Despite rosy recollections of a greater past, the Republic succumbed into undeniable decay. Its cumbersome bureaucracy slowed down any attempts at reform, and too many of its constituents had grown corrupt and complacent to enact any change. A feeling of disenfranchisement grew in the galaxy, particularly in outlying systems where heavy taxation was not balanced by improved services. A popular Separatist movement that gained increasing momentum, and in two short years, it had a following of several thousand solar systems.
For the first time in a thousand years fear of open warfare crept into the Republic. The valiant Jedi Knights were too few to prevent the scattered flashpoints of violence sparked by the Separatists.
Alarmist Senators called for the creation of an Army of the Republic. The Military Creation Act was to be put to a vote, and many believed that the establishment of a Republic military would merely be the catalyst for an all-out civil war. The vote was delayed following an assassination attempt on the opposition leader.
What none in the Senate knew was that the Separatists were gearing up for war. They courted the massive engines of commerce in the galaxy -- institutions such as the Corporate Alliance, the Trade Federation, the Techno Union, InterGalactic Banking Clan and Commerce Guild -- with promises of reform and unyielding devotion to capitalism. In exchange, these bodies would commit their immense armies to the Separatist cause. With their droid armies scattered throughout the galaxy, the Separatists would overwhelm the Republic.
In a darkened conference room on the Techno Union foundry world of Geonosis the Confederacy of Independent Systems wasThe Republic responded with a pre-emptive strike against the Separatists, attacking their world with a newly created clone army. In the explosive ground battle that ensued, the Clone Wars between the Separatists and Republic began.
The Separatist movement began eight years after Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's election, though many of the roots of its origins date back much earlier than that. The Seperatist's views resonated with the galaxy's disaffected populace, and many picked up the banner of the Separatist cause. Opportunists used this to further their own agendas under the guise of political protest, and this led to scattered violence across the Republic.
During the months prior to the formal formation of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, many violent confrontations were attributed to Separatist forces, though the Jedi Council discounted any attempts to blame a dark Jedi for such activities. The Jedi had to weather an increasingly tarnished public image as their forces were spread too thin to protect against the acts of treason seemingly orchestrated by one of their own.
It was at the first engagement of the Clone Wars that the Confederacy of Independent Systems formally emerged, protected by the droid armies of various corporate entities. Though they were routed at the Battle of Geonosis (image above), the Separatists eventually regrouped, and the Clone Wars spread to many battlefronts across the galaxy.