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The Republic had
enjoyed centuries of growth and prosperity;
it was inevitable that its wealth
would foster those with greed to match.
The varied instruments of trade and
commerce banded together into galaxy-spanning
organizations meant to aggrandize
their profits. Coalitions such as
the Trade Federation, Commerce Guild,
Techno Union, and the InterGalactic
Bank Clan consolidated their individual
markets under governing bodies of
such size that they exhibited pull
on the actions of the Galactic Senate.
The Trade
Federation was a consortium of merchants
and transportation providers that
effectively controlled shipping throughout
the galaxy. Under the rule of the
scheming Neimoidians, it had attained
enough clout to have full representation
in the Galactic Senate, as if it were
a member world. In order to rein in
the Trade Federation, as well as raise
funds for an overburdened government,
the Republic approved the taxation
of outlying trade routes.
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