>>211650206 (OP)>>211650922>>211651053>>211651119>>211651326>>211651562>>211652206after spending more hours than I'm willing to admit reading (((non-canon))) Star Wars books I finally understand the prequel politics, which all hinge on Palpatine and his motives.
Palpatine and his Master Darth Plagueis are attempting to dominate the galaxy by means of political manipulation. Plagueis is tied to the banks and uses his wealth to fund groups that will benefit him. As a political figure, and eventual Senator of Naboo, Palpatine focuses on manipulating the Trade Federation. On one side, he pressed Supreme Chancellor Valorum to impose taxes on the Trade Federation - this will strengthen the Republic by bringing in more credits. At the same time, this will offend the Trade Federation, who see this taxation as theft. During this time, Palpatine also secretly works with pirate factions (e.g. the Nebula Front) to have them attack the Trade Federation - forcing the Trade Federation to bolster their defenses, namely by getting a Droid Army. Palpatine, now as Darth Sidious, tells the Trade Federation to enact a blockade on Naboo, which eventually a) erodes confidence in Supreme Chancellor Valorum and subsequently gets Palaptine elected in his place and b) further creates schisms between the worlds of the Republic - who continue to see the Republic as a large, slow, bureaucratic mess. This eventually leads into Separatist movement which is explored in Episode II.