Union of the USSR and the first galactic empire. The greatness and decline of galactic empires

In this game from the Zvezda company, you play either as an emperor trying to defeat the army of the federation, or vice versa, playing as the forces of the federation, trying to destroy the empire.

Emperor of the Galaxy is a board game from Zvezda. In this game you play either

the emperor trying to defeat the army of the federation, or vice versa, playing for the forces of the federation, you are trying to destroy the empire.

This game can be played by 2 to 4 people. One player always controls the Emperor, while the others share control of the federation's three fleets.

In the game box you will find

Book of Rules

105 plastic ship miniatures

20 red fleet

20 yellow fleet

20 blue fleet

15 brown fleet

15 Orange Fleet

15 green fleet

2 six-sided dice

16 green flags on stands

16 red flags on stands

Coins of 500, 100, 50, 20, 10 thallers

At the beginning of the game, each side has 3 fleets. Red, yellow and blue belong to the emperor, while orange, green and brown belong to the federation. First, the players determine the number of ships in each fleet. The emperor has a more powerful fleet than the federation, so he adds 13 to the results rolled on the die, and the federation 9. Depending on how many ships are in the fleet, each side independently determines the strength and speed of the fleet movement according to an individual scheme.

Emperor

Federation

At the beginning of the game, the emperor controls 10 star systems. The emperor player places his red flags on them. He also arranges his fleets in controlled systems. The federation starts the game with only 6 colonies marked with green flags.

Along the perimeter of the map with star systems there is a strip of events, each player takes his chip and puts it on the strip of events in any place. The first move is made by the federation, then by the emperor.

Each player's turn consists of 6 phases

1) Moving around the event strip

The player rolls the die and moves his token clockwise along the event track. If it stops at an event belonging to its side, then it happens. Events are varied. They can be either positive - increasing any parameters of the fleet, for example, or negative - causing a loss of money or something else.

2) Getting income

During this phase, players receive income. Each Federation colony brings 30 Taller. Each colony of the empire brings the emperor 20 Tallers. During his turn, the emperor can grant independence to the colony - he removes his flag from the selected system and receives 20 thallers for this

3) Distribution of finances

The player can spend the received Tallers in several ways.

a) Once a turn, a player can establish a base, while where he is going to do this, his fleet must be present, and the enemy’s fleet must not be there. The cost of establishing a colony for the federation is 70 thallers, for the emperor 50 thallers. After founding a colony, the player places their flag there.

b) Increase fleet If the player's fleet is in the system containing his base, then he can increase the number of ships in it. Each ship for the federation costs 20 thallers, for the emperor 30. In the fleet of the emperor, there can be a maximum of 19 ships, in the fleet of the federation 14.

c) Buy a new fleet This option is available only if at least one of the player's fleets has been destroyed at the given moment. The federation must pay 40 talers plus the cost of the ships included in the fleet for the new fleet, the emperor 20 talers plus the cost of the ships.

4) Movement of fleets

If a player decides to move his fleet, then he rolls a die and adds the number rolled on the die to the speed of the fleet determined by the table. Thus, the speed of the fleet for a given turn is obtained. This number determines how many moves the fleet can make.

5) Fleet battles

Battles can only take place in star systems. A player who arrives in this system on his turn is an attacker. He shoots first. To do this, he rolls a die and adds to the strength of the fleet determined by the table the number rolled on the die. The resulting number shows how many enemy ships the player destroyed with his attack. The enemy removes these ships from his fleet, and fires back in the same way.

6) Storm the planets

If the player's fleet is in the star system where the opponent's flag is located, and there is no enemy fleet, then he captures the base. The emperor simply removes the flag of the federation, while the federation, removing the flag of the emperor, receives 10 thallers for this.

The components of the game are a bit of a mixed bag. Fleet miniatures that are not bad in quality, in fact, have no special game value. In the initial games, it may and will be interesting for you to lay them out in your playing area in battle order. But over time, this becomes boring, and some players simply put the miniatures in a pile, but then each time they count how many there are before attacking or moving. In fact, only one miniature moves across the field, from each fleet, and it would be more convenient to have one very high-quality miniature for each fleet and a good counter. The flags and coasters are also well made. Flags do not fall out of them, and they are quite stable on the playing field. The cubes are also very high quality. Much better than those that are in the kit of other Russian board games. But the field let us down, it is certainly not badly decorated, good art, clear markings, but it is made of thin cardboard, which is terribly curved. This of course does not interfere with playing, but after the playing fields of the FFG company it does not look very good.

Feelings from the game also remain ambiguous. She has simple rules and a short duration of the game in her pluses. The space battles are well done, and as a rule in most games all the money goes to the purchase of ships, only a couple of times I witnessed the founding of a colony. When attacking, it is very important to be the attacking side. Although the return shot is fired, it only happens after the defender has removed the dead ships from his fleet, so he is already weakened. Since fleet performance changes depending on the number of ships in it, when replenishing fleets, it is sometimes not worth investing everything in one fleet. Sometimes it's better to break up the reinforcements so that several fleets get additional power. At the beginning of the game, the advantage is on the side of the emperor, his fleets are usually more numerous and therefore more powerful. But then the advantage of the emperor begins to melt. He has more colonies, they are harder to protect. They also bring less income, and the ships of the emperor are more expensive. So with each move, the emperor will be weaker. If the emperor did not have very good results when forming the fleet, then the federation can try, as they say, to squeeze it out right at the beginning of the game by attacking. If the federation's rolls were not very successful, then they can try to use their speed advantage to conquer the imperial colonies and sell them, while touching their financial situation and weakening the empire. As you have already noticed, according to the rules in this game, a lot is decided by the die. It determines events, starting number of ships, speed and attack. The values of the attack and defense parameters themselves are very small relative to the values of the die. It may happen that during the battle the fleet of the emperor of 12 ships damage 4 (3 strength + 1 die), and the return shot of one ship will deal damage 8 (2 strength + 6 die). In my opinion, this is overkill.

Most fans of fantasy learned about the galactic empires from the early films of the Star Wars movie saga. Grandiose space battleships, heavy combat vehicles, Darth Vader's helmet, the famous "Imperial March" ... But what is hidden behind this facade? What is the meaning of the existence of an empire? This is the pinnacle of humanity - or Evil with a capital letter? Or something third?

The most interesting episode in the life of a galactic empire, as a rule, is its death.

Let us recall (for contrast) fantastic works dedicated to some invention. Most often, the author, inviting us to imagine some kind of "out-of-phase synchrofibron", does not go in cycles in admiring its exquisite forms and usefulness. It is more interesting for him to see how the fiction will fit into the real or invented world, how society will change, what consequences its implementation will lead to - good, bad, or, God forbid, in general, to the reconciliation of the inventor with his father. A new entity is thrown into the stream of life, and the interest of the author and the reader is to observe how this entity interacts with the stream. Life observation.

Now let's recall the works where galactic empires appear. The mechanics of perception here are completely different. Empire is not an "entity in the stream of life", it is almost the main characteristic of the stream itself. Empire is orderliness, structure, "crystal grid" of life. Something that has overcome a long way of development, the result of a decisive victory of reason over chaos and social entropy. The empire is the last stage in the development of civilization, the absolute pinnacle of the evolution of the state.

Most often in stories about stellar empires, we are interested in space battles.

But if we combine these two topics, we get a completely uninteresting picture. Under an empire, inventions are not “thrown into life”, but in accordance with the established procedure, they are “submitted for consideration” by a well-functioning social apparatus (we have a “correct” empire, its apparatus is well-functioning, really, really). This device evaluates the novelty, certifies it, accepts a reasonable expert opinion regarding it - to implement or ignore. If we implement, then, of course, we monitor the changes generated by the new product in the social field and extinguish those that we consider undesirable. If we ignore - there are no questions at all. Everything is predictable. Boring. Nothing to write about.

No, there is an option. One can write about a situation when a new essence turns out to be indigestible for the imperial organism. It is not possible to ignore, but it is impossible to implement - because the invention does not fit with the imperial structure. It poses a direct threat. Unacceptably changes the properties of the social environment. Calls into question the effectiveness and rationality of the empire and its status as the pinnacle of civilization. Insidiously questioned, the empire comes into conflict with reality. And begins to fight for existence ...

That's where the movement started. So the gears turned, the plot was outlined. That's not boring anymore.

The only pity is that the beginning of such a movement for the empire most often means death. History nods sadly: carefully structured states struggle with significant change. Not a single historical empire has retained its ideal structure with such changes.

True omen: the larger the star destroyers, the less confident the empire is.

Singer of Empires Oswald Spengler

The theoretical model of such processes was given by the German philosopher Oswald Spengler. According to him, the empire is the final stage in the development of each social formation. The formation is born, enters the stage of formation (by the way, the author called it "cultural"), and then an empire is created and crowns the case. And with his death begins a new circle of development.

Like many more poetic than rational models, Spengler's theory may falter in specific cases, but is unrelentingly true for the big picture. An empire can be arbitrarily harmonious, efficient and well-organized at a certain moment. But just as a man can hardly keep up with the changes of time, so a much more cumbersome empire cannot fit into the sharp turns of history.

And if we accept Spengler's metaphor, then all fiction, where galactic empires appear, tells about the next Last Age. About the new sunset of the Galaxy.

A question of terminology

Science of fiction often interprets the concept of "galactic empire" in an extended sense - as the union of many inhabited worlds, not necessarily ordered into an "imperial" structure in nature. For example, Donald Wollheim, describing the ideas about the “cosmogony of the future” that have developed in science fiction (The Universe Makers, 1971), mentioned among the typical topics precisely the “birth and collapse of the galactic empire”, although the completely “non-imperial” Federation of planets from “ Star Trek".

Time to collect the stars

As a science fiction writer, Robert William Cole was almost unremarkable - except for the time of his debut. His novel The Struggle for Empire: A Story of the Year 2236 was published in 1900 and is considered the earliest work in which the influence of an earthly superpower extends to other worlds.

In the 23rd century, the British Empire, without losing vigor, dominates the home planet (now it is the "Anglo-Saxon Federation") and, in addition, colonizes several distant star systems. In space, its expansion infringed on the interests of another powerful empire that arose somewhere in the vicinity of Sirius. The result of this infringement was grandiose space battles, an arms race - in general, the novel did not look quite typical for that time.

The genre of "war of the future" was widespread, but Cole was not only the first to drag its action far beyond the earth's atmosphere, but also directly connected it with the "imperial" theme.

A little over a hundred years ago, it seemed that the empire is the natural existence of society. And if you add a powerful air fleet, the empire will become completely invulnerable

The appearance in popular literature of the image of an interstellar empire at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is surprisingly symbolic. The real Victorian Great Britain, of which Cole was a citizen and patriot, lasted only a few days in the new century. The great Queen Victoria, the heart and symbol of her age, died on January 22, 1901. The Boer War, in which Britain, from a military and political point of view, proved to be unforgivably clumsy and unprepared for new realities, was slipping into an unpleasant compromise with the "rebels" for the Crown.

The empire was not yet sprawling at the seams, but it was clearly cracking. At that moment, it still remained a state over which the sun never sets, but in half a century its influence will be reduced, in essence, to the territory of an archipelago, conveniently located to the West of Europe. Just at sunset.

The Star Kings by Edmond Hamilton is one of the books that gave rise to the idea of a "typical" galactic empire.

The collapse of European empires was one of the natural outcomes of the First World War. The war made the imperial theme of little relevance for the then science fiction. The fragility of imperial matter has become too clear for both readers and authors. This, of course, did not mean that nothing could be sewn from it - for example, donut engineer and classic of early American science fiction E. E. "Doc" Smith used this motif in the novel "Galactic Patrol" (Galactic Patrol, 1938) , but rather as a distant background than as an essential element of the novel's space. The “destroyer of worlds” Edmond Hamilton darned his interstellar epics of the 1930s with approximately the same patches, and several other writers followed his example.

The key event for our topic took place in 1942, to be precise - at the end of April, when the May issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine appeared on the stands. John Campbell published in this issue Isaac Asimov's short story "Foundation" (Foundation), which became the foundation stone of a grandiose epic about the collapse of the galactic empire. Started a tradition.

Confrontation: collapse and plan

Isaac Asimov was the first in world fiction to create such a huge and significant historical canvas.

The history of the emergence of this epic is surprisingly remarkable. It is widely believed that Asimov got the idea for the Galactic Empire novel series when he read Gibbon's classic The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. This is not true. By that time, Asimov had indeed read Gibbon from cover to cover more than once, but the idea fell on him from a completely different side.

According to the author’s memoirs, on August 1, 1941, after finishing classes at the university, he went by subway to the editorial office of Astounding and wondered what topic to invent for a new story (his previous opus, the story “Pilgrimage”, was rejected by the editor-in-chief of the magazine, John Campbell, even after the fourth alteration ). The topic didn't work.

Then Asimov decided to trust chance and tell fortunes from the book that he took with him - it was a collection of plays by Gilbert and Sullivan. The book opened with an illustration for Iolanthe: the Fairy Queen prostrated at the feet of Willis, who was on guard duty.

The fate of literature sometimes depends on amazing things.

If Asimov had thought about fairies at that moment, the history of science fiction might have taken a very different path. But Asimov thought of the guard. Then about the legionnaires. About wars. And about the empires that entered into these wars.

The next episode of Asimov's memoirs is so revealing that it requires a citation.

When I got to Campbell's office, I could no longer contain my emotions. My enthusiasm, it seems, was even too contagious - after listening to my idea, Campbell also caught fire. Never seen him so excited before.

The subject is too big for a story,” he said.

I wanted to write a story,” I immediately clarified, changing my intentions on the go.

And too big for a story. It should be a big series with plot-open endings.

Stories, novels, novels, united in a single history of the future. The story of the collapse of the First Galactic Empire, the subsequent period of feudalism and the rise of the Second Galactic Empire.

Well, yes, make me an estimate of the history of the future on this canvas. Blow home and write.

In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920-1954, chapter 28

John Campbell, "godfather" of one of the major galactic empires.

As in the case of the three laws of robotics (and in many other cases), in the vision of the proposed topic, Campbell turned out to be bolder than the author who invented it, and insistently demanded that the author match his courage. And so that the author approaches the topic with care worthy of the intended scale.

Asimov tried. However, unlike Heinlein, who described his "History of the Future" in detail and conscientiously, Asimov did not master the estimate proposed by Campbell. The further the description of the events of galactic history dragged on, the more stupid and meaningless the whole idea seemed to him. The plan did not work.

In the end, on August 11, Asimov decided to just sit down and write a fictional story, given such a fruitful conversation with Campbell. Continuations were implied, there were enough ideas for them, but Asimov decided that let everything go by itself - it will be seen there, we will break through. And so that Campbell would not change his mind, Asimov cleverly ended the story with a phrase that unambiguously alluded to "the continuation of the banquet." He thought Campbell had fallen into a trap, haha.

The finished text, entitled "The Foundation" (it will be included in the first novel of the series, somewhat reworked, under the title "Psychohistorians"), was sent to Campbell on September 8. Already on the 17th, the mail brought a check for $ 128 - the story was accepted. But Campbell also made sure that Asimov did not change his mind - he dryly made it clear that the first story would wait for publication until Asimov sent the second.

Asimov realized that it was not Campbell who had been caught, but himself. The Galactic Empire bound him hand and foot. Thus began the confrontation that became a legend.

Illustration by Chris Foss for The Academy

…Twelve thousand standard years have passed since the founding of the Galactic Empire, and thousands of human-inhabited worlds have come under its rule. Outwardly, everything is safe and stable in the Empire, and only the scientist Hari Seldon, the creator of psychohistory, predicts the inevitable collapse of the state. No one and nothing can stop the disintegration of the Empire, but it is possible to reduce the era of Dark Times to a minimum - to some thousand years, at the end of which the Second Empire should arise.

For this, Seldon has a Plan. It is set in motion and seems to take into account all the major factors that will influence events over the next centuries. In this case, one of the main stabilizing factors will be, according to the plan, the Seldon Plan itself; Everyone knows about its existence, but almost no one knows about its essence ...

Hari Seldon in his declining years (artist Michael Whelan)

Asimov and Campbell recited the cycle episode after episode. Campbell asked the problem - Asimov solved it. But when Asimov came up with a solution, Campbell made it harder as he went. The empire passed through the sunset and fell apart, the Seldon Plan worked, crisis after crisis was overcome.

Once Campbell suggested testing the Plan for strength seriously - Asimov was forced to put the Mule into action, a mutant whose appearance no psychohistory could have foreseen. History went awry, The plan hung in the balance. Asimov was sure that Seldon had provided stabilization mechanisms for this case as well - but which ones? He began to look for them - and found ...

Power and control

The confrontation between Campbell and Asimov can be seen as a clear analogue of the confrontation between reality and empire. The Empire is the Plan put into action, the working structure. And reality is the director of new tasks for this structure. As long as the empire is able to cope with the tasks set by reality, it lives. As soon as the tasks are beyond her strength, she dies.

Real historical empires "work" in this way. And not only empires - any complex social system is daily tested by reality for strength. The specific problem of empires is that for them the set of possible responses to the challenges of reality is significantly limited: the structure is rigid, there are few degrees of freedom. Where water can seep, the stone will certainly get stuck.

But - power. But the scale. The more resources the system controls, the more it needs the rigidity of the internal structure - this is necessary to minimize losses and increase control reliability. But the more rigid the internal structure, the more difficult it is to adapt to changing conditions ...

A star empire inevitably faces the problem of transportation. And with her - the problem of traffic jams (art. Jared Shear, illustration for "Academy")

The Galactic Empire is, above all, reliable logistics and communications. Only they are able to keep the planets scattered throughout space within the framework of a common state system.

In world fiction, you probably cannot find a single galactic empire that would not solve the issue of instantaneous (or at least very fast) interstellar communications - if not even directly violating the general theory of relativity, then at least bypassing it tangentially (fortunately, the theory itself is clear indicates the limits of its applicability). The method of solving this issue, in general, is not fundamental (ansible, hyperlink, sigmaderithrination, null-transportation, etc.) - what is fundamental is that it exists at all. There are no empires without well-established infrastructure (and any state that does not care about developing or at least maintaining infrastructure is doomed).

In this regard, the galactic empires fully inherit the empires of the earth: the expansion of Rome ended when the delivery of reinforcements to the outskirts and their supply turned out to be impossible or excessively costly. For the empire, any weakening of ties means the inevitable beginning of disintegration - first of all, the loss of peripheral territories, which, because of this, are left to the mercy of fate and lose the desire (and opportunity) to remain loyal to the mother country.

And it's really bad when a weak spot is found in the logistics of an empire - like Spice in the famous "Dune" by Frank Herbert. The spice provides almost all interstellar communications of the Empire, and it is mined on only one planet out of many thousands - on Arrakis. “Who owns Spice, he owns the Universe,” the heroes of the cycle repeat one after another. The situation, when the source of power is clearly defined, inevitably leads to the struggle of the elites for control over it.

Frank Herbert showed that the empire cannot afford to have vulnerabilities

As long as the empire has a core, as long as it is monolithic, no one is able to challenge the emperor. But when the core is shattered - by swagger, conceit, the elite's habit of luxury and the seeming inexhaustibility of resources - a crisis ensues. Power itself gives part of itself at the mercy (they say, part is not a pity). Another part of the power is "acquired" by corruption. And the rest is licked by dogs.

The rod is no more, it has become thinner, only the outer shell keeps the appearance of its presence. And then even the loner outcast Paul Atreides, who managed to seize a strategically strong position and control the situation on Arrakis alone, actually gains power over the entire empire. (“The capital automatically moves to New Vasyuki,” as a character in another novel joked on a similar occasion, assuring that interplanetary hegemony can be built on the ability to play checkers ... sorry - chess)

What happens next is a matter of strategy. That is, having a plan. And the ability to follow it.

Frontier Law

If the galactic empire has frontiers, then there are "frontier regions" - as a rule, living according to the laws of the frontier. Relative freedom reigns here, dubious deals and smuggling flourish, outcasts from both sides of the border feel best here. The use of such "frontiers" in books and films provides a lot of opportunities, and therefore is it any wonder that the authors with such passion transfer the traditions of the Wild West into space?

For example, the heroes of Joss Whedon's famous series Firefly live precisely in the conditions of such a "borderline", although the empire (that is, in this case, the Alliance) does not want to leave them alone with its obsessive and disgustingly formal "legality". »… One to one like in the Wild West. And you can’t say that behind you is a spaceship.

Aristocrats and degenerates

In full accordance with Spengler's ideas about the cyclical development, the empire in "Dune" is evidence that the development of the civilization that gave birth to it is ending and a new cycle is coming. A merciless Jihad is sweeping across the planets, sweeping away former state structures and relations, creating (and abundantly bleeding) space for future changes. And the former elite, the aristocracy, is losing everything, including the meaning of existence.

What is the general meaning of the existence of the aristocratic class in the galactic empires? If in the reckless and superficial "Star Kings" by Edmond Hamilton all the feudal tinsel was deliberately added "for the entourage", without any deep idea, then what guided the smartest Frank Herbert, building a complex system of relationships between the authorities and the aristocratic Great Houses in his Interstellar empires?

The aristocracy is the backbone of any true empire. But if it breaks, it won't take long to wait for the finale.

The cyclic model of development, in general, quite allows for an almost literal repetition of archaic social structures. It is clear that in the context of "Dune" both the aristocracy and the feudal entourage are only metaphors, but it is worth paying attention to the persistence with which even the most significant authors refer to these (or similar) metaphors.

Dan Simmons in the most complex world of "Hyperion" used quite related images - let's recall at least the New Bushido code there, developed by the military and in many ways no less archaic than the feudal pyramid. Let us also recall that Simmons needed New Bushido mainly in order for Fedman Kassad to show the uselessness of the code in the situation built by the author.

Herbert in "Dune" uses about the same technique. For the aristocracy, as cultural memory informs us, one of the key concepts is honor. With all the conventionality of this concept, it really acted as an important regulator in relations between the elites (although not at all in the way it was later described in the books of romantics).

In Dune, this situation is aggravated to the extreme: the only Great House that remains true to the spirit and letter of the aristocratic code of honor is destroyed at the very beginning of the novel with the intentional connivance of the Emperor. In fact, there is no longer a true aristocracy in the Empire - only degenerate title holders, deprived of the moral right to be called aristocrats ...

What could be the best illustration for the "end of time" that is sweeping over the Empire?

Paying with security

In EVE Online, the popular space MMO, all space available to players is divided into levels of security. Star systems with a security level between 0.5 and 1 are called "Empire". Here, a violation of the law (for example, an attack on a foreign ship without observing the necessary formalities) causes immediate retribution from CONCORD - the "general imperial" law enforcement forces.

Real life, according to experienced players, is impossible in the Empire zone, this space is suitable only for beginners. Most of the alliances that unite allied corporations of players are based in remote regions with a "zero" level of security. Only here the players can set their own rules, in fact, build their own “Empires”…

The Imperial March

Empire does not necessarily have to be perceived as something sinister. In Asimov's Foundation, the First Empire appears as a completely indifferent bureaucratic structure, and the creation of the Second Empire is generally a good goal of the Seldon Plan. Asimov (and after him Seldon) approaches the “imperial idea” pragmatically: as long as this model is adequate to the “challenges of the time”, it can be used.

This pragmatism is in no way contradicted by the fact that the 20th century was the century of the decline and collapse of old (as well as new) empires. The First and Second World Wars were started by states that were completely "imperial" in structure (and habits) and naturally led to the death of these states. Not surprisingly, such structures are now perceived with a touch of hostility. A “good” empire is something completely Manilov-speculative, but anyone can throw in a dozen historical examples of “bad” empires in a minute.

And yet…

Three pillars on which the empire stands - communications, logistics and, of course, currency

George Lucas in "Star Wars" created an image of an "evil" galactic empire, unique in its purity of metaphor, by contrasting it with the image of a "good" galactic republic. In Spengler's terms, the Republic for Lucas personified the stage of formation, the stage of "culture" - but (let's add tragedy) already in its "terminal" stage. For its transition to the next stage, to the state of the Empire proper, it took quite a bit.

Even abandoning the former state structures turned out to be completely unnecessary. It's just that the supremely democratic Galactic Council suddenly ceased to be a place for discussion, and Chancellor Palpatine suddenly turned out to be a valuable leader who had no alternative (and after the destruction of the Jedi Order, there was no such alternative to appear). After becoming emperor, Palpatine tolerated the existence of the Galactic Council for about twenty years and only disbanded it at the beginning of the fourth episode.

Apparently, by that time, democratic formalities had lost all appeal for him ...

What Lucas is certainly right about - any republic is really pregnant with an empire. Gaining power, it gains weight, gaining weight - it becomes tougher, loses the ability to flexibly respond to the changes taking place in the world. Her diplomacy ceases to be graceful, like an attack by a master of the Florentine school, and becomes sullenly clumsy. Her strategies lose variety and rely more on stamina than precision and skill. It is still in one way or another adequate to the world situation, but it is already much more inclined to restructure it “for itself” than to adapt to the interests common with its partners.

Probably, even without the galactic empires, we could understand all this for ourselves. I don't think we are completely hopeless in this regard. But with galactic it turns out, you know, more clearly.

And therefore: Maestro, cut the "Imperial March"!

The Republic, which lasted 25,000 years, disappeared after a period of political chaos and the devastating Clone Wars. After defeating General Grievous at the Battle of Utapau during the massacre of the leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems by Darth Vader, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declared himself Emperor of the Galaxy and reformed the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire.

Story

Origin

The Empire can be considered to have begun with the secret ambition of Senator Palpatine from the planet Naboo, whose second person was the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Using the Trade Federation to blockade Naboo, he directed the crisis and manipulated Queen Amidala to provoke a vote of no confidence in Supreme Chancellor Valorum and become Chancellor himself as a result. When his apprentice Darth Maul died on Naboo at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sidious took the former Jedi Count Dooku as his apprentice. Count Dooku joined the Trade Federation, led by Viceroy Nute Gunray, and other representatives of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. These Separatists have started a war with the Galactic Republic. The conflict was called the "Clone Wars" because clone troopers participated in it from the side of the Republic.

Palpatine proved to be a skilled and efficient leader, quickly ridding the Senate of corruption. His power increased significantly as a result of the Clone Wars, as the Senate readily granted the Chancellor more and more emergency powers. Finally, the Senate lost almost all power and became little more than a formality that Palpatine had to overcome in order to pass his laws. But the Senate still retained a symbolic status; Chancellor Palpatine still cloaked himself in pompous and ceremonious addresses to the Senate, but his power was expressed in control over thousands of senators who were entangled in the web of his own corruption. When Palpatine himself revealed to Anakin Skywalker his second guise of Darth Sidious, Anakin notified Jedi Master Mace Windu of this. A detachment of Jedi, led by Windu himself, attempted to arrest the Chancellor. After a short fight, Palpatine seemed to be defeated, but Skywalker came to the rescue and demanded that Windu not kill the Sith Lord. Deeply confused, Skywalker nevertheless helped Palpatine kill Windu, and thus became the Emperor's new apprentice, Darth Vader. After that, Palpatine went to carry out the Great Jedi Purge, also known as Order #66, which resulted in the death of thousands of Jedi, and Darth Vader destroyed Viceroy Nute Gunray and the rest of the Separatists who had gathered on the fire-breathing planet Mustafar. Thus ended the Clone Wars.

Many citizens of the newly formed Empire enthusiastically supported the ideas set forth in the Declaration of a New Order. Many senators wholeheartedly supported the new state, and only a small number of cautious senators preferred to wait and see how the new government would solve state problems. And it promised to replace instability with strength, chaos with order, and uncertainty with decisiveness. Now it can be argued that the foundations of the Empire were laid back when Palpatine was the Supreme Chancellor, at the same time all threats were eliminated. Thus, the transition from the Republic to the Empire was relatively smooth.

It is important to emphasize that not all senators liked what was happening. In fact, "Petition 2000" was supposed to convey the concerns of these senators to Palpatine. Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and Padmé Amidala were the first to sign the petition. When Palpatine dispelled all doubts about his true goals, this was one of the reasons that led to the creation of the Alliance to restore the Republic by Organa and Mothma.

Imperialization

With the advent of the empire, all the institutions of the old Republic were dispersed or changed beyond recognition. A lot of renaming was carried out to glorify the Emperor: the Coruscant Sector became the Imperial Sector, Coruscant itself became the Imperial Center, Galactic City became Imperial City. The Galactic Senate became the Imperial Senate, the Grand Army of the Republic became the Imperial Army, and the Republic Navy became the Imperial Navy. The four decrepit intelligence agencies of the Republic merged into one Imperial intelligence agency, with former SBI director Armand Isard at its head. The Palace of the Republic was rebuilt and expanded, becoming the Imperial Palace, dwarfing the rest of the Imperial Center buildings. The former Commission for the Defense of the Republic (COMPOZR) was renamed the Commission for the Protection of the New Order (COMPONP). For several days, only a handful of names reminded residents of the Republic.

During the early years of the Empire, the galaxy experienced the greatest military buildup in history. To more effectively manage the sectors and regions of the Empire, the Council of Moffs was created. Popular support for the policies of the Palpatine Administration was high.

Although attempts to establish a totalitarian regime remained weak, power was steadily consolidated until a turning point in 4 ABY.

dark times

The Emperor, sensing a threat to the New Order from the respected Caamasi, gave the order to attack their planet Caamas. A squad of Bothan saboteurs disabled the shield generators, leaving the planet vulnerable to orbital bombardment. During this attack, the once beautiful world was turned into a poisoned desert. Peaceful Caamasi scattered across the Galaxy. In 18 BBY, the Emperor created the Eye of the Emperor, an asteroid-like superweapon, to destroy the Jedi enclave on Belsavis. But the deadly weapon was disabled by two Jedi Knights, and the Jedi on Belsavis were able to escape.

Around the same time, protests began against the tyranny of the Galactic Empire on Gorman in the Cerne Sector. Wilhuff Tarkin's flagship was blockaded by peaceful Protestants who positioned themselves on the landing pad and refused to leave, interfering with the landing. With Palpatine's implied permission, Tarkin landed the ship directly on the protesters, injuring and killing many. This was called the Gorman massacre. The incident was the reason for the creation of the Alliance for the Restoration of the Republic.

Many Jedi also resisted Palpatine's regime. Oli Starstone and a group of Order 66 Jedi survivors, along with Roan Shrine, attempted to rebuild the Jedi Council, but were unsuccessful. The group flew to Kashyyyk to look for other surviving Jedi, but as a result began a massive takeover of the planet. Darth Vader killed Roan Shrine and the rest of the Jedi. One of them, a Wookiee named Chewbacca, fled to the city to find his family. Ferus Olin, along with friends, including Jedi Master Solas, caused quite a few disturbances on the Imperial planets, including an uprising on Bellas, two infiltrations of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and the destruction of the Imperial garrison and weapons center on Naboo. On Kessel, a group of Jedi, including Master Tsuya Choi and Jedi Knight Bulthar Swan, attempted to trap and kill Darth Vader. They were all killed, and Vader suffered damage to his suit.

In 1 BBY, the Emperor and Vader were targeted by a group of Imperial officers led by Grand Moff Trachta. Trachta considered the Sith to be an ancient folly and believed that the administration of the Empire should not be based on a two-man cult. According to the plan, a detachment of trained stormtroopers, subordinate only to the conspirators, was to destroy two Sith Lords. However, the plot failed due to internal disagreements.

Resistance to Imperial dominance

As the true nature of the Empire became clear, the three most powerful senators—Bail Organa of Alderaan, Garm Bel Iblis of Corellia, and Mon Mothma of Chandrila—arranged a secret meeting and signed the Corellian Accord. The Alliance for the Restoration of the Republic, better known as the Rebels, was officially formed. However, the rebel threat allowed Palpatine to uphold the Tarkin Doctrine: "to rule not by force, but by fear of force". Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, Palpatine declared a state of emergency in the state and dissolved the Imperial Senate. Thus disappeared the last organ representing the values and ideals of the Republic.

The key tool for implementing the Doctrine was to be the Death Star, a space station the size of a small planet with enough firepower to destroy an entire world with a single burst of powerful superlaser. While many planets might have had defensive shields capable of repelling almost any normal attack, nothing could resist this terrible weapon. It was destroyed at the Battle of Yavin, marking the first space victory for the Rebel Alliance.

The Rebel Army was a force of liberation that sought to destroy the Empire, rebuild the Galactic Republic, and bring peace and justice to Imperial-torn planets. This goal was nominally (and essentially) achieved with the deaths of Palpatine and Darth Vader, and the destruction of the second Death Star at the Battle of Endor.

Fragmentation of the Empire

The empire was too big to fall in one blow; for about another ten years, the Rebels (soon to be renamed the Free Planets Alliance), and then the New Republic, liberated the galaxy from former Imperials who had declared their independence, and still loyal to the Empire, commanders such as Mitt'rau'nuruodo / Thrawn and Ysanne Isard.

Immediately after the defeat of the Empire at the Battle of Endor, Grand Vizier Seth Pestage assumed power. However, he lacked the personal leadership and knowledge of the Force that Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader possessed to keep the Empire together. Admiral Harssk was the first, but not the last, Imperial to declare himself an independent dictator and create his own mini-empire. His example was followed by Admiral Teradok, Warlord Zsinj and General Delvardus, to name a few.

Seth Pestage was only able to hold the throne for a short six months before being deposed by the Imperial Council, which consisted of three tribunes. The Imperial Council acted on the orders of the Director of Imperial Intelligence, Ysanne Isard, and his reign was brought to a brutal end with Isard's direct involvement.

Ysanne Isard was able to maintain the Empire and resist aggressive dictators, as well as Trioculus and the false Kadann, who also claimed the throne, for two years, until control of the Imperial Center was lost to her. When Ysanne Isard felt she was losing control of the Empire, she demanded that her scientists develop a biological virus that was only dangerous to aliens, which was later released on Coruscant. When Coruscant fell to the Rebels, led by Rogue Squadron, they had to deal with an epidemic that caused a lot of trouble for the new state. With the loss of Coruscant, the collapse of the Empire resumed, and soon the only serious Imperial forces in the galaxy were those under the command of Imperial warlords: Isard, Daala, Hethrir, Desann, Galak Fyar, and Zsinj.

The remnants of the Empire and the New Republic found themselves on the same side of the barricades for the first time. Both states considered the most dangerous threat of the dictator Zsinj. Zsinj came under pressure from both sides, but only the combined actions of Admiral Rogriss and General Solo made it possible to defeat Zsinj.

The provisional alliance then broke up, and clashes continued between the Empire and the New Republic for control of the remnants of Zsinj's domain. The New Republic dealt blow after blow to the Empire, winning one battle after another and finally proving their superiority by knocking them out of Kuat, the vast shipbuilding world. The defeats of the Empire continued until the return of the Grand Admiral

Galactic Empire

Galactic Empire, also known as New order or Palpatine's New Order, is a fictional galactic state from the Star Wars universe. Created by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to replace the Galactic Republic.

The Republic, which lasted 25,000 years, disappeared after a period of political chaos and the devastating Clone Wars. After defeating General Grievous at the Battle of Utapau during Darth Vader's massacre of the leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declared himself Emperor of the Galaxy and reorganized the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire.

Origin

We are on the threshold of a new world. For security and stability, the Republic will be transformed into the first Galactic Empire, a society of safety and security that will last ten thousand years. An empire to be ruled by this majestic assembly and sovereign ruler, elected for life.
Emperor Palpatine's inaugural address
Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (novel)

The Empire can be considered to have begun with the secret ambition of Senator Palpatine from the planet Naboo, whose second person was the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Using the Trade Federation to blockade Naboo, he directed the development of the crisis and manipulated Queen Amidala in order to provoke a vote of no confidence in Supreme Chancellor Valorum and become Chancellor himself as a result. When his apprentice Darth Maul was killed on Naboo by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sidious took on the former Jedi Count Dooku as an apprentice. Count Dooku joined the Trade Federation, led by Viceroy Nute Gunray, and other representatives of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. These Separatists have started a war with the Galactic Republic. The conflict was dubbed the "Clone Wars" as it involved clone troopers on the Republic side.

Having established his power and position, Palpatine issued the Declaration of a New Order and proclaimed himself Emperor (19 BBY).

Imperialization

With the advent of the empire, all the institutions of the old Republic were dispersed or changed beyond recognition. A lot of renaming was carried out to glorify the Emperor: unexpectedly, the Coruscant Sector became the Imperial Sector, Coruscant itself became the Imperial Center, Galactic City became Imperial City. The Galactic Senate became the Imperial Senate, the Grand Army of the Republic became the Imperial Army, and the Republic Navy became the Imperial Navy. The four decrepit intelligence agencies of the Republic merged into one Imperial intelligence agency, with former SBI director Armand Isard at its head. The Palace of the Republic was rebuilt and expanded, becoming the Imperial Palace, dwarfing the rest of the Imperial Center buildings. The former Commission for the Defense of the Republic (COMPOZR) was renamed the Commission for the Protection of the New Order (COMPONP). For several days, only a handful of names reminded residents of the Republic.

Although attempts to establish a totalitarian regime remained weak, power was steadily consolidated until a turning point in 4 ABY.

dark times

Resistance to Imperial dominance

Look, I can't get into this. I have business here. It's not that I love the Empire - I hate it! But now I can't do anything. It's a long way.
Luke Skywalker - Obi-Wan Kenobi
Star Wars. Episode IV: A New Hope

As the true nature of the Empire became clear, the three most powerful senators—Bail Organa of Alderaan, Garm Bel Iblis of Corellia, and Mon Mothma of Chandrila—arranged a secret meeting and signed the Corellian Accord. The Alliance to Restore the Republic, better known as the Rebels, was officially formed. However, the rebel threat allowed Palpatine to uphold the Tarkin Doctrine: "to rule not by force, but by fear of force". Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, Palpatine declared a state of emergency in the state and dissolved the Imperial Senate. Thus disappeared the last organ representing the values and ideals of the Republic.

The Rebel Army was a terrorist force that sought to destroy the Empire and rebuild the Galactic Republic. This goal was nominally (and essentially) achieved with the deaths of Palpatine and Darth Vader, and the destruction of the second Death Star at the Battle of Endor.

Fragmentation of the Empire

The empire was too big to fall in one blow; for about another ten years, the Rebels (soon to be renamed the Free Planets Alliance), and then the New Republic, liberated the galaxy from former Imperials who declared their independence, and still loyal to the Empire of commanders, such as Mitt'rau'nuruodo / Thrawn and Ysanne Isard.

Immediately after the defeat of the Empire at the Battle of Endor, Grand Vizier Seth Pestage assumed power. However, he lacked the personal managerial qualities and knowledge of the Force that both Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader possessed to keep the Empire together. Admiral Harssk was the first, but not the last, Imperial to declare himself an independent dictator and create his own mini-empire. His example was followed by Admiral Teradok, Warlord Zsinj and General Delvardus, to name a few.

Ysanne Isard was able to maintain the Empire and resist aggressive dictators, as well as Trioculus and the false Kadann, who also claimed the throne, for two years, until control of the Imperial Center was lost to her. When Ysanne Isard felt she was losing control of the Empire, she demanded that her scientists develop a biological virus that was only dangerous to aliens, which was later released on Coruscant. When Coruscant fell to the Rebels, led by Rogue Squadron, they had to deal with an epidemic that caused a lot of trouble for the new state. With the loss of Coruscant, the collapse of the Empire resumed, and soon the only serious Imperial forces in the galaxy remained only those under the command of Imperial warlords: Isard, Daala, Hethrir, Desann, Galak Fyar and Zsinj.

Some believe that Palpatine's rise to power (which in turn led to the rise of the Galactic Empire to replace the Old Republic) is analogous to the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany; upon becoming Chancellor, he was given "emergency powers", as was Chancellor Palpatine. Palpatine is also compared with Octavian - who became Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and Napoleon Bonaparte, who came to power in France.

Analogies and cultural influence

Professor of theoretical physics, one of the creators of string theory, Michio Kaku classifies the Galactic Empire from the Star Wars saga as a civilization of the highest, third, type on the Kardashev scale, and, according to his forecast, earthly civilization will reach the level of the first type of development by the 22nd century, and the level of the Galactic Empire in 2.5-5 thousand years.

Appearances

"Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"
Republic HoloNet News Special Inaugural Edition 16:5:24 in Star Wars Insider 84
Dark Lord: Rise of Darth Vader"
In His Image
Evasive Action: Recruitment
Star Wars: Droids
Dark Vendetta
Star Wars: Empire
Star Wars: Rebellion
Star Wars: X-wing
Rebel Assault
Star Wars: Force Commander
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
"Episode IV: A New Hope"
Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope
Star Wars Missions 1: Assault on Yavin Four
Star Wars Missions 2: Escape from Thyferra
Star Wars Missions 3: Attack on Delrakkin
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire
Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
"Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back"
Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Vader's Quest
Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
"Episode VI: Return of the Jedi"
Star Wars Infinities: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
Kella Rand Reporting...
Thrawn Trilogy
Dark Empire
Dark Empire II
Empire's End
Crimson Empire
Jedi Academy Trilogy
darksaber
The New Rebellion
The Hand of Thrawn Duology
Survivor's Quest
Junior Jedi Knights: The Golden Globe
Junior Jedi Knights: Lyric's World
Junior Jedi Knights: Vader's Fortress
The New Jedi Order
Legacy of the Force
Star Wars Legacy 1: Broken, Part 1

Notes

Literature

Stephen J Sansweet, Star Wars Encyclopedia. New York: Del Rey, 1998, ISBN 0-345-40227-8
Mary Henderson. Star Wars: The Magic of Myth. New York, USA: Bantam Spectra, 1997.
Empire Star Wars 20th Anniversary bonus mag
Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary

Links

Galactic Empire (Russian) on Wookieepedia: Wiki about Star Wars

Predecessor:
Galactic Republic

Dominant galactic state
19 BBY–7 ABY

Successor:

Yuri Tararev, Alexander Tararev

Good and evil, love and hate, attachments and habits - our entire existence is based on opposites, and, as a rule, we strive for the golden mean of our earthly existence. That is why it is golden, which provides a comfortable existence, or life for a rational being. And everything would be fine, but a rational being has questions about where he came from, why, what is the meaning of existence, what to do? These questions arise when the realization of the meaninglessness of being comes.

This is where the understanding that he is not the crown of creation, but only a step of evolution in the universe, comes to the aid of a rational being who is aware of himself in the world around him.

The universe is not lifeless, as it was believed in the very recent past, in fact, it is simply teeming with life, a life that man has not yet learned to recognize.

Life is diverse in its manifestation and can be based on completely different principles, both material and physical, and on the basis of subtle matters. This part remains unexplored and not confirmed empirically. But with such a variety of life, life forms collide with each other, and each form, first of all, tries to survive, sometimes at the expense of the other form. Is harmony possible in the relations of different thinking life forms, or not? Does it all come down to natural selection, the struggle for existence, the expansion of one's living spaces?

This is where the great creation of mankind comes to the rescue, or an idea brought from outside, this is the idea of God! All theological teachings come down to one thing, we earn our future in other dimensions, with our earthly existence! But does God need it? No, of course, he does not need us, as such, but he needs us, as his creation, as his children. It gives hope for another, eternal life, life in the Absolute, the Absolute of all laws and concepts, a life where there is no place for relativity and doubt.

In order to understand this relativity, emotionality, to gain experience of life, God placed a piece of himself in each of us, this piece is called the soul, it does not interfere in life, but only absorbs the experience of life in order to understand whether the created world is good. It is interesting how our planet will look like if you look at it through the eyes of a different living being, a different mind, how it will see our life. And maybe our short life with all its conventions is not so bad?

The Moon sailed in its orbit around the Earth, and there was nothing remarkable on its surface, but the Observer's experienced eye noted the appearance of new evidence of activity, clearly unnatural origin. Buildings of industrial enterprises began to appear on the far side of the Moon, which was not visible from the Earth, and the Observer could not say anything about their purpose. Combat starships were located in a distant orbit, space fighters constantly took off and landed from hangars, but what were the dimensions of all this equipment? After a moment's hesitation, the Observer wrote down.

“Only giants can fly such fighters.

From the Moon there was an active exchange of information with all parts of the galaxy. However, the observer failed to decipher the contents, and without this he could not send his observations and fears to the metropolis.

The observer analyzed.

“What is going on? The moon is an ordinary, lifeless planet, of which there are countless in the universe, a transshipment trading base used by five advanced intelligent races for more than one thousand years, suddenly turned into a stumbling block for them. These high-tech civilizations considered only each other, not noticing other, weaker intelligent races. There were conflicts over habitable planets or spheres of influence. People - this intelligent, but technologically underdeveloped species that lives on Earth, they simply did not take into account and did not take into account its interests! Yes, people didn’t have any interests yet, their primitive rockets could barely launch satellites into Earth’s orbit, and so far they only dreamed of flying to the stars, they had not yet gone beyond the system of their star, which they called the Sun, interstellar space remained a mystery to them .

They lived, did not grieve, - the Observer continued to analyze, - and suddenly at one fine moment. Not beautiful, of course, but black! Everything turned upside down. A new race of Meskhians appeared on the Moon, which, like naughty kittens, took these five great races by the ear and threw them out of the solar system along with their bases. True, there were attempts to resist, but where there! The new race demonstrated such superiority in technology and weapons that there was nothing to dream of a forceful solution to the issue. Such a maneuver was undertaken by the Servilia, a hive-mind race of insects attempting to strike with their battle squadron from Earth and put an end to these upstarts. Yes, it wasn’t there, the squadron launched from a secret, mothballed base on Earth and, having gone beyond the atmosphere, delivered a colossal blow with all available weapons against the Earth’s satellite, the Moon!

It seemed that the fate of the impostors had been decided, but no, a powerful planetary defense system, which had not been discovered by anyone before, was activated on the Moon, methodically shooting all the warheads rushing towards it. Despite this, the Servilia still had a chance to make war, but suddenly a starship of an unusual design and driving characteristics appeared, using a weapon that simply has no analogues, and the principle of its operation was still not clear to the Observer. A golden ball, consisting of an unknown energy, separated from this ship and pierced all four combat starships Servilius in a hundredth of a second. The starships began to melt before our eyes, and in a few seconds only a vacuum remained in their place, and the crews floundered in open space in spacesuits.

This act of mercy was taken as an insult by the Servilii, they were not even destroyed! They were not seen as rivals. But the punishment for such treachery followed immediately, the Meskhians destroyed a large number of Servilius factories for the production of combat starships and weapons for them. Since that memorable time, the solar system has become a closed zone for everyone.

As a result, the Earth's satellite, the Moon, turned out to be the mothballed interplanetary space station Nadezhda, which was located inside the planet Meskhia (Moon). The most powerful and ancient station suddenly came to life, activated, an ancient race of Meskhian giants appeared, which took the population of planet Earth under protection. Moreover, with the hands of the Aquans and Edns, the ancient galactic races, they cleared the orbit around the Earth of man-made debris. And apparently, they set about raising the earth's civilization to a new level.

	Portal "Star Wars"
	Star Wars at Wikiquote
	Category:Star Wars at Wikimedia Commons

Portal for the student. Self-training

In the game box you will find

Emperor

Federation

Each player's turn consists of 6 phases

1) Moving around the event strip

2) Getting income

3) Distribution of finances

4) Movement of fleets

5) Fleet battles

6) Storm the planets

A question of terminology

Time to collect the stars

Confrontation: collapse and plan

Power and control

Frontier Law

Aristocrats and degenerates

Paying with security

The Imperial March

Story

Origin

Imperialization

dark times

Resistance to Imperial dominance

Fragmentation of the Empire

Origin

Imperialization

dark times

Resistance to Imperial dominance

Fragmentation of the Empire

Analogies and cultural influence

Appearances

Notes

Literature

Links

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