As the Clone Wars unfolded, a proposal for a military intervention on the planet of Mandalore, situated in the Outer Rim, was presented to the Galactic Republic Senate and subsequently put to a vote. This resolution was a direct reaction to a surge in violent acts perpetrated on Mandalore by a splinter group of Mandalorians known as the Death Watch. Pre Vizsla, the leader of this faction, masterminded these attacks with the intent of destabilizing the peaceful New Mandalorian regime under the leadership of Duchess Satine Kryze. Vizsla received support from Count Dooku, the head of the Separatist Alliance, and together they conspired to give the impression that the Death Watch was a significant threat to both Mandalore and the Republic. This, coupled with unsubstantiated rumors suggesting Kryze's collaboration with the Confederacy, led the Senate to hold a vote on whether to deploy the Republic's military to Mandalore in order to restore stability.
Duchess Kryze was adamant that Mandalore should maintain its neutrality throughout the Clone Wars and strongly opposed the Republic's plan to send in troops. She was of the opinion that such action would compromise the pacifist principles of the New Mandalorian government and involve Mandalore in the conflict, potentially leading to an arms race with the Death Watch insurgency. Vizsla, Dooku, and Lord Sidious shared this belief, as it would further their agenda for the Death Watch to take control of Mandalore and bring it into the war. They subsequently attempted to prevent Kryze from appealing to the Senate against the initiative, and despite their initial attacks on the Duchess being unsuccessful, Kryze's address to the Senate was undermined by the testimony of Jerec, Mandalore's Deputy Minister, which suggested that Mandalore required Republic military assistance to defend against the Death Watch. Due to this testimony and another attempt on Kryze's life, the Senate expedited the vote on the initiative and approved it. It was later discovered that Jerec's testimony had been altered, and the original recording was presented to the Senate just before the Republic military was scheduled to deploy to Mandalore. Consequently, the Senate voted to revoke its previous approval of the occupation.