Separatist Crisis The Separatist Crisis ( 24 - 22 BBY ) , also called the Secessionist Movement , was a period of political turmoil in which thousands of star system s seceded from the Galactic Republic and pledged loyalty to Count Dooku and the Confederacy of Independent Systems . The period took place in the years following the Invasion of Naboo , and was manipulated by Dooku and his Sith master , the Sith Lord Darth Sidious — publicly known as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of the Republic . The goal of the Sith was to launch a galactic war that would allow them to amass total control over the Republic , transform it into the Galactic Empire , and destroy the Jedi Order . To help with that goal , the Sith secretly oversaw the creation of an army of clone trooper s on the planet Kamino that would become an army for the Republic . The political turmoil bred by the Separatist Crisis rocked the Republic , with Chancellor Palpatine publicly claiming that he hoped to find a diplomatic solution and avoid a war with the Separatist Alliance . Many in the Confederacy , including members of the Separatist Senate , also did not wish to fight , as they simply wanted to be free of what they saw as the corruption of the Republic . After the attempted assassination of Padmé Amidala , the senator of Naboo and an influential member of the Republic ' s Loyalist Committee , the Jedi Knight Obi - Wan Kenobi began an investigation that led him to discover the clone army on Kamino , as well as a gathering of powerful business interests on Geonosis . These business leaders , who would become known as the Separatist Council , committed their resources to Count Dooku ' s cause . These interests included the Trade Federation , which committed to producing countless battle droids for the Separatists . The Crisis culminated in the Battle of Geonosis , when members of the Jedi Order arrived on Geonosis to rescue the captive Master Kenobi , Senator Amidala , and Padawan Anakin Skywalker from execution . The clone troopers , commissioned as the Grand Army of the Republic through emergency executive power granted to the chancellor by the Galactic Senate , arrived under the command of Jedi Grand Master Yoda and fought the Separatist Droid Army . Although the Republic was victorious in battle , it was merely the first conflict of the three - year Clone Wars . At its end , the goals of the Sith were realized ; the Republic defeated the Confederacy , but the chancellor used the war as a pretense to reform the Republic into the Galactic Empire in the name of security . Though the Empire was ultimately defeated by a New Republic nearly twenty - five years later , the legacy of the Separatist Crisis lived on for decades after , with the First Order rising from the ashes of the Empire in a further attempt to bring the kind of stability to the galaxy that the Galactic Republic was unable to bring during the Separatist Crisis . History . Origins . For centuries , the Galactic Republic ' s lucrative trade with Core World markets helped it inexorably pull nonmember worlds into closer cooperation with the body politic . Senators , however , feared the addition of new member worlds would appropriate their own wealth to protect " provincial territories , " far from the civilized and cosmopolitan Core Worlds . As a result , states were often left waiting — some for centuries — to be admitted into the Republic , while those that were admitted found themselves largely ignored in the chaotic senate chamber . Local power blocs soon emerged from neighboring systems in the galaxy ' s periphery , demanding greater representation and rights for their own respective sectors . Over time , senators of the Republic began prioritizing their own interests above the common good , slowly eroding the foundations of democracy that initially built the Republic . Monolithic corporations such as the Trade Federation found themselves granted representation in the Galactic Senate amidst blatantly exploiting loopholes in existing Free Trade Zone s . With many outlying worlds lacking protection from Republic Judicial Forces , who were often withheld from aiding the Outer Systems after refusing to provide the Core with profitable deals , the Outer Rim world of Eriadu formed the Outland Regions Security Force to protect the Seswenna sector , and soon saw stunning success when a young cadet , Wilhuff Tarkin ascended into its forces . Despite this , little impact was made on galactic society as a whole within the next few years . When the Trade Federation blockaded the serene planet of Naboo over disputes about plasma exports , then Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum was replaced by Senator Palpatine through a Vote of No Confidence . Unbeknownst to all but a select few , Palpatine was secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith . Portraying himself as a mild - mannered servant of the common good , Palpatine had in fact manipulated the entire crisis from the start to enable himself to be elected Chancellor . In his true persona as Darth Sidious , the new Chancellor manipulated the dashing political idealist and former Jedi Master Count Dooku to pledge himself as his new apprentice following the supposed death of Palpatine ' s apprentice , Darth Maul , during the Invasion of Naboo . When Dooku took an eight - year leave of absence from the Jedi Order , many galactic citizens supposed he merely wished to form an offshoot of the Jedi , while rumors circulated of him fomenting political turmoil on a host of worlds . Following Dooku ' s denouncement of the Republic after hijacking a HoloNet relay station in the Raxus system , many believed that a galactic war was imminent . Moving in secrecy — some believed one step ahead of Republic assassins — Dooku became the focus of galactic attention . Backing coups on Ryloth and meddling in the affairs of a variety of worlds including Kashyyyk , Sullust and Onderon , Dooku further alienated distant worlds from the Republic political process and spurned all attempts to negotiate from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine . The Separatist Crisis . Dooku ' s words of inflammatory rhetoric found receptive audiences among young intellectuals in Mid and Inner Rim universities , with the so - called jumpover sectors of the Republic lacking the political pull of the central systems and the ability to effectively profit from their Outer Rim neighbors . Charismatic and exuding confidence , Dooku ' s message rallied thousands of hearts and souls , relaying his decades of experience within the annals of the Republic and publicizing its hypocrisies , corruption and ineffectiveness . Inspiring action , Dooku ' s tone expounded a message of rebellion that mesmerized young psyches and spurred them into political activism . As the Separatist crisis grew more and more heated , Dooku ' s appearances grew rarer and were announced with much shorter notice , with his message often inciting violence on the most polarized worlds — such as on Ando and Ansion . Rallying together systems into the newly formed Confederacy of Independent Systems , Dooku sought to create a southern Separatist sphere of influence by coercing the planets Yag ' Dhul and Sluis Van to his side , along with the prosperous Outer Rim world of Eriadu . With its location at the confluence of the Hydian Way and Rimma Trade Route , Dooku needed Eriadu ' s allegiance to control the Greater Seswenna and effectively collapse the core back onto itself , undoing millennia of galactic exploration , conquest and colonization . Despite appearing in his regal elegance and attending dinners with Eriadu ' s then Governor Wilhuff Tarkin , the attempt to claim Eriadu ' s loyalty would fail , as Tarkin refused , believing that an ineffective yet unified galaxy was better than a fractured one . Despite this , thousands of dissatisfied star systems soon seceded from the Republic and fully embraced the Confederacy ' s fiery message of resistance . The agrarian world of Ukio found itself questioning how its value as the breadbasket of the Core Worlds was reciprocated , and after citing a litany of neglect , senatorial representatives of the Abrion sector tendered their articles of secession along with other worlds in the galaxy ' s hinterlands . The idea that the Republic was distant , dispassionate and unworthy of membership ultimately marshaled disgruntled systems into a new galactic government . The Clone Wars . While the Separatist movement gained power under the secret guidance of the Sith , the Galactic Senate debated the Military Creation Act to determine the merits of raising an army . It eventually decided in favor of the notion , especially after Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was granted emergency powers at the suggestion of the Gungan Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks . His first act was to adopt a secret clone trooper army from the ocean world Kamino as the newly formed Grand Army of the Republic . Unknown to the galaxy at large , the army was in fact created by Jedi Master Sifo - Dyas , who foresaw hostilities between the Core and Outer Systems well in advance of the conflict . After being assassinated by Dooku , the knowledge of the clone army was shrouded in mystery for years until Jedi Master Obi - Wan Kenobi discovered its presence after a failed assassination attempt against Senator Padmé Amidala , who opposed the military buildup . Investigating the barren world of Geonosis , Kenobi discovered a secret meeting of Confederate leaders under the guidance of Count Dooku . Having lured members of a variety of commerce and corporate guilds into his new Confederacy , including the Techno Union , Corporate Alliance , Retail Caucus , and Trade Federation , among others , Dooku planned on using a vast army of newly formed battle droid s of the Separatist Droid Army to force the Republic to negotiate a settlement . Coming to the aid of Kenobi after his capture , the newly formed Grand Army of the Republic engaged the Confederate forces on the planet — not , however , before Dooku and other members of the Separatist leadership escaped . With full - blown war now embroiling the galaxy , the deadly Clone Wars would devastate thousands of systems over the next three standard years . Legacy . Upon the rise of the autocratic Galactic Empire , supplanting the democratic Galactic Republic that preceded it , the newly formed Imperial Security Bureau conducted vast loyalty purges , along with punishing worlds involved in the Separatist rebellion , with one of the most criticized dubbed the Antar Atrocity . Pamphlets , books , and Separatist propaganda were subsequently burned and declared illegal , while former Separatist warships were dismantled , and droid s found on the black market , often ending up in the hands of nationalist rebels or criminal organizations . While initial Separatist holdouts would occupy Imperial efforts in its early years , the Secessionist Movement would eventually be taught as an example of the corruption and ineffectiveness of the Republic , a corruption that the new Empire claimed to have solved . Scarred by memories of the war , many systems would cheer at the sight of new " Imperial " - class Star Destroyers and symbols of Imperial might . Additionally , in an effort to increase the loyalties of worlds embroiled in the Separatist Crisis , the Imperial Academy reserved slots to those from former Separatist worlds of the Inner Rim in an effort to increase their loyalty . With the fall of the Galactic Empire approximately three decades after the Secessionist Movement began , the New Republic rose to power . However , many star systems refused to join the New Republic fearing a repeat of the Empire , resulting in the New Republic being smaller than both the Republic that preceded it and the Galactic Empire . Despite this , many systems remained on friendly terms with the new establishment , and the decision to host the New Republic ' s capital on a rotating basis based on voting among member worlds helped to alleviate the fears many former systems embroiled in the Secessionist Movement , encouraging them to rejoin the Republic long after the chaos and violence of the Secessionist Movement , Clone Wars , and the Galactic Civil War .