This essay is from Giulia Belletti
Published on October 15, 2002

The Empire As A Powe

• Introduction
• Geographical Factors
• Neighbours
• Military
• Internal Situation
• Government Structure
• Bibliography

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Internal Situation

Law and order were basically a military issue (there were stormtroopers patrolling streets, for example), therefore compensating in some daily manner the probably enormous expenditure for the army, but forming as well a negative impression into some strata of the public opinion- the system proved itself rather expensive as well as oppressive for many citizens, lacking, in its ending times at least, of any simulation of home rule and/or popular involvement into the central government.

It certainly didn’t help very much some of the imperial propaganda- one of the main weapons of the government; sadly, we don’t have that much information, except for the rather obvious control of the media and of communication. It was, anyway, an effective power, and even if the Rebellion proved itself vital, Imperial policies were quite good at keeping it at bay- probably helped by some economical factor (maybe helping lessen the fiscal pressure’s impact on citizens' finances); anyway positive trends even if essential for our understanding of the period aren’t recorded into our sources.

We only have proof of a quite profitable black market of various articles, on a very positive trend in the years around the battle of Yavin and forth, whose credible basis is some kind of tariff increase. Black market means more delinquency, which means more expenses for the army (as body charged with the law and order sustaining) thus tax increase, leading through a vicious circle of mad military growth and economical depression of some area.

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