BBY - Battle of Jabiim (Republic #54-59: Battle of Jabiim)
19.5 BBY - The Praesitlyn Conflict (Jedi Trial)
19.0 BBY - Battle of Coruscant and Battle of Kashyyyk - End of the Clone Wars; the rest of the Separatist leadership at Mustafar surrenders, but they are secretly betrayed and destroyed. Darth Sidious is revealed to be Supreme Chancellor Palpatine who declares himself Emperor and his Galactic Empire comes to power and launches the Great Jedi Purge: the beginning of the Galactic Civil War. (Revenge of the Sith)

Multimedia Campaign

The Clone Wars span the three years between Episodes II and III, and thus are, for the most part, "off-screen". The Expanded Universe is recounting events with an ambitious multimedia campaign. The video game Clone Wars was released in 2002 for Playstation 2, GameCube, and Xbox live. It begins at where Attack of the Clones leaves off. It takes place on many worlds, among them Geonosis, Raxus Prime, Rhen Var, Kashyyyk, and Thule. The Cartoon Microseries started airing in November, 2003 on Cartoon Network. It was a series of 20 3-to-5-minute-long episodes showing some of the battles of the War, mainly the Battle of Muunilinst, but also the Battle of Dantooine, a raid on the Jedi caves of Ilum, and fighting on Mon Calamari. An attentional five 15-minutes long episodes were made to serve as a prelude to Episode III with the start of the Battle of Coruscant. The comic series "Star Wars: Republic" has also shed light on this era of history, focusing in particular on the exploits of the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Quinlan Vos, and Aayla Secura. There are also several novels in the process of being published that will also discuss the Clone Wars. These include The Cestus Deception, Shatterpoint, The Medstar Duology and Jedi Trial.