When George Lucas returned to making Star Wars movies, he chose to go back in time to tell the story of Anakin Skywalker before the events of the original trilogy, but that didn't mean fans were deprived of further adventures of Han, Leia, Luke, and other Star Wars favorites from the original trilogy. The former Expanded Universe stretched several decades beyond the Battle of Endor, telling the story of the classic heroes, their children, and even a number of brand new characters not featured in the movies.While George Lucas himself never actually considered the Expanded Universe as canon, that stance was made official after Lucasfilm was sold to Disney and those stories were all designated as the alternate universe of Star Wars Legends to make way for a brand new shared universe, only incorporating the Lucas produced movies and The Clone Wars animated series as its foundational canon.Related: Carrie Fisher's Death & Leia's Star Wars FutureThe Force Awakens picks up 30 years after the end of Return of the Jedi, leaving a large swath of untold story in the interim, only eluding to some major events in the middle, leaving plenty of room for additional stories to be told in books, comics, and animation. While the vast majority of that 30 years still remains a mystery, some new details have slowly come out over the past few years, giving us a more complete picture what happens between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.This chronicling is fairly high level and won't cover every individual character arc, but will detail important events that shaped the galactic military and political landscape between the two trilogies.

Page 1 (this page): Palpatine's Contingency and The New Republic

Palpatine's Contingency

Angry Darth Sidious (Palpatine)

Emperor Sheev Palpatine may have been overconfident, which was his ultimate undoing, but he wasn't as blind to Luke Skywalker's potential to defeat him as he may have appeared. Years before Luke Skywalker was even born, before Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, the Sith Lord recruited a young slave boy from Jakku named Gallius Rax, charging him with a massive project. Rax was left on Jakku to oversee a massive mining project drilling to the planet's core, while a local outpost (with some help from Grand Admiral Thrawn) charted navigational routes through treacherous uncharted space into the Unknown Regions where Palpatine could sens a fount of dark power.

By the time of the Battle of Endor, most of Palpatine's preparations were in place, so he tasked Rax with taxing a sizeable portion of the Imperial Navy into hiding, set to trigger the first stage, "Operation Cinder," should the Emperor fall during the battle. Since that's exactly what happened, Rax commenced Operation Cinder, triggering a massive planetary attack against locations of importance to Sheev Palpatine, such as his home planet of Naboo. It appears his intent was to wipe certain details about his life and operations away, although the true correlation between all the targets of Operation Cinder isn't yet clear. Fortunately, the Rebels, AKA the Alliance to Restore the Republic, was able to prevent total catastrophe in many instances, including Naboo.

Formation of the New Republic

Mon Mothma

Formed under the leadership of former New Republic senators like Mon Mothma and Bail Organa (and even his adopted daughter, Leia Organa), the intent of the Rebel Alliance was always to return the galaxy to the democratic rule of a republic, as it was before the rise of Emperor Sheev Palpatine.

So, naturally, after the Empire's defeat at Endor, the first order of business was to establish the New Republic as the central governing authority in the galaxy. Unfortunately, not everyone was quick to join. Some systems were still under the control of the fragmented Empire, some didn't have faith in the new government that quickly rose out of the Republic, and others were opposed to any strong central government, having opposed the Empire to escape any sort of non-local authority in the first place.

Related: Mark Hamill Draws From Real-Life Politics For Luke Skywalker's Darkness

The initial home of the Republic was Mon Mothma's homeworld of Chandrilla, but the capital soon started rotating to new planets on a regular basis to prevent any one location from becoming too entrenched politically as Coruscant had become, which ultimately played a role in Palpatine's rise to power. Slowly, more systems came around to join, especially after the (powerless, but symbolic) Imperial figurehead Mas Amedda publicly surrendered after the Battle of Jakku. The Galactic Concordance was signed, signaling the demilitarization of remaining Imperial forces in total surrender to the New Republic.

Wookies - Star Wars Canon

Liberation of Kashyyyk

Despite the fall of the Emperor at Endor, some Imperial sectors blocked news of his death from being released so the local Imperial Moffs could retain their control in the interim. This was the case at Kashyyyk, the home of the Wookiees, who had been enslaved by the Empire since shortly after the end of the Clone Wars. While Chewbacca had a sworn life debt to Han Solo for liberating him years earlier, Han had also repeatedly promised to return to Kashyyyk to free the rest of his people (including his family) one day.

When word came across that the time was right, Han abandoned his post as a General in the New Republic to go free the Wookiees. Unfortunately, his intel was bad and Chewbacca got captured and Han had to flee, leaving his friend behind. After teaming up with a crack team from the New Republic, he's able to return and free Chewbacca and many other Wookiees, starting a rebellion on the ground, while New Republic forces led by Wedge Antilles and Admiral Ackbar eventually arrive to secure space above the planet, making the Wookiees free beings for the first time in decades.

Battle of Jakku and Imperial Retreat

Star Wars Force Awakens Battle of Jakku

Eventually, the Empire withdraws virtually all its remaining forces to the remote planet of Jakku, which, as only a few high ranking Imperials know, is the final stage of Palpatine's Contingency. After decades of mining under the supervision of Gallius Rax, the Imperial outpost had drilled a shaft all the way to the planet's core, enabling Palpatine to basically turn Jakku into a ticking time bomb.

The Imperial forces fought with an undisciplined ferocity the New Republic wasn't familiar with, making the battle exceptionally tough, but eventually, they succeeded in turning the tide, despite a number of Star Destroyers engaging in suicide missions to crash into the planet's surface while pulling New Republic ships in their tractor beams. Palpatine's plan to explode the planet was supposed to eliminate all forces, both Imperial and New Republic, anywhere near the planet, but the contingency was foiled at the last moment, saving the planet as the New Republic defeated the remaining forces.

Related: Star Wars: What Happened At The Battle of Jakku Explained

Still, an Imperial shuttle departed shortly before the planet was expected to explode, bearing Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, Stormtrooper instructor extraordinaire Brendol Hux, his son Armitage Hux, and a number of young slaves from Jakku who were already being conditioned as the next generation of Imperial soldiers. Following the path charted into the Unknown Regions, the shuttle met up with Emperor Palpatine's personal Super Star Destroyer, the Eclipse, which had fled the galaxy before the Battle of Endor under the command of unknown officers and crew.

A New Jedi Order

Star Wars Battlefront 2 Luke Skywalker

With the Empire seemingly gone and the fledgling New Republic finding its footing, Luke Skywalker, the hero of the Rebellion, is now free to dedicate himself to restoring the Jedi order. He had already begun scouting out many of Palpatine's old research outposts, recovering saplings of a Force-sensitive tree from the courtyard of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant (with possible ties back to a much older Jedi temple), a special compass hidden away by the Emperor, and possibly more. He also works closely with Lor San Tekka and the Church of the Force, who had worked in secret during the reign of the Empire to preserve the legacy of the Jedi.

Luke doesn't merely seek out former Jedi teaching, but some legends also have him visiting a number of different cultures to learn different aspects of the Force for a more holistic perspective rather than simply picking up where the old Jedi Order left off.

The First Order stormtroopers watch as Starkiller Base destroys the Hosnian System in the Force Awakens

The First Order Emerges

The New Republic would survive for nearly 3 decades, but drawn out senatorial debates quickly made some (historically privileged) systems look back on the days of the Empire's brutal efficiency with rose-colored glasses. Sure, the man commanding the might of the Empire was a tyrant, but what if that same kind of power was given to someone more benevolent? Could the frequent impasses seen in the Senate be totally avoided by a stronger central authority?

Obviously not all systems see eye to eye on this part, with many formerly oppressed peoples greatly appreciating having a voice for the first time in a generation. This growing split results in two factions: the populists, who want power vested in individual systems and planets, and the centrists, who want power centralized in a single figurehead. While the war rages on in the Senate, some centrist systems begin funneling money through a crime syndicate into the pockets of a resurgent Imperial faction, living in the Shadows as the First Order.

Related: Star Wars: Where The First Order Gets Its Troops and Money

Narrowly surviving a bombing at the New Republic Senate, Leia Organa investigates a cartel she believes could be involved, uncovering ties to a massive military group, revealing there is a quickly growing threat to the New Republic. The immediate threat is subdued, but the New Republic refuses to raise a proper defense force in response, preferring to stay non-militarized as it has been since the fall of the Empire.

Birth of the Resistance

General Leia smiling in Star Wars The Force Awakens

Since the New Republic won't defend itself, Leia Organa retires from government duty to form the Resistance, along with a few old Rebellion heroes such as Gial Ackbar and Caluan Ematt. The Resistance is the galaxy's first - and basically only - line of defense against the new threat of the First Order. While Leia is able to muster minimal support, the Resistance still struggles to grow, benefiting from the addition of a number of tactical geniuses and crack pilots like Admiral Ackbar and Black Squadron leader Poe Dameron.

Fall of the Jedi

Knights of Ren in Star Wars The Force Awakens

Having taken his nephew, Ben Solo, on as one of many new apprentices, Luke believes the boy has potential to be a powerful Jedi. While Ben initially proves to be adept with the Force, he's eventually swayed to the dark side by The First Order's mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke. He turns on Luke, killing destroying the new generation of Jedi. Taking the name Kylo Ren and becoming the master of the Knights of Ren, the former son of Solo is now a ruthless attack dog of the First Order.

Devastated and ashamed at his failure and the loss of the Jedi, Luke goes into exile, seeking out the location of the first Jedi temple on the planet Ahch-To.

NEXT: Rian Johnson Mapping Out All Of New Star Wars Trilogy