Emperor Palpatine. Probably the most evil villain ever to grace the movie screen. The devil in disguise is what most people would describe him as, yet surprisingly this character can be recognised in some of the most famous historical figures and the actions he does and the effects of those can be compared to real historic events.

The first historic person that would spring to mind is Adolf Hitler. The way Palptine rose to power is similar to that of Hitler. Palpatine is democratically elected but he strengthens his power when a Separatist threat looms. Hitler was also democratically elected but grabbed additional power due to the Jewish/Bolshevik threat after the Reichstag fire. Yoda's and Palpatine's duel can be seen as a parallel to the Reichstag fire since a) For Palpatine and Hitler, it is seen as proof of a threat to their nation b) the outcome in both paved the way for Palpatine and Hitler to take full control and power and c) it all happened due to their manipulation.

Given also the fact that the EU has given the Empire a racist quality suppressing other species in a Nazi kind of way and that the Imperial soldiers are called Stormtroopers, the same as the German elite-soldiers of WWII.

Another historical figure that Palpatine bears resemblance to is that of the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. For one Julius Caesar grabbed power in ancient Rome because he had an army of loyal soldiers behind him. Also Palpatine had a whole army loyal to the Republic, which indirectly means that they're loyal to him to secure his rise to complete power.

There are also startling parallels between the Roman Senate and the Republic Senate. Looking through the official databank, one will discover that most Senators of the Republic were either of noble birth, corrupt or corrupt nobles. This is also the case of the Roman Senate were most of the privileged took their seats and would usually make decisions based on what they would gain or what people supporting them would gain. On a more interesting note, the Roman Senate could, under times of danger, elect a dictator that would take over from the Senate for 1 year. It's just like giving the Chancellor emergency powers during a crisis and as Obi-Wan says in Revenge of the Sith (not exact quote): "A man that has been in office longer then he should've been", which implies that a Chancellor with emergency powers only has those powers for a certain amount of time, just like in ancient Rome.

Also, when Revenge of the Sith had it's premiere, it was criticized for bashing President Bush. Now I'm going to give you my take on it. What Palpatine does is very similar to that Bush has done: minimizing civil rights in the name of protection. Now, hear me out on this. Sure, there is a comparison but Bush has taken the same actions as other leaders of democratic countries have done in times of danger, but dictators have also used the exact same reason of a threat to strengthen their powers so it's a good/bad thing. It goes either way. Does this mean Bush is heading towards being like Palpatine? Not likely. And another thing: Bush supporters should realise that not everyone is going to agree with him and that there will always be movies bashing him, ridiculing him or give subtle nods to him through the bad guy. That's life and to attack someone for expressing their opinion truly is the first steps towards dictatorship.

To round it all off, I want to tell you about an interesting thing I noticed whilst comparing Palpatine with Caesar. Both Caesar and Palpatine are murdered, backstabbed, by the people the trust the most. Caesar was killed by several Senators among them his friend Brutus and when he realizes that Brutus is a part of the plot to murder him, he utters the famous sentence "And you, my child?". Now it's been discussed that Caesar had a love affair with Brutus mother and that Brutus possibly is the illegitimate son of Caesar. Now, apply this situation to Palpatine. Could it be possible that because the deaths of both Palpatine and Caesar are the same that maybe there's an underlying message in it all? Where they both killed by their children?

We all by now know the story of Plagueis and the theories surrounding the birth of Anakin. So is the Caesar parallel a subtle hint towards the birth of Anakin? Or is more the fact that Darth Vader and not Anakin Skywalker was the "child" of Palpatine?

Although I'm not a believer of the theory that Plagueis or Palpatine created Anakin, it's still an interesting observation.