"Fear will keep them in line.... Fear of this Battlestation!" What was The Empire's official story in regards to the destruction of Alderaan? Did they take full credit for it, punishing the planet for sedition against The Empire? The planet was a Core World, surely with millions of loyal citizens, not to mention Imperial Personal and equipment. In some EU stories, I believe they said that the planet's destruction was due to an industrial accident caused by Rebel saboteurs... but if that was the case, why would the galaxy fear what a Death Star could do? Of course, why would the galaxy be afraid of a Death Star so easily destroyed? (A fact I know Alliance propaganda exploited.) Did The Empire deny the Death Star's existence? Did they claim such a massive project had a purpose other than the destruction of planets. Or were they upfront with the fact they had destroyed one of the Galaxy's wealthiest worlds, and fully intend to do the same to any other planets that defied them?
I'd bet that Palpatine either said that Tarkin went rogue or that anti-Imperial forces were being launches from Alderaan.
We might learn more in the Vader comic that's coming out, because I believe one of the guys working on it said something about Vader facing the repercussions of being partially responsible for the destruction of the Death Star. But if it doesn't I'm wondering why build such a powerful weapon if not to do what Tarkin suggested, fear putting the galaxy at their mercy. Telling the galaxy that your world will be utterly destroyed if you don't comply is a powerful motivator. Though because the Death Star was destroyed shortly after Alderaan, the propaganda might change so the Empire doesn't look weak.
Palpatine wouldn't come up with a cover story. He had believed and rightly so, that the Death Star was his final solution to maintain control of the Empire. He no longer concerned himself with looking good in the eyes of the people. The Death Star was not easily destroyed as it took a Jedi Padawan to destroy something that was heavily protected and couldn't be hit normally. If Luke had fallen or was killed, that would be the end of it once the second Death Star was complete and the Alliance was destroyed.
If he was relying on fear to keep people in line, I'd say that he wouldn't be too happy about the idea of some kid off a farm flying in and blowing up the DS doing the rounds. Palpatine being Palpatine, I'd say he'd find a way to spin it in his own favour. Say it was a Jedi who escaped the purge or something.
I don't know, wouldn't saying a Jedi destroyed just give people more hope about the Return of the Jedi? When the Rebels did destroy the Death Star it was supposed to be a secret project, I assume that is why they brought the Falcon in because they didn't want to any living witnesses to the destruction of Alderaan. Did they actually claim that an entire planet was destroyed by an "industrial accident??"
The cover story varied. I think at least one EU story has the Empire claiming that the Rebels boarded their "Planetary Ore Extractor" - took it over, and fired it at Alderaan. After Endor, the Imperial Museum used a similar story for the second Death Star - Rebels stole plans, built their own, and the Emperor boarded it and destroyed it, sacrificing his life in the process. Holographic narration by Darth Vader: "Behold my Master and weep. He has been stolen from us by those who embrace hatred. The Emperor learned that the Rebels had stolen plans for an Imperial Planetary Ore Extractor and intended to use the one they were fabricating at Endor on inhabited planets. He assembled his fleet, and, heedless of personal danger, he had me take him to Endor. He infiltrated the half-completed extractor, offering these Rebels his forgiveness and a hand in friendship. They rejected him and attacked his fleet. My Master had no choice but to destroy this Death Star himself, perishing in the process so his citizens could live on. I was slain with him, but my death did not distress me, for it came in service to my Master."
I also vaguely remember something from the EU about how they had to destroy the planet in order to prevent the release of "Bail Organa's bioweapons" or something like that.
Hadn't Alderaan been an unarmed world for like..ever? Who would beleive that they all of a sudden decided to start developing bioweapons? I guess the same guys who were convinced that the Jedi who had protected the Republic for 25,000 years and had just been defending it in the biggest war in galactic history suddenly decided to take over
In the EU, they "disarmed after the Clone Wars" - loading all their major weaponry onto a ship (Another Chance) and sending it into hyperspace, in a way that ensured they wouldn't be able to call it back.
The Empire uses a lot of "you were lied to all along" tactics in their propaganda. The jedi were always plotting to take over despite millenia of defending the republic, peaceful planets were actually plotting terrorist attacks, etc. Never really understood the whole "the jedi tried to take over and destroy our democracy, so now we must destroy our democracy to stop them" thing either. I guess propaganda is really just icing on the cake, and that cake is a star destroyer.
Propaganda might not be quite the right term for what was going on at that point. But the people still needed to be kept in line and that required them to believe that the Empire had the means to squash any dissenters at any time. Is that impression lessened by news of a farm kid flying in and blowing up 'the ultimate power in the universe'? Matter of opinion I guess.
Surely it was somehow tied in with the reason the Senate was disolved. Regardless, it must have been a busy news week on the holonet...
Also in the X-wing books, Tycho mentions something about how the destruction of Alderaan was blamed on the Rebels, but he instantly knew it was crap, because the Rebels depended to much on Alderaanian help to have blown it up even if they did have the capacity to do it.
Why would there be propaganda? The entire purpose of the Death Star was to essentially hold a gun to the head of the entire galaxy. Relying on supreme power to rule. You don't need propaganda for that, you need the truth. Like the Doomsday machine in Strangelove. Doesn't do much good if people don't know about it.
Given that the Death Star was destroyed mere days after the destruction of Alderaan - they have a reason not to publicise it at that point.
Assuming they haven't already publicized it. I think the more interesting question is what the propaganda would be to cover up the DS being destroyed after they had made a big hoo ha about their new super weapon. Probably pretend it didn't happen at all. Hmm, might I have stumbled on a logical reason for spending all that money on a second DS? To maintain the presence of a looming super weapon you have just used as justification for dissolving the senate, destroying a planet and more or less treating an entire galaxy as your property to do as you please? That's a pretty big game to talk if people at large find out you don't actually have a Death Star anymore!
Yes, that was in the book X-wing: The Bacta War that Tycho said that the Emporer claimed that the Rebels had destroyed Alderaan.
The rationale offered for dissolving the Senate, if I recall from the novelization, was the "emergency situation" created by the Rebellion - it wasn't quite as in your face as "now I have a Death Star. Ho ho ho." (Although the subtext was still blatant).
