First Signs Emerge (Part 2)
The Galactic Empire's political landscape had, in reality, already fallen apart. Countless contradictions could no longer be suppressed. Even the military strength the Empire took pride in had ceased to inspire confidence after its repeated defeats on the front lines.
The sharpest conflict within the Empire was that between the military and the traditional Core Worlds nobility. The Imperial army could be said to have been built single-handedly by Palpatine during the Clone Wars. The Core Worlds nobles had barely participated in that process, so as the war went on and the military's power grew greater and greater, the conflict between the two sides became increasingly apparent.
Then came the conflict between the Core Worlds nobility and the Mega-corporations. During their expansion, many Mega-corporations had chosen to develop in the Outer Rim Territories, where the political environment was less complicated and the population was enormous, with limitless potential. Through constant plunder, they accumulated enough wealth and power to challenge the Core Worlds nobles.
Finally, there was the conflict between the vested-interest class and ordinary civilians. The vested-interest class included the military, the nobility, and the Mega-corporations. In their struggles against one another, all of them had, without prior agreement, chosen increasingly brutal methods to exploit civilians and seize resources in order to expand their own power. As a result, the people at the bottom suffered endlessly under taxation, conscription, and oppression.
This systematic plunder not only intensified social unrest, but also accelerated the collapse of the legitimacy of Imperial rule across countless planets.
Thus, it could be seen that no matter which aspect was considered, the core of the conflict lay with the noble class. At its root, the Empire's contradictions were the problem of unequal distribution of wealth and resources accumulated throughout the Galactic