Tarkin Doctrine / Legends The Tarkin Doctrine , also known as the Doctrine of Terror and officially known as Imperial Communiqué # 001044 . 92v , was a message originally sent directly to Emperor Palpatine from then Moff Wilhuff Tarkin . The transmission detailed Tarkin ' s concept of maintaining order and increasing security within the Galactic Empire by means of state terrorism . It became one of the most important documents regarding Imperial policy . Overview . The Tarkin Doctrine was an evolutionary concept . It had its roots in 29 BBY , when Raith Sienar presented his plans for the Expeditionary Battle Planetoid to then - Commander Tarkin . Tarkin was fascinated by the concept : as an officer in the Republic Outland Regions Security Force , he had seen the chaos caused by the absence of government in the Outer Rim Territories . His own experience with the Galactic Senate was also a factor in this , as it split the galaxy into thousands of sectors with a senator each claiming to represent trillions of citizens , which led to chaos . To create a navy large enough to police the entire galaxy would be ruinously expensive , and could still be overcome by an opponent making use of hit - and - run strikes and a stateless strategy . Tarkin saw Sienar ' s design , improved with the addition of a weapon powerful enough to seriously damage a planet , as the solution to this strategic conundrum : no world , he believed , would dare harbor pirates or defy central authority if the punishment was the destruction of their planet . He also had experience with how he was trying to pursue pirates within his sector , only for them to go deep into another sector , where they would exploit jurisdiction laws where Tarkin was unable to continue his pursuit without possibly entering conflict with another moff . Tarkin plagiarized Sienar ' s concept and presented it to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine , who ordered the beginning of research that would eventually lead to the Death Star . Another influence on the development of the Tarkin Doctrine was the creation of the sector armies of the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars and the re - installation of the office of the Governor - General s , which overrode existing sector borders Tarkin presented his complete concept to Emperor Palpatine in 18 BBY . The Doctrine called for three primary principles : Territorial Consolidation ; Rapid Communication ; and , most infamously , the Rule of Fear . Under Territorial Consolidation , to deal with cross - sector criminal and rebellious activity and the problem of jurisdictional conflicts , the Tarkin Doctrine called for the retooling of the sector armies ' areas of operations to create Oversectors , proposing they be tailored to control unstable galactic hot spots and be assigned greater forces than usual in an attempt to root out rebellious activity before it could take hold . Each Oversector , capable of crossing traditional sector boundaries , would be controlled by a single official who answered directly to Palpatine . Under Rapid Communication , the Tarkin Doctrine also called for the cannibalization of the HoloNet and its restriction to the Imperial Navy , as well as the overall Imperial Military , in order to deny communication to insurgents and to more effectively coordinate Sector Group s . According to Tarkin , this was because the HoloNet , allowing face - to - face communication across thousands of light year s , was far too valuable to let the public have free access . Under this method , each sector flagship would receive its own transceiver and remain in direct contact with Oversector command , while Oversector command would maintain a direct link with Imperial High Command on Coruscant . Another reason for this implementation was to ensure that far - flung Imperial sectors could no longer run wild from a lack of discipline by making sure central authority watched their every move . Finally , the cornerstone of the Doctrine was the concept of " rule through fear of force , rather than through force itself , " also most infamously known as the Rule of Fear . Displays of power , most vitally through the use of terror - inspiring superweapons , would , Tarkin suggested , stifle dissent and rebellion . The presentation of a seemingly invincible weapon of ultimate power would play upon the fearfulness and awe of the citizenry to render all thought of assault against the Empire forgotten . It was therefore Tarkin ' s recommendation that the Empire invest strongly and continually in the innovation of ever more - powerful weapons of war . The inspiration behind the creation of the rule of fear , and more specifically the research into superweapons development , was due to increased Rebel activity , and more specifically that the Rebels were now capable of not only fighting various Imperial troops , but also engaging in conventional naval warfare and destroying armored vehicles during a planetary invasion , meaning the Imperial military ' s superiority in equipment , training , and numbers would not be enough . Emperor Palpatine was very impressed with the ideas , so much that all the suggestions were implemented with Tarkin promoted to the new rank of Grand Moff ( making him the first Grand Moff ) . Tarkin ' s own sector army ' s theater , the Greater Seswenna , was dramatically expanded to become Oversector Outer , which encompassed most of the Outer Rim Territories . In addition , he was given command of four Sector Groups to crush insurgent activity , and was placed in command of the Death Star project , which fulfilled his philosophy of creating a weapon so powerful no planet would dare countenance resistance . According to the Tarkin Doctrine , once the Death Star was active , no one would dare act against the Empire . Terror at the prospect of planetary annihilation would ensure compliance and order . The Tarkin Doctrine was also later included in the " " , which was ironically published to the Imperial Military commanders shortly before a cornerstone of the Tarkin Doctrine , the First Death Star , along with Tarkin himself , was destroyed at Yavin 4 . The Empire was ultimately unsuccessful in instilling the fear necessary to keep the galaxy in line . Palpatine increasingly changed Tarkin ' s original words to his own meaning , " Rule through fear instead of through idealistic government agencies . " Consequently , with the Death Star fully operational in 0 BBY , he dissolved the Imperial Senate with the battle station to be the principal source of Imperial control in the Outer Rim . However , the Death Star produced the opposite of its intended result — instead of cowering under the threat of such a weapon , the people viewed its victims ( particularly the unarmed planet Alderaan ) as martyrs and rallied to the Rebellion ' s cause , especially after the Death Star ' s destruction at the Battle of Yavin . Further Imperial attempts to enact the doctrine with projects like the " Tarkin " , a stripped - down superlaser named in honor of the martyred Grand Moff , and the even larger Second Death Star , met with destruction in concerted Rebel strikes . The Empire was thus left in the same strategic conundrum the Tarkin Doctrine had been formulated to correct , and throughout the Galactic Civil War the Imperial Navy was never able to bring enough ships to bear to properly police the Outer Rim . Aside from the flaws relating to the Rule of Fear , there were also some flaws encountered in the implementation of the other two principles . According to the ace Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles , a flaw in the first principle was a Grand Moff ' s jurisdiction crossing sector borders ; accordingly , the Rebels changed their strategy by staging raids at the border of an oversector and then drawing two Grand Moffs into a turf war ( which was ironically the reason he formed the first rule in the first place ) . Likewise , the smuggler - turned - Rebel General Han Solo mentioned that a week after the implementation of the Tarkin Doctrine , bootleg transceivers could be bought from any hustler on Nar Shaddaa , thus defeating the intended purpose of the second principle . Behind the scenes . The full text of Imperial Communiqué # 001044 . 92v first appeared in the " Imperial Sourcebook " . The text above is from the " Death Star Technical Companion " , which has different wording from the " Imperial Sourcebook " version while retaining much of the same meaning . The " Death Star Owner ' s Technical Manual " shows yet another , significantly shorter , version of this communiqué .