Galactic Civil War

Revenge of the Sith

In Revenge of the Sith, the Galactic Republic was at war with the Separatists when the Republic's clones received Order 66, causing them to destroy the Jedi Order and overthrow the Republic, transforming it into the Galactic Empire while Palpatine turned Anakin Skywalker, by now rechristened Darth Vader, to the dark side. Lord Vader infiltrated a Separatist base and disabled all their battle droid armies, allowing the Empire to conquer the galaxy. The Empire then began construction on a new superweapon known as the Death Star.

With the formation of the Empire and the Great Jedi Purge now complete, a New Imperial Order was immediately enacted throughout the galaxy by the new Emperor. Those who were in hiding, tried to flee from, or directly opposed this martial law were subject to persecution or death. This signaled the start of a war that would last over two decades.

Rogue One

As seen in Rogue One, the first significant battle of the war was on the planet Scarif when a group of rebel soldiers led by Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor, both from the Rebel Alliance captured the plans for the Death Star. The rebel team successfully transmitted the plans to the Alliance, but all of them died as a result.

A New Hope

In A New Hope, Darth Vader boarded the ship that had the Death Star plans and captured Princess Leia. C-3PO and R2-D2 escaped with the plans and a message to Obi-Wan Kenobi, appealing to him in the name of his service in the Clone Wars. They land on Tatooine, where Luke Skywalker purchases them and discovers the message. R2 goes to search for Kenobi, and Luke follows him, only to be attacked by Tusken Raiders. Kenobi rescues him and he and Luke decide to oppose the Empire after Luke's family was killed. They teamed up with 3PO, R2, Chewbacca, and Han Solo to rescue Leia, and infiltrate the Death Star. They rescue Leia, but Kenobi was killed by Vader in a lightsaber duel. They escape to the rebels, where they assault the Death Star, which destroyed Alderaan. With help from Solo and Kenobi's spirit, Luke destroys the Death Star in the Battle of Yavin.

The Empire Strikes Back

In The Empire Strikes Back, the rebels had been driven from their base on Yavin IV, and they had taken refuge on Hoth. Darth Vader dispatched probe droids across the galaxy. A probe droid landed on Hoth, and captured footage of the base, before Han Solo and Chewbacca destroyed it. The Imperial Fleet attacked the base using walkers, and drove the rebels out of the base. The event was known as the Battle Of Hoth. Vader swore to the Emperor to capture Luke Skywalker, who was doing Jedi training on Dagobah with Yoda. Vader pursued Han Solo across the galaxy, captured him and his friends, and then froze him in carbonite. But, Lando Calrissian helped Solo's friends escape, as Luke came to confront Vader. He lost the resulting lightsaber duel and shockingly found out from Vader that he was his father, but escaped to Lando and Leia aboard the Millennium Falcon.

Return of the Jedi

In Return of the Jedi, the Imperial and Alliance fleets clashed as the second Death Star finished construction. Solo, who had been rescued from Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett, and Leia fought Imperials on the forest moon of Endor below the Death Star, with the help of native Ewoks. Meanwhile, Luke surrendered himself to Vader and the Emperor, Darth Sidious. The rebels on Endor blew up a shield generator, allowing the Alliance fleet to assault the Death Star. Meanwhile, Luke re-armed himself with his lightsaber and faced Vader in a duel, and won. Then, he declared himself a Jedi, discarding his lightsaber. The Emperor then started to kill him using Force Lightning, but Vader, who couldn't just stand there and watch his son die, turned back to the light side, and finished off Sidious, once again becoming Anakin Skywalker. Then, he died, and Luke escaped, just as Lando and Wedge Antilles blew up the Death Star, winning a critical victory for the Alliance.

The Force Awakens

In The Force Awakens, the planet of Jakku is seen littered with remains of the decisive battle that ended the destructive conflict. The Battle of Jakku was the Galactic Empire's last stand against the recently formed New Republic after they continued to fight their forces for some time of a year after the death of the Emperor. The battle saw the humiliating defeat of a large portion of the Imperial Navy, including the Ravager, a Super Star Destroyer. Following the Imperial loss, the New Republic sought a peace treaty with the Empire, one that would demilitarize their forces and relegate their remnants to a section of the Unknown Regions in Wild Space, along with Disarmament. This proved to be a grave error, as the Imperial remnants took the opportunity to rebuild themselves as the military junta known as the First Order. The First Order under the leadership of Supreme Leader Snoke would later come into conflict with the New Republic, as well as the resistance movement spearheaded by Leia Organa.