system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[StarWars] What would have changed if the Confederacy had won the clone war? What if they hadn't destroyed the republic, just successfully seceded?
gpt
That was a near-impossibility, as Darth Sidious was controlling both sides of the conflict and he wanted the Separatists to lose and the Empire to form from the remains of the Republic.  But if it had...

*Phase I: Shadow War*  The only way the Confederacy could have remained an autonomous entity is if Count Dooku had betrayed his allegiance to Darth Sidious.  (Other events would have had to occur too, but definitely Tyrannus would have had to rebel against Sidious.)  And what are we left with?  A Confederacy and an Empire both secretly ruled by Sith Lords.  So the first phase would be a shadow war of Tyrannus and Sidious attempting to assassinate each other.  If one should succeed in killing the other, then the loser's Empire/Confederacy would be severely weakened and would be prone to splintering.  This would make them easy pickings for their enemies. The Empire/Confederacy would rise if the enemy Sith Lord were killed.

*Phase II: Consolidation of Power*  Assuming that neither Sith Lord managed to kill the other, what would follow is a period of power consolidation.  Both leaders would kill, imprison, or force compliance from all potential competitors for power.

Most likely, to ensure that the populace would follow their leadership, they would need an enemy to unite them.  So...

*Phase III: War*  Having a definite enemy is useful for uniting the populace under one's leadership.  So the Empire would be at war with the Confederacy, and vice versa, for a long time.  Because even if they are not progressing in the war, they can still use the common enemy to consolidate their own power.