The Imperial Military, also referred to as the Imperial Armed Forces, comprised the various branches of the armed forces of the Galactic Empire, such as the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy and the Stormtrooper Corps, as well as agencies such as Imperial Intelligence aiding the Imperial Military.
As part of the realignment of the Republic Military following the Clone Wars and the transformation from Galactic Republic to the Empire, the nascent Imperial Military went under a massive militarization effort and was tasked with enforcement across the new Empire and was used for suppressing planetary uprisings, continuing the Great Jedi Purge and chasing holdouts of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
However, it would be faced with a growing rebellion which caused concern within the military, ultimately resulting in the formation of the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the Galactic Civil War. The Imperial stormtroopers and Star Destroyers were deployed and fought across the galaxy to retain control. Even after the loss of the Death Star over Yavin, the Empire was able to almost defeat the rebels during the Battle of Hoth. However, the Alliance endured and continued it effort. Six months later, the Imperial Military suffered a sudden and crushing defeat at the Battle of Endor.
After successive defeats by New Republic as well as the power vacuum left in the wake of the Emperor's death following Endor, the Imperial Military was disbanded with the collapse of the Empire on Jakku in accordance with the Galactic Concordance.
Following it demise, remnants of the Empire fled into the the Outer Rim Territories, where they awaited the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn and a reemergence of the military for a new Empire. While the First Order, designed from elements that fled into the Unknown Regions, and built an entirely new military force.
Following the end of the destructive three-year galaxy-wide conflict known as the Clone Wars, then Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine ushered in the formation of the Galactic Empire, a dictatorship composed of the entirety of the former Galactic Republic and with himself as its head of state, the first Galactic Emperor. With vast portions of the galaxy still unconquered and outside Imperial dominion, Emperor Palpatine transformed the Grand Army of the Republic into the Imperial Military composed of both the Army and Navy of the prior government.
Formed from the force that fought for the Republic, the early Imperial Military made use of clones and Republic equipment, yet it quickly began to bring in new recruits and equipment.
The new and expanded military force was created to reinforce the clone troopers of the former Republic Military, as the clones had a limited amount of time they could be in service thanks to their accelerated aging, and to ensure Imperial rule. Embarking on a massive militarization effort in order to combat the remaining Separatist holdouts across the galaxy, as well as bring more worlds under Imperial control, the Imperial Military would serve as the primary means of Imperial enforcement and expansion from the Imperial Center. Beginning Project War-Mantle in the first days of the Imperial Era, the Empire moved forward with replacing the clone troopers with an enlisted force due to the cheaper cost and concerns that the clones would ultimately be more loyal to the Republic they were made for instead of the New Order, with Moff Wilhuff Tarkin in specific concerned about the level of individuality the clones had learned from their Jedi officers.
Conscripted and willingly recruited civilians filled the ranks of the Imperial Military as soldiers and pilots of the Galactic Empire.
In the nineteen years following the Empire's rise, a growing rebellion would cause concern within the higher echelons of the Empire, ultimately resulting in the formation of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. For years, the opposing sides fought across the galaxy for control of sectors, systems and the loyalties of their respective populations, with major encounters on the Outer Rim worlds of Yavin 4, Hoth, and Endor. Despite crushing the Alliance on Hoth, the Battle of Yavin and Endor would see the destruction of both Death Stars, following which the Empire would enter into a state of disarray as former military leaders formed splinter fleets, while the New Republic slowly pushed Imperial forces back towards the Coruscant Core.
The Imperial Military made a final stand at the Battle of Jakku, where the New Republic triumphed.
Following successive defeats at the hands of the New Republic, the scattered Imperial Military made their final stand over the Western Reaches world of Jakku. Suffering heavy casualties, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda ultimately signed a peace treaty—the Galactic Concordance—with the New Republic, ending both the battle and the war.
The Galactic Empire was to abandon its Imperial Academies, with the recruitment and mobilization of stormtrooper forces is forbidden and was placed with strict disarmament treaties and punishing reparations on the remnants of the Empire. Large portions of the Empire were incorporated into the New Republic, and the Empire itself formally dissolved as per treaty, having already mostly splintered into various remnants, with the Empire having been replaced by the New Republic as its successor.
With the Empire defeated, its military vehicles were dismantled for parts by the victorious New Republic. Still, in a rejection of the ideals left behind by the Imperial Military, Chancellor Mon Mothma championed the Military Disarmament Act for the New Republic. The Empire's various remnants made plays at returning to power with surviving equipment, with stormtroopers and TIE fighters seeing continued action in the Outer Rim. One particular threat to the New Republic came with the Shadow Council, which assembled a grouping of seemingly disconnected Imperial remnants on the promise that Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo "Thrawn" would soon return and, with his leadership, the Imperial Military would be reborn.
The First Order disregarded the Galactic Concordance, allowing a new generation of stormtroopers to rise.
Over the years, elements of the Imperial armed forces founded the First Order, which remained located in the far corners of the Unknown Regions as it grew in power. Briefly inhabiting a wing of New Republic politics known as the Centrists, the First Order eventually seceded from the Republic—a move that was welcomed by many—firmly committed towards reestablishing the former glory of the Galactic Empire. The regime grew its ranks of new stormtroopers by kidnapping and indoctrinating children under Project Resurrection. With the completion of Starkiller Base, the First Order invaded the galaxy in the opening days of the First Order-Resistance War but lacked the numbers of the Empire that came before it. Hope for the First Order came with the news of Palpatine's survival, which promised the regime a new, massive military force, but Palpatine's forces were destroyed in the Battle of Exegol. The First Order then collapsed under a galaxy-wide uprising.
The Galactic Empire utilized its imposing military might in order to secure dominion over the galaxy.
The Imperial Military consisted of two main branches: the Imperial Navy and Imperial Army, along with seven smaller branches: the Imperial Department of Military Research, Diplomatic Corps, Engineering Corps, Survey and Exploration Corps, Surgical Corps, Military Police, and Imperial Intelligence. The affairs of the Army and the Navy were overseen by the Joint Chiefs of the Imperial Military, the various commanders of the two branches, while the Stormtrooper Corps operated under the oversight of the Army. However, supreme command was given to the Galactic Emperor, whose authority was discharged to the acting Commander-in-Chief, his apprentice and the so-called Emperor's Fist Darth Vader, referred to as 1 and 2 respectively. However, the responsibilities of the military were not among the attributes of the Emperor's Fist and instead there existed a proper military-ranking Supreme Commander as the next-in-line martial authority. A Minister of War was also a position in Imperial hierarchy. Imperial High Command, which was structured beneath the Joint Chiefs' cabinet, was the central command division for the disparate armed forces and agencies.
The Imperial Department of Military Research helped the Imperial Military by upgrading and developing new weapons and technology, while former companies friendly to the Republic helped manufacture the newer Imperial vessels entering production, with some of the largest being Sienar Fleet Systems and Kuat Drive Yards. Organizations such as the Naval Intelligence Agency, Imperial Intelligence, and Imperial Security Bureau often worked in conjunction with the Imperial Military, with the ISB installing an internal affairs officer aboard all Imperial-class Star Destroyers and utilizing informants to discover the location of the Alliance Fleet during the Galactic Civil War.
As the de facto Commander-in-Chief, Darth Vader was the unofficial head of the Imperial Military.
Enlistment was open to human individuals, who were trained at the numerous Imperial Academy complexes across the galaxy, with many members becoming enlisted personnel, officers or stormtroopers. The Empire had billions of soldiers during its height, the largest military force the galaxy had ever seen. Since the Empire favored humans and looked down on aliens, it was rare to find non-humans serving in the Imperial Military. Embodying the spirit of the Tarkin Doctrine, the armed forces relied on the sheer threat of force to keep neighboring systems in line. Fear and intimidation were essential for all Imperial Military operations, exemplified by the sheer size of Star Destroyers, which acted as both a physical and psychological deterrent from assaulting it—and the Empire. Additionally, the Empire frequently disregarded the rules of war laid out in the Galactic Accord of Systems.
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