Expansionist Oligarchy

The Expansionist Oligarchy was a cabal of corporations which existed several centuries before the outbreak of the Clone Wars. The group pushed for the right to develop worlds in a region of space called the Outer Expansion Zone. Upon being granted this right by the Galactic Republic, the Expansionist Oligarchy engaged in labor practices considered cruel, akin to slavery, exploited natural resources, and suppressed labor uprisings. Eventually, the Republic intervened, and the group was shut down.

Despite being shut down, the same organizations and market forces which created and destroyed the Expansionist Oligarchy resulted in the foundation of the Corporate Sector some two centuries later. Compromises between the Republic and these corporate interests fuelled the division in the Republic and its Galactic Senate, pushing the Senate away from the interests of the citizens, and leaned more towards the interests of the companies.