The Confederate Revolution was the political upheaval in which thirteen systems joined together to break free from the Galactic Empire, combining to become the Galactic Confederate Systems. They first rejected the authority of the Emperor to govern them without representation, and then expelled all royal officials. By 13 BBY each colony had established a Provincial Congress, or an equivalent governmental institution, to form individual self-governing systems. The Empire responded by sending combat troops to re-impose direct rule. Through representatives sent in 10 BBY to the Second Confederation Congress, the new systems joined together at first to defend their respective self-governance and manage the armed conflict against the Empire known as the War of Secession, the second bloodiest wa