The Clone War was a great inter-galactic war fought a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. The war was fought between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. This war spanned 13 years, beginning in 32 BBY (before battle of Yavin), and came to a dramatic conclusion in 19 BBY. There were many major organizations involved on the side of the Confederacy, such as the Trade Federation and the Separatists. However, the entire war was orchestrated by the Chancellor Palpatine of the Republic in order to gain power and create his own empire.
The war began on the planet Naboo in 32 BBY when the Trade federation placed a blockade around the planet after the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi had traveled there for diplomatic negotiations. This led to the discovery of Anakin Skywalker who would later be recognized as the prophesized chosen one. On Naboo, the two Jedi were also attacked by the Sith apprentice Darth Maul which was the first appearance of a Sith in over 1000 years, alerting the Jedi council that something was brewing. After this conflict, a Jedi master by the name of Sifo-Dyas was extremely worried so he went behind the council’s back and commissioned the creation of an army of clones on the planet of Kamino. The evil Chancellor Palpatine found out about this and manipulated the clones to secretly be a part of his plan to gain power.
A decade later, tensions have escalated, and the Separatist movement gains momentum under the leadership of Count Dooku, a former Jedi turned Sith apprentice. In 22 BBY on the separatist planet of Geonosis, Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Senator Padme Amidala discover a manufacturing plant for a droid army but are subsequently captured. They manage to get a distress signal out and almost the whole Jedi order shows up. This is considered the beginning of the Clone Wars as it was the first time the clone and droid Armies were utilized, and it was the first large scale conflict between Republic and Separatist.
The three years between 22 and 19 BBY were the most chaotic of the War. In 19 BBY, the separatists launched an attack on Coruscant, the home planet of the Republic. In this attack they “kidnapped” Chancellor Palpatine, who was pulling the strings on both sides. Palpatine’s grand plan was for Anakin to kill Count Dooku to try and coerce him to the dark side. This plan succeeded; the Jedi “rescued” the Chancellor, and Anakin beheaded Dooku. Shortly after this, Palpatine executed order 66, which was his grand plan behind the clone army. This order activated a chip in the Clone’s brains to turn on the Jedi and kill them all with no second thought. After this, Palpatine took on Anakin as his Sith apprentice, naming him Darth Vader, and the age of the Empire began.