Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/Week 51, 2007/1

The Great Jedi Purge, also known as the Jedi Purge, referred to the efforts initiated by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious upon his creation of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY to eradicate the Jedi Order. It resulted in the near-annihilation of the Jedi, as the First Jedi Purge had after the Jedi Civil War in 3,956 BBY.

It began with the deaths of Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin at the hands of Darth Sidious, with help from Anakin Skywalker, who became the Sith Lord Darth Vader after the battle. Sidious sent the newly appointed Vader to the Jedi Temple to kill the Jedi there, then executed Order 66, which declared all Jedi enemies of the Republic. Sidious, now Emperor of the Galactic Empire, used Vader and other agents of the Empire to hunt down and kill the remaining Jedi. Some Jedi fought the Empire until their deaths, like Olee Starstone and those at the Conclave on Kessel. Others hid from the Empire, like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. In the nineteen years that followed Order 66, many Jedi fell to Vader, Inquisitors, Emperor's Hands, and even bounty hunters. By the time the Purge ended, few Jedi remained.

It was generally considered to have lasted from the birth of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY to the emergence of Luke Skywalker and the Alliance to Restore the Republic around the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY. The Great Jedi Purge was also sometimes considered the beginning of the Galactic Civil War.