In 11,707 BBY, the Pius Dea-controlled Galactic Republic launched the Eleventh Crusade against the Herglics. The invasion moved into Herglic Space south of the Deep Core, turning state violence against a species whose trading civilization had been connected to the Republic for more than a millennium.
The Republic attacks Herglic Space
The Herglics had joined the Republic around 13,000 BBY and helped develop major navigation and trade networks.
By the Pius Dea period, that history of participation offered little protection from humanocentric crusading.
Herglic Space as a regional target
The campaign targeted a whole cultural-geographic region rather than one isolated planet.
Regional war threatened ports, shipping networks, colonies, and communities connected through Herglic commerce.
A history of anti-Pius Dea alliance
Herglics had already aligned with Alsakan during the Sixth Alsakan Conflict.
The Eleventh Crusade therefore also carried a political dimension: Herglic communities were associated with a major anti-Pius Dea coalition.
Anthropological assessment
The Eleventh Crusade exposes the instability of minority citizenship under an exclusionary state. Long membership, economic contribution, and previous loyalty did not protect Herglic communities once the regime defined species difference as religious danger.
It also shows how state categories can be reversed. A population previously treated as a member of the political community can be reclassified as an enemy without changing its own identity.
Sources and further reading
- Jason Fry with Paul R. Urquhart, Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare, Del Rey, 2012.
- Eleventh Pius Dea Crusade, Wookieepedia