Why the Excision?
The Mandalorian Excision was an unprovoked attack against the Mandalorians conducted by the Jedi and Republic. It resulted in Mandalore's ecological devastation and current wasteland like surface, and is one of the Jedi and Republic's most infamous actions.Â
Many Jedi/Republic stans will excuse this action by saying the Mandalorians were the aggressors, disregarding that we have no knowledge of this. Or they will point to atrocities committed and wars waged by the Mandalorians previously (And by previously, I mean thousands of years ago) as a way to justify the Excision, but I disagree. Here is what I believe the reason was.
Firstly, the Republic had previously conducted what are known as the unification campaigns. Essentially after the New Sith wars, the Republic was fractured, and some worlds didn't want to return, so they declared their independence. The Republic responded with military force, not allowing those worlds to leave. I wouldn't be surprised if some of those worlds had become Mandalorian protectorates (more on those in a later post).
Secondly, the Mandalorians had control of the Hydian way, one of the five most important trade routes in the galaxy, and they began taxing trade. So the excision was also motivated by economic interests, with companies and corporations likely “encouraging” the Republic to conduct the excision.
Thirdly, the Republic and Jedi wanted to remove a threat to their power. While the Mandalorians weren't doing anything at the time, another war was very possible. We know the Republic wanted the Mandalorians to disarm, but these are Mandalorians, weapons are part of their religion, and the Republic has no authority over them.Â
A good reason why the Jedi would aid in the excision is because the Mandalorians were the biggest check against their power now that the Sith were gone. If the Mandalorians are out of the picture, then the Jedi could operate near unopposed.Â
All in all, the Republic wanted to reassert their political, territorial and economic dominance, and the Jedi wanted to get rid of the one group who could serve as a check against their power. This fits pretty well with the definition of imperialism.
The unfortunate thing is had the Republic allowed the Mandalorians to remain warriors, and not required them to disarm, there's a chance the Mandalorians could have joined the Republic. They would likely put their martial skills to work keeping the peace and fighting pirates, slavers and the like.
I'm surprised such a deal was not proposed or accepted, it makes perfect sense. But I can also think of one group of people, conveniently possessing mind influencing powers, who might not want the Republic to have a check against them.
See, most of these are extremely good points, but I can't say I agree with the level of involvement that you think the Jedi had. (I say this as someone who believes that the Jedi have absolutely done some things that they shouldn't have, but also that the Republic --and specifically the Senate-- are more responsible for most of them than the Jedi, especially depending on the time period and the level of information that was shared with the Jedi regarding such things. To be completely honest, I'm much more of a Mando fan than a Jedi fan, but have been doing a lot of research regarding things like Dral'han.)
I really do not think that the Jedi Order as a whole were anywhere near as involved with Dral'han as they're implied to be. Keep in mind, I am no expert, but I'm cross-referencing pretty much everything I'm saying here so at least some of it has to be accurate.
The Jedi stopped being a militant force after the Ruusan Reformations led to the debanding of the Army of Light, up until the Clone Wars. Yes, there were Jedi involved in military conflicts after that point, but that was the last time the Jedi Order involved themselves in a military conflict to anywhere near that degree. And it devastated the Order, especially with how shortly the Ruusan Reformations followed and the demanded restructuring. During the period of time that Dral'han would have happened in, the Jedi Order were far too focused on rebuilding themselves to be so involved in the affairs of the Republic.
I do think it was possible that there were Jedi involved in Dral'han (in fact, in my Tarre Vizsla fanfic, there was a small group of Jedi heavily involved in the conflict... who then suffered repercussions from the rest of the Order for their actions).
But there is also a more plausible theory, and one that we've seen again and again throughout the history of the Republic.
There is (from what I've seen, please correct me if I'm wrong!) no actual record of which Jedi were involved in Dral'han, or how-- on the Fandom page (which, I know, is likely to be inaccurate, but this is the only source I've found), it lists "Jedi Order" under combatants, and "Members of the Jedi Order" under commanders. There is not a single name listed. Granted, there are no other names listed regarding Dral'han itself, but it's still odd. The Mandalorians are a people with a very long memory and a deep hatred for the Jedi, and Dral'han was a very public event; it could hardly not be, considering everything about it. Would Mandalorians not remember the names of those involved, particularly if they were Jedi?
My theory is that the Jedi were involved on either a very small, individual scale (considering that, according to the Ruusan Reformations, the Jedi weren't allowed the level of involvement in military conflicts implied), or weren't really involved at all. We've seen the Republic (and later, the Empire) scapegoat the Jedi many times. Considering everything surrounding Dral'han, and the fact that the Mandalorians were a passive threat to the Republic, it seems more likely that the Republic changed the history so that, if Mandalore ever rose again, their focus would again be on the Jedi, rather than the Republic.
Then again, that's all speculation, since we don't have any real sources regarding Dral'han and know basically nothing... ugh.
tl;dr: While there may have been Jedi involved in Dral'han, it's much more likely that the Order as a whole was not, and that the Jedi involved were working alone. The theory that seems more plausible to me is that the Republic is once again scapegoating the Jedi to avoid the consequences of their own actions. Then again, all speculation.
You mention not having any names, but that makes it more likely it was the Jedi order as a whole. If it was an isolated group they are more likely to be named individually. The Jedi also had 300 years to rebuild at this point, and they didn’t take part in the unification campaigns previously, likely in order to rebuild
Also, it should be remembered that Yoda would have been in charge during this period, and something like this isn’t completely out of character. This is the same guy who was willing to condemn criminals to chattel slavery for the “greater good”
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was dissent from some Jedi over this, but their isn’t much evidence to say that it was a smaller group similar to the revanchists.
Also, which fanfic are you talking about? I might have read it.
