This documentary on the legendary battle of hoth is brought to you by the University of Corascant. Learning leads to good, ignorance leads to evil.

Hello, I'm Senator Dantana Morse, and welcome to the second episode of the History Channel's newest series, the Galactic Civil War. In this, our second installment, we view one of the greatest ground battles in history, involving two of the greatest war machines found in the history. You must know of course that the New Republic's future was almost always in question until the conclusion of the Battle of Endor, and even after that, the instability of the Second Republic continued for decades. The darkest hour for the possible New Republic was only 3 years after the great victory at Yavin. In this, the second episode of our three-part trilogy, we see perhaps one of the greatest hurtles in the construction of the New Republic. The battle… of Hoth.

If you know everything there is to know about Star Wars, I suggest you skip this entire section

The planet Hoth is the sixth planet in the aptly named Hoth system. Hoth is a vast frozen wasteland, with hurricane force winds being a constant plague upon the tarnished landscape. Temperatures are in the negative 100's, and the wind chill only makes it colder. The Hoth system is found in the Ison corridor, a series of star systems that form a hyperspace route towards the Outer Rim territories of the galaxy. However, due to the extreme proximity of the system to Corellia, the route was almost never used due to the fact that systems on this route were mostly uninhabitable.

On the top of the list of uninhabitable planets in the Ison Corridor is the planet Hoth. Apart from its horrible climate, the planet supports a small food chain, with at most 6 species of plants and animals. There are very few major geographic features. The planet is an endless plain of tundra, stretching as far as the eye can see. Below ground, small amounts of volcanic activity allow some ice to melt into liquid water. It is here that the food chain of hoth begins, in the form of small plants. The food chain ends with two large animals, tauntauns, which are large beasts of burden, and wampa ice creatures which are carnivorous bear like creatures.

Concerning attempts at settling Hoth any such attempt at settling would have to be made underground. Even then, multiple thermal heaters would required to even keep an underground complex at a bearable temperature. Afterwards, all equipment, including replacement thermal heaters, food, etc, would have to be imported. Only the foolish, or those who do not wish to be found locate themselves on the planet of Hoth.

The Sides

The Battle of Hoth, with the exception of small skirmishes in the Hoth system, was mainly a battle on the ground. The Empire, enjoying massive superiority in equipment and numbers, could afford to throw troops at heavily fortified positions. The Rebels, having been forced to fight in a guerilla type style of warfare for their entire existence, would attempt to inflict as many casualties as possible while delaying the enemy advance for as long as possible. This in itself would be no easy task. While the fortifications constructed by the rebels on Hoth could easily deflect a ground assault with infantry, more heavily armored vehicles could easily crush the Rebel defenses.

The whole idea to the Rebel positioning of their headquarters on Hoth was to keep their key personnel, heavy equipment, and operating center away from constant Imperial attacks. Due to the fact that the Alliance could not engage the Empire in any major engagements, they were forced to find an isolated spot away from Imperial controlled systems. While the Rebel Alliance made provisions for a possible attack on Hoth, it was never really considered as a possibility due to the remoteness, and the inhabitability of their location. Provisions were made for an all out Imperial attack in the form of an Energy shield deflecting an orbital bombardment. Still, there would be no possible way to beat an imperial all out ground invasion, even with years of preparation.

The Rebel base on Hoth, known as Echo base, was made to be temporary, even though the Alliance never considered an all out Imperial attack as a major possibility. Provisions were made so that evacuation would be as fast as possible. The communication lines between computers were emplaced on the walls of the complex, enabling their movement to be faster. Echo base was not designed to be aesthetically pleasing, but was to make an evacuation that much faster. The construction of Echo base took 18 months. During this time, Rebel engineers blasted away stone and rock to construction the complex that would be Echo base.

Three years before the Battle of Hoth, the Galactic Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star, was eliminated in a desperate all out attack made by the Rebel Alliance. This success forced the Empire to reevaluate the threat presented by the Rebel Alliance. By order of Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, the full resources of the Imperial Fleet and army were mobilized to crush the Rebel Alliance. Thousands of men, and vessels were sent throughout the galaxy with orders to search and destroy and rebel men and vessels.

The Rebel Alliance, sensing that their victory at Yavin would provoke a massive reprisal on the behalf of the Empire, were forced to withdraw from any potential major engagement. Other than a handful of isolated skirmishes, virtually no major actions between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance occurred in the time between the Battles of Yavin and Hoth due to the Rebel insistence on keeping away from major engagements. The objective was to buy time, and prepare for a final, decisive action on ground of their own choosing that would bring about a total Rebel victory. The Rebel Alliance under such conditions, was forced to concentrate the majority of their forces, with the exception of their fleet, at a new Rebel base. The most viable candidate was the planet Hoth, isolated, and above all inhospitable, and proving to be one of the last places that would be searched.

As engagements with the Rebels became fewer and fewer, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine became increasingly frustrated. Realizing that the Rebels must have withdrawn from their primary locations in the main parts of the Galaxy, Darth Vader ordered thousands of imperial probe druids to scour the Outer Rim Sectors for the rebel headquarters. Deployed by reconnaissance fleets looking for Rebel ships, these probe droids were sent to virtually every world in the Outer Rim. One of these was sent to Hoth, and was initially mistaken for an asteroid by the Rebels. However, the probe droid was eventually discovered and destroyed, but not before alerting the primary Imperial Battle Fleet, under the de jure command of Admiral Ozzel, but in reality commanded directly by Darth Vader, that Hoth was inhabited. Despite Admiral Ozzel's weak protests, Darth Vader ordered the Imperial battle fleet to Hoth.

The arrival of the Imperial probe droid, and its subsequent destruction alerted the Rebel Alliance that their seemingly impossible scenario had come true. The Rebel Alliance had no choice but to prepare to fight a major engagement on the ice fields of Hoth. As the Rebel Alliance initiated their base evacuation plan, their troops prepared to initiate a delaying action. Due to the incredible size of the imperial military, and the miniscule size of the Rebel army, this "delaying action" would force virtually every Rebel ground unit into action. Existing fortifications were reinforced while every Rebel vessel prepared for launch. The impossible task of saving every piece of Rebel heavy equipment, and every important person had begun.

Mere hours after the discovery of the Rebel Base, the primary imperial battle fleet arrived at Hoth. By order of Admiral Ozzel, the fleet jumped out of hyperspace surprisingly close to the Hoth system. This miscalculation allowed the Rebels time to detect the Imperial fleet, and activate their energy shield, which would prevent the Imperial fleet from bombarding Hoth prior to a ground invasion. Darth Vader, furious at this blunder, personally executed Admiral Ozzel, and ordered General Maximillian Veers to prepare for a massive frontal assault without air support. This would lead to substantial casualties on behalf of the Empire. The calm before the storm had been shattered, thus began… the Battle of Hoth.

With the exception of the Battle of Endor, the Battle of Hoth was perhaps the most well recorded battle in the Galactic Civil War. A total of six Imperial walkers were deployed on Hoth, along with thousands of snow troopers, and 12 AT-ST's. The Rebel Alliance meanwhile deployed virtually all of the infantry they had on Hoth, along with a squadron of snow speeders. The infantry were also equipped with multiple stationary defense buildings, many of which were specially designed against vehicles or infantry.

It began with the landings of Imperial troops. Gargantuan transports, 6 stories high, landed and deployed AT-AT's while Imperial snow troopers marched out of their transports. Their main objective was to allow the AT-AT's to punch a hole through the heavily fortified Rebel trench line, and then throw waves of snow troopers at the heart of the Rebel base. Due to the location of the energy field, the Imperial army was forced to land north of the Rebel base, and quite a distance away as well. The march would take an hour or so while the Rebels prepared.

On the Rebel side, fortifying the outskirts continued while lookouts attempted to find the Imperial invaders. Meanwhile, transports were prepared for launch while above them, the Imperial fleet took a blockading formation. The Rebel's main objective was to plainly hold on as long as they can, delaying Imperial entry into Echo base until all transports had successfully left the system.

As Imperial troops advance towards the first line of Rebel defense, the first rebel evacuation transports are launched. Preceding their exit of the atmosphere, the Energy field protecting the planet from bombardment is lowered. The Rebels, using their Ion cannon, fired several blasts at a star destroyer blocking the exit path of the moving transport. The star destroyer was successfully disabled, and the transport, with her escort of 2 x-wings successfully leaves.

As cheers for the successful transport fill Echo base, a new sound was heard, a deep rumbling. As lookouts scramble to find the origin of these rumbles, several dots were seen in the distance. Dozens of pairs of binoculars are cast in the direction of these dots, and the call goes out, "Imperial walkers on the North Ridge." Snow speeders, meant to assist in the defense, are fueled and prepared to engage. When the snow speeders arrive at the front lines, the Imperial walkers are already upon the hapless infantry. Rebel blasters, even those mounted on the snow speeders are no match against the 2 feet armor encompassing the Imperial walkers. Even then, rebel infantry fired everything they have at the Imperial walkers. Snow speeders are the only Rebel weapons that can possibly fight the Imperial walkers. Using harpoons, the snow speeders attach one end of their harpoon to the leg of a walker, then fly circles around the legs. The snow speeder then detaches the harpoon, and effectively trips the walker to its death.

Every rebel snow speeder that survived the first three minutes of the engagement attempted to perform this risky operation of "tripping" Imperial walkers. This was successful once, and only once. Another Imperial walker was destroyed by Luke Skywalker, a pilot, and soon to be Jedi. In all, of six imperial walkers deployed on Hoth, only two were destroyed. All others were damaged.

As the Imperial advance continues, it becomes clear that the Rebel defense will be unable to hold. The imperial walkers do not even have to halt their advance in order to fire. The first through fifth lines of defense are shattered, and as fighting begins on the sixth line of defense, it becomes clear that the Imperial walkers are targeting the Rebel shield generator, the building preventing any imperial landing directly on Echo base, and in addition, preventing an orbital bombardment. General Veers personally fires the shot that destroys the shield generator, but not before informing Lord Vader that he can begin his landing.

With the shield generator down, Imperial vessels begin the heavy bombardment of Hoth. The ion cannon, and other military targets are destroyed almost immediately. Meanwhile, hundreds of Imperial transports descend upon Hoth, bringing thousands of snow troopers with them. In the rebel camp, the final retreat order is given. Transports begin their ascent, only to be destroyed still in the atmosphere by Imperial vessels. Key rebel personnel are rushed to different vessels. The Battle of Hoth, was effectively over.

As Echo base was cleared out by Imperial troops, with Lord Vader personally following them, it became clear that the Imperial victory was by no means complete. All transports are away, either destroyed, or on their way to different parts of the galaxy. No key rebel personnel were captured. A great victory indeed, but only on the battlefield. The rebellion was not crushed on that faithful day on Hoth, only disrupted. The loss of thousands of men, and huge numbers of heavy equipment was a significant prize, but the failure of the imperial fleet to prevent a complete Rebel evacuation cannot be emphasized enough. The Rebel fleet rendezvoused at Sullust, and plotted their next move. The Battle of Hoth, was over. The snows of Hoth on the north ridge were no longer white, but red with the blood of her fallen defenders. It was over. Less than a year before their greatest victory, the Rebel Alliance suffered its greatest defeat.

Thank you for watching the second installment of The Galactic Civil War. Tune in next month for our third, and final episode,The Battle of Endor. I'm Dantanna Moorse, and on behalf of the University of Coruscant, thank you for watching.