476. Galactic Republic's road to war (Part 1)
The results of the activities of these 'Loyalty Committee' MPs in Outer Rim Territories can be imagined.
Even a member of Loyalty Committee was beaten to death by angry people!
However, they used their actions and even their lives to earn enough political reputation for Palpatine.
Not only that, Palpatine also asked the media controlled by him to widely spread on HoloNet the images of "Loyalty Committee" congressmen being beaten to death, hung to death or even burned to death by Outer Rim Territories people. Then he stood up and ordered these media to take down all the videos with righteous words.
But this information has already been disseminated, and has had an extremely bad impact. The planet Mid Rim Territories, which has always been wavering, has begun to think that those people in Outer Rim Territories are all terrorists.
As a result, in public opinion and on the Internet, the media on both sides began to spit, and the people on both sides also became extremely hostile.
The people of Mid Rim Territories began to think that it was precisely because Galactic Republic had to bear so much burden for those country bumpkin Outer Rim that their lives had not been easy. People in Inner Rim think that those people in Outer Rim can just be slaves and don't delay them from making a lot of money.
As for Master Core Worlds, they just hope to start fighting as soon as possible so that their military industry can earn more.
However, at this time, Speaker Sheev-Palpatine once again showed a compassionate attitude. He claimed that he would never give up his efforts for peace at any time. He also continued to speak for Outer Rim Territories's planet in public speeches in the media.
"I always believe that when a person cannot even eat enough, all his actions can be forgiven."
"Before blaming Outer Rim's planets, we should first reflect on ourselves. Can we do more for them?"
"If there is an invasion by a foreign enemy, I will not hesitate to lead everyone to the battlefield. But now, I must exercise the greatest restraint, because we are all a family, and we should not go to war with each other."
These inflammatory speeches have deceived almost everyone. If there were Bail Nobel Peace Prizes in this world, it is estimated that Palpatine would have been awarded for several years.
After that, Palpatine personally went to Jedi Temple and visited Master Yoda.
He and Master Yoda discussed the future of the galaxy for a long time. When he ended the conversation and came out of the living room, he asked a serious question, "Master Yoda, do you think war will really break out?"
Master Yoda just shook his head and said, "Dark Side envelopes everything. What cannot be seen is the future."
"I will try." After Palpatine said this, surrounded by Chancellor's Guard wearing red armor, he walked onto his shuttle.
On the next day, 24BBY, March 21, Sheev-Palpatine delivered a public speech among HoloNet in the entire galaxy. The magnitude of this speech can be said to be unique. Almost all media were broadcasting his speech. At this time, the previously quarreling media showed a high degree of unity, which also showed the extent to which Sheev-Palpatine's political power had expanded after his re-election.
The speech lasted for 12 minutes. Palpatine showed an image of someone who had been wronged but still insisted on peace. On the surface, he continued to pioneer for Separatists and Count Dooku, but in fact he occupied the moral high ground, so much so that it made people feel that anyone who opposed him was anti-human.
Palpatine said that even though everyone in the galaxy is thinking about war now, he is also fighting for peace.
At the end of the speech, Palpatine extended an invitation to Count Dooku: "I hope to have an open, fair, face-to-face debate with Count Dooku. I know there are many people on both sides of us who are eager to turn our dispute into a full-scale war, but I think such a dispute should not go to such an extreme result. We should all have enough wisdom and reasons to find a solution that we can sit down and solve together."
"I propose to conduct this negotiation on the neutral planet Bota Vay, or any other neutral planet. As long as Count Dooku is willing to come to negotiate, he will know how to find me, and my communication will remain open 24 hours a day. Of course, for security reasons, I will not discuss the time of the negotiation publicly. Count Dooku can make an appointment with me at any time."
Speaker Sheev-Palpatine's speech is regarded as his last effort for peace. Almost all media are exaggerating Palpatine's invitation to negotiate. They all claim that Palpatine has done his best. If he still persists in this situation, then Count Dooku will undoubtedly bear full responsibility for the war.
But Count Dooku did not attend the appointment, nor did any information come out. He just continued to carry out his career silently, constantly attracting more planets to join Separatist Movement.
In fact, his reaction at this time was already discussed with Das-Sidious. This was a necessary means to go to war.
Because of the special nature of Galactic Republic political system, Palpatine must not be the one who starts the war, otherwise no one will support him. Count Dooku must bear the blame for launching war, and implicitly, InterGalactic Banking Clan, Trade Federation, Fourth Group, Corporate Alliance, Merchant Guilds, Technological Alliance, these Mega-corporations, also bear the blame for this war.
This is also a foundation laid in order to eradicate these enterprises in the future and use their accumulation and capital to become nutrients when New Order was established.
Count Dooku did not respond, and no response was the best response. His silence expressed his willingness to fight.
This meaning was also seen by the entire Galactic Republic congressmen.
Only then did everyone truly realize that the war was within their reach!
After a month of waiting, Palpatine had to regretfully announce that peace efforts had failed and the door to negotiations had been closed.
But he still emphasized that before everything became irreversible, even at the last second, Count Dooku could dial his communication and talk to him about a peaceful solution.
After that, Sheev-Palpatine returned to Galactic Senate and officially put the possibility of war on the table. He proposed "Military Creation Act" (the Military Creation Act) in the parliament, aiming to re-establish Galactic Republic's armed forces.
He confirmed that the bill will be discussed in a plenary vote on May 16.
And this bill is also Galactic Republic's first step towards war.