Galactic Concordance

The cessation of all hostilities between the New Republic and the Galactic Empire was officially declared by the Galactic Concordance. The treaty dictated that the Empire was to remain within predetermined boundaries located in the Core, Colonies, and Inner Rim, and it was to cease any large-scale offensive actions after its surrender. The treaty also mandated the cessation of recruitment and mobilization of stormtrooper forces, the closure of numerous Imperial Academies spread throughout the galaxy, the ultimate end to the Galactic Civil War, and the relinquishing of any claim to the Core World of Coruscant in favor of the New Republic. Furthermore, it imposed strict disarmament treaties, including limitations on military technology and production for former Imperial factions, and mandated punitive reparations for former Imperial territories that were now part of the New Republic. The Galactic Concordance also prohibited galactic corporations from engaging in business with the remnants of the Empire, a regulation that corporations often circumvented. As a provision of the treaty, the New Republic committed to its own disarmament, which was implemented through the Military Disarmament Act.

The Galactic Republic was dissolved in 19 BBY, and Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine then announced the proclamation of the New Order. This act effectively erased the thousand-year-old Republic instantly, replacing it with his own Galactic Empire, with himself installed as its first Emperor. Having eliminated both the Republic and the Jedi Order through treachery from within the Grand Army of the Republic, Palpatine oversaw the Empire's ruthless expansion and the genocidal actions of his regime. His ultimate goal was to dominate the galaxy and replace all galactic authority with his newly restored Sith Empire.

Eventually, a disparate collection of rebel cells emerged to question his authority. The Alliance to Restore the Republic was later formed shortly before the destruction of the Empire's First Death Star. As the growing resistance movement threatened to end his reign, the Emperor initiated a significant military campaign to crush the Rebellion and its leaders, labeling them as terrorists and traitors. The subsequent five years of galactic conflict, known as the Galactic Civil War, involved numerous failed attempts to finally defeat the Rebellion. Following Operation Ringbreaker and Yellow Moon, the Alliance launched a successful attack against the Emperor's second Death Star, which was under construction above the Sanctuary Moon of Endor.

The destruction of the Empire's new battle station, along with the death of Emperor Palpatine and his second-in-command Darth Vader, led the Rebel Alliance's successor government, the New Republic, to gradually advance towards the Empire's capital of Coruscant, aiming to restore freedom to the galaxy. The New Republic re-established the Galactic Senate on Chandrila. Over the following year, the New Republic secured several victories against the Empire, liberating numerous worlds including Akiva, Sevarcos, Kuat, Arkanis, and Kashyyyk from Imperial control.

The Galactic Empire fragmented into various factions, including Lozen Tolruck's Kashyyyk remnant, Governor Ubrik Adelhard's Imperial remnant, Governor Ecressys' Imperial remnant, and Grand General Kenner Loring's faction. The Imperial Navy was under the command of Grand Admiral Rae Sloane's forces in the Vulpinus Nebula. Although Sloane was the public face of the Empire, she was secretly a puppet of Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax, who controlled other Imperial forces in the Almagest, the Recluse's Nebula, the Ro-Loo Triangle, and the Inamorata. Rax was also aware of the Emperor's secret Contingency, a plan to destroy the Empire if Palpatine did not survive.

After dispatching Sloane to conduct faux peace talks with the New Republic, Rax orchestrated the Liberation Day attack on Chandrila. With Sloane absent, Rax seized power as Counselor to the Empire and ordered the Imperial fleets to convene at Jakku. While Rax publicly stated his intention to prepare the Empire for a final confrontation with the New Republic, his actual plan was to destroy both the Imperial and New Republic forces by detonating the planet's core. Several months later, Norra Wexley and her team discovered the Imperial forces on Jakku.

Following some deadlock within the Galactic Senate, Chancellor Mothma successfully garnered enough votes to deploy New Republic forces to Jakku. After an intense space and land battle, New Republic forces, led by Admiral Ackbar, managed to breach the Imperial defenses by destroying Rax's flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Ravager. Norra and Sloane then collaborated to prevent Rax from detonating Jakku's core. After Rax's death, Sloane, along with Commandant Brendol Hux, his son Armitage, and a group of Rax's child soldiers, fled to the Unknown Regions aboard a replica of the Emperor's yacht Imperialis.

During the fighting on Jakku, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda escaped house arrest on Coruscant with the assistance of the Anklebiter Brigade, a group of young resistance fighters based on Coruscant. With the Imperial Navy decimated, the Empire faced internal turmoil, and many promising leaders fled to establish a remnant in the Unknown Regions. Amedda then contacted Chancellor Mon Mothma to sue for peace. The two leaders convened on the crystal cliffs north of Chandrila's capital, Hanna City. Mothma was accompanied by Princess Leia Organa, and her two new advisers, the former Imperial loyalty officer Sinjir Rath Velus and Hosnian Prime's Sondiv Sella, for the signing of the Imperial Instruments of Surrender. On the day the Instruments of Surrender were signed, Leia went into labor and gave birth to her son, Ben Solo.

The Concordance, which underwent a detailed process of modification, agreement, and ratification, mandated that the remaining Imperial forces cease all combat. Mothma also issued an additional declaration classifying any surviving Imperial officers who did not adhere to the terms of surrender as war criminals. However, non-combatant functionaries, including Amedda, were granted conditional pardons. According to the terms of surrender, the Imperial remnants were also required to comply with the stipulations of the Galactic Concordance, including a prohibition on the recruitment and mobilization of stormtroopers, the closure of the galaxy-wide network of Imperial Academies, the surrender of Coruscant to the New Republic, and the confinement of the remaining former Imperial Navy to specific boundaries within the Core, Colonies, and Inner Rim.

Despite the Imperial surrender, Imperial holdouts on Jakku and elsewhere continued to resist the New Republic for several months. New Republic forces eventually defeated the remaining Imperial forces on Jakku. Consequently, the New Republic Defense Fleet remained on a war footing in the months following the Battle of Jakku. Many Imperial warships also escaped to the Unknown Regions.

Some remaining Imperials refused to comply with the terms of surrender, as was evident in the Core Worlds, and they organized themselves into the Centrists within the New Republic Senate. Although the conflict was never officially reignited, a Cold War developed between these factions. Later, these holdouts relocated to the Unknown Regions, including Grand Moff Randd's Queluhan Nebula remnant.

Following the treaty, a significant amount of Imperial territory was incorporated into the New Republic. The treaty's implementation led to a push for peace and demilitarization by the Republic, which was wary of repeating the mistakes of the former Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. One of the first actions of the restored Galactic Senate was to pass the Military Disarmament Act, which reduced the New Republic Defense Fleet and armed forces to a minimal force compared to the size of the military during the Galactic Empire. Despite this reduction, the Republic still maintained the largest fleet in the galaxy; however, it was only a fraction of the size of the Republic Navy at the height of the Clone Wars.

With the Senate now firmly believing that the Imperial remnants posed little threat, it shifted its focus to reshaping galactic politics, notably deciding not to establish its new capital on Coruscant but instead to rotate its capital among member worlds through a process of election. This rotating capital demonstrated the Republic's intentions to avoid becoming another Galactic Empire and increased its membership to include many dissatisfied systems that had withdrawn from the Old Republic and formed the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Separatist Crisis.

Despite the Empire's collapse, Imperial loyalists established the secret Shadow Council, composed of remnant warlords, with the aim of restoring the Empire to its former glory and awaiting the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn's and the re-emergence of the former Imperial Military.

By 34 ABY, Chancellor Lanever Villecham and the Galactic Senate were primarily focused on improving trade relationships with the neutral systems of the Trans-Hydian Borderlands, despite the growing threat posed by the isolationist First Order, which disagreed with the outcome of the war.

While the Chancellor believed that the First Order posed no threat as long as it adhered to the stipulations of the Galactic Concordance, the First Order was in fact circumventing the treaty's provisions. The First Order was deploying new Resurgent-class Star Destroyers, which were a clear violation of treaties governing capital ships, and blatantly disregarding New Republic prohibitions on the Order's purchase of weaponry. To further undermine the legitimacy of the Galactic Concordance, the First Order initiated a massive mobilization of stormtrooper forces and expanded its Army and Navy, while training its new personnel on ship-based Academies, leading many First Order personnel to consider these vessels as their homes. The First Order also developed a new generation of IT-000 interrogator droids, thereby violating New Republic laws prohibiting torture.

Despite these actions, many in the Senate dismissed the reports of growing First Order strength as unnecessary warmongering and alarmist rhetoric. Individuals such as Leia Organa voiced some of the strongest objections to the First Order's mobilization for war, but corruption and ignorance led to her being branded as a fearmonger, tarnishing her image and diminishing her reputation. Believing that the Republic was not doing enough to ensure the safety of its citizens, General Leia Organa led her private military force, known as the Resistance—which was funded by like-minded senators who shared her concerns about the First Order—in an effort to keep the Order in check. Although not officially sanctioned by the New Republic, the Resistance was unofficially supported by the Senate, which hoped to avoid a conflict.

The Galactic Concordance was first mentioned in the 2015 reference book Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary, written by Lucasfilm Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo, although it incorrectly stated that the signing took place on Coruscant.

The Star Wars Legends version of the end to the Galactic Civil War was the Pellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty, which was signed nineteen years after the Battle of Yavin between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant. In the Legends continuity, the Remnant and the Republic took longer to reignite the war, having settled their differences and eventually joined together as one. It would be more than a century after their first peace, when the Galactic Alliance was destroyed by the Empire and their shadowy "benefactors".