After a few years of rapid military expansion and advancement, the newly established Galactic
Empire quickly arose to become one of the most powerful governments in the galaxy’s
history.
But despite having an ironfist grip over much of the galaxy, the Empire did in fact allow
the Hutts and their vast criminal syndicates to coexist alongside itself.
So why was that the case?
A lot of the motivation behind the Empire’s willingness to allow the Hutts to remain in
power in their corner of the galaxy stemmed from the Hutt’s vast resources and wealth
that the new Imperial regime could use for its own benefit.
The Hutts knew how to play the game of politics and they understood their place very well,
bowing down and submitting to the new galactic regime immediately when it came into power.
The Hutts knew the cards they had in their hand and how they could play them to not only
remain in power, but also to expand it.
Their vast wealth and influence over Outer rim markets gave them a powerful foothold
over a considerable portion of the galactic economy, in that if something bad were to
happen to the Hutts then galactic trade among core and outer systems could crash, hurting
the Imperial economy and in effect diminishing its military expansion efforts as a consequence.
The Empire knew this, which is why it was very hesitant in being overly aggressive with
the Hutts during its early years.
But even by the time the Imperial military had grown to its full size within the decade,
allowing the Hutts to exist was far more beneficial to the Empire than just out right destroying
them.
For one, the Hutts for the most part paid their taxes.You’d think they wouldn’t,
but they actually did, because they knew that doing so made them a very valuable asset in
the Empire’s eyes.
And they generated a crazy amount of credits, both from legal and illegal businesses.
The Empire destroying the Hutts and their crime syndicates would have essentially been
them destroying a huge portion of their tax revenue base, which would have taken decades
to rebuild under direct Imperial control and supervision.
Plus the Empire waging war on the Hutts would have been very costly to them with very little
benefit in return with victory.
What would they really gain from doing that?
A bunch of backwater worlds with scarce resources that were riddled with crime?
On top of that, the Empire was already busy fighting other fringe elements in the galaxy,
including Separatist holdouts and later the Rebel Alliance.
Diverting resources from those two conflicts and using them against a somewhat friendly
ally would have been quite foolish.
In return with their cooperation and doing business with the Empire, the Imperials turned
a blind eye on most of the Hutt’s illegal crimes, including their slave and spice trades.
Actually, many of the Moffs that held official jurisdiction over planets within Hutt space
tended to be their puppets, as they were bribed with immense wealth.
When the Galactic Civil War began to heat up and the Alliance to Restore the Republic
became a capable fighting force, the Hutts remained neutral during the conflict, essentially
sitting back and waiting for the two to juke it out.
They waited before supporting the side they believed was going to win the war so they
could again remain on good terms with the galaxy’s next powerhouse.
Though with the death of Jabba and fall of his criminal empire, the Hutt’s overall
influence did dwindlie and their control of Hutt Space did begin to slip out of their
hands over the following years, especially when the New Republic came into power and
decided to crack down on their activities regardless of the wealth the crime lords owned
and could offer.