Soon after the Declaration of Rebellion, the Rebel military was organized in Sector Forces. Operation Domino was the first campaign of the Rebel Alliance against the Empire. The operation was planned, among others, by Chief of State Mon Mothma. Its premise was to call in the stronger Sector Forces to defeat local Imperial garrisons in showpiece battles and then dig in behind their planetary shields with the intention of proving that planets could free themselves and thus inspire revolution across the galaxy.
Operation Domino backfired in that it caused the various uprisings to meet crushing defeat. The planets that revolted were branded the "Secession Worlds" by the Empire and they were quickly crushed by the Imperial Navy. The result for the Rebellion was no revolution, dozens of Alliance armies destroyed, and surviving units fleeing. It was because of this that one of the leaders, Mon Mothma, learned that while having a hundred Sector Forces would muster infantry brigades, it was only part of an army: most of the soldiers lacked formal training, while some lacked bases, and others lacked air support or spare parts.
One of the few Rebel victories of the campaign was the liberation of Dac.
In spite of the military disaster, Operation Domino also had unexpected good results. The sacrifice of the Rebels created a wave of sympathy for the Rebellion, and more particularly from the ranks of the Imperial Army. Many top Imperial officers such as General Kryll and Commander Harles defected mid-campaign. They helped the reorganization of the battered Rebel brigades into what became the Alliance Special Forces.
The Mon Calamari were also freed during this campaign. Having thrown off Imperial rule, the Calamari mined the approaches to their sector, which would become an essential redoubt and source of starships for the Rebellion.
According to Paul Urquhart in Jason Fry's endnotes of The Essential Guide to Warfare, the name of the campaign was derived from the "domino theory," a theory dating back to the Vietnam War-era regarding the likelihood that Communism will run rampant across Southeast Asia and other regions if left unchecked. He also noted that the event itself was first mentioned in the Rebel Alliance sourcebook, although he isn't sure if the name came from the source or if he named it himself. Coincidentally, the Rebel Alliance themselves had been modeled after the Vietcong in Vietnam, which were one of the elements the domino theory warned about.
- The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook
- The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, Second Edition
- The Essential Guide to Warfare
- Star Wars: Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook