Anti-Jedi sentiment

During the Clone Wars, an anti-Jedi sentiment developed in a segment of the galaxy's public opinion. Although the Jedi aroused admiration from those who witnessed them in action, they remained forever mysterious to the Galactic Republic citizenry at large. On the other side, the Confederacy of Independent Systems branded them as hypocrites, thanks to firsthand criticism by Count Dooku, leader of the Confederacy and defrocked Jedi Master. That the Jedi led an army of clone soldiers&mdash;"slaves bred for war," as Confederate propaganda proclaimed&mdash;did not speak well to their character.

Additionally, the Jedi's deliberate absence from the Republic's wartime propaganda adversely affected their reputation. In the absence of a proper response, disaffected Confederate worlds imagined the Jedi to be cultural elites from the Core Worlds that not only neglected them, but actually advocated war.

At the end of the conflict, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of the Republic shocked the galaxy by exposing the Jedi Order as traitors, claiming that four Jedi Masters had attempted to assassinate him and overthrow the Republic. Although his account of a "Jedi rebellion" was an outright lie, Palpatine easily spread that claim by reminding the galaxy that Dooku, the Republic's greatest threat in a millennium, had once been Jedi. He then re-organized the Republic as the First Galactic Empire, and started a purge to erase the Jedi from the pages of history.