Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/Week 38, 2015/1

The Mandalorian Wars was the term given to the sixteen years of conflict between the Mandalorian warrior culture and the Galactic Republic that began in 3976 BBY with the Battle of Althir. Occurring two decades after the end of the Great Sith War, the Mandalorian Wars spanned almost two decades themselves, though historians often disagreed on the endpoints of the conflict; the Mandalorians raided star systems in the Outer Rim Territories for over a decade before they actually came into conflict with the Republic Military in 3965 BBY. Led by Mandalore the Ultimate, who pioneered the Neo-Crusader movement with the help of his lieutenant, Cassus Fett, the Mandalorians conquered systems along the eastern edge of the galaxy. Though their conquests included the near-extinction of the Cathar species, it was not until their assaults on worlds near the planet Taris that they drew the Republic's attention. After a year of small conflicts known as the False War, the Mandalorians broke through the Republic's lines and besieged Taris in 3963 BBY, and then invaded the Republic through three separate corridors in what became known as the Onslaught.

The tide ultimately turned when a group of interventionist Jedi known as the Revanchists, led by the charismatic Revan and his friend Malak, joined the Republic Military in combating the Mandalorians. A tactical genius, Revan won several victories against the Mandalorians and began to reclaim lost territory, prompting Supreme Chancellor Tol Cressa to appoint him Supreme Commander in 3962 BBY. Driving back the Mandalorians, Revan forced a final showdown with Mandalore the Ultimate at the Battle of Malachor V in 3960 BBY. Revan personally defeated Mandalore in single combat as the Republic and Mandalorian fleets battled above Malachor V, and the activation of the superweapon known as the Mass Shadow Generator devastated both the planet and the participating fleets.

The Mandalorian Wars had long-reaching consequences: Revan forced the defeated Mandalorians to disarm and hid Mandalore's Mask, the symbol of their leadership, and both he and Malak were turned to the dark side of the Force while investigating the Sith influence that had caused Mandalore to go to war. Many of the soldiers and Jedi who followed Revan in the Mandalorian Wars joined the two new Dark Lords of the Sith as they formed their own Sith Empire and invaded the Republic in a subsequent conflict known as the Jedi Civil War.