The Galactic Civil War was the official name given to the conflict between the Galactic
Empire and the Rebel Alliance.
So how did it end?
And what were the terms in the treaty that concluded the war?
In Canon, the Galactic Civil War ended about 1 year after the death of Emperor Palpatine
and his former apprentice Darth Vader.
Their deaths caused chaos within the empire, as no one knew who was supposed to succeed
as ruler.
This disarray caused a ton of infighting within the empire, where regional governors fought
among each other for territory.
Other governors completely locked down their sectors and fortified their positions, waiting
for either the Rebel alliance or an ambitious Imperial to attack.
The Imperial capital world Coruscant descended into a full blown civil war once news of the
Emperor's death was announced.
This forced many high ranking Imperials, such as Grand Vizier Mas Amedda, to focus on the
war right in their vicinity rather than the war against the rebel alliance across the
galaxy.
On the other hand, the Rebel Alliance began to make multiple fast forward attacks on Imperial
outposts and holdouts, successfully destroying them and forcing the Imperials back.
Eventually the Rebel Alliance transformed into the New Republic, and it welcomed countless
new systems who were willing to join its fight against the remaining Empire.
Finally the Battle of Jakku happened, which was a last hurrah for the Empire, as they
tried to make a one last ditch attempt in defeating the New Republic by throwing pretty
much everything they had left at them.
They of course failed, losing dozens of star destroyers and even a super star destroyer
during the battle.
This last stand finally ended with the signing of the Galactic Concordance, where Mas Amedda
represented the Empire, signing the treaty and officially surrendering the crippled Galactic
Empire over to the New Republic.
Along with ending the war, the terms of the treaty also stated that the remaining Empire
had to abandon all of its Imperial Academies and that it could no longer recruit or mobilize
stormtroopers.
The treaty continued to state that the Empire had to stay within the boundaries that the
New Republic outlined for them, which consisted of small territories within the Core and Inner
Rim.
The Empire also had to hand over Coruscant to the New Republic.
And finally, the Empire could no longer use torture.
In Legends, the galactic civil war lasted another 15 years after the deaths of Emperor
Palpatine and Darth Vader.
Just like in Canon, the Empire had no idea who should succeed as the new emperor, so
chaos of course abrupted as multiple Imperials sought to take the throne.
This caused a ton of infighting and back stabbings.
The Imperial Ruling Council on Coruscant later instigated the fortress world strategy, where
they basically let go of unimportant worlds and just over fortified key systems and worlds.
Elsewhere in the galaxy, Imperial governors and admirals started to become warlords and
only sought to gain power for themselves within their territories.
High ranking Imperials were killing each other left and right, destroying each other’s
fleets and armies for their own ambitious goals.
Literally two grand admirals killed each other over who should control the Corellian system.
At this point, the Rebel Alliance could just sit back and watch the empire kill itself.
The empire’s disarray gave the rebels some breathing room and a chance to regroup and
later transform into the New Republic.
Once their forces were again fully mobilized, the New Republic began to focus on one Imperial
warlord at a time.
Knocking out one warlord, and then moving on and focusing on the next.
This was essentially the strategy up until Grand Admiral Thrawn came out of the Unknown
Regions and unified the remaining Empire, pushing back the New Republic and going on
route to almost destroying them right before he was assassinated by his bodyguard.
But Thrawn’s progress wasn’t completely removed, as later the reborn Emperor Palpatine
came back to life in his clone bodies, who continued where the Grand Admiral had left
of and began to reek havoc on the New Republic.
But he too was later killed and his Imperial forces again began to scramble without a unified
leader.
Afterwards, Gilad Pellaeon, Grand Admiral Thrawn’s former right hand man, soon took
over power within a section of the empire.
Being a lot more rational and level headed than the other Imperial warlords, Pellaeon
decided to move his forces into the outer rim and away from the chaos and destruction
happening within the core worlds, where the New Republic was making its final attacks
on eliminating remaining Imperial forces.
Understanding that there was no way of winning the war, Pellaeon decide that the only way
for the Empire to survive was to come to peace with the New Republic.
This finally led to the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty.
The treaty was signed by Pellaeon, who represented the Imperial Remnant, and by Ponc Gavrisom,
who represented the New Republic.
The treaty’s terms stated that all hostilities between the two governments were to come to
an end, and that the Imperial Remnant were to be recognized by the New Republic as a
legitimate government.
The treaty also outlined open trade and commerce between the two factions, while also giving
power to both sides to crack down on smuggling when necessary.
Cloaking devices were also outlawed for both sides, as a way to prevent spying.
And finally, the treaty stated that any sovereign system could choose to align with who they
wished.
So if a pro Imperial world was within New Republic territory, they could peacefully
switch sides and join the Imperial Remnant.
And vice versa.
And with just two signatures, marked the end of the 21 year long galactic war.