In "Star Wars: Aftermath" how did Wedge know about the origins of the Empire?

Question

On page 14 of Aftermath, when Wedge is on his scouting mission approaching Akiva, he thinks to himself:

[the Empire] must have moved to the Outer Rim - study your history and it's easy to see that the seeds of the Empire grew first out here, away from the Core systems, away from the prying eyes of the Republic.

I don't understand how this thought makes sense canonically. From the perspective of a regular citizen, or even a generally distrustful citizen such as Wedge, the Empire was created at the instant at which Palpatine gave his monumental address to the Senate and declared the Jedi to be traitors.

It seems to me that understanding that the Empire had these surreptitious origins would require knowledge of Palpatine's Sith roots. Only Obi-Wan, Yoda, Bail Organa knew that Palpatine was a Sith Lord (to my knowledge).

How does Wedge's thought make sense here?

Answer 1

Star Wars: Aftermath takes place after the events of Return of the Jedi.

Luke and Wedge were both present for the briefing before the Battle of Endor:

Antilles was present at a briefing aboard the Rebel command ship, Home One, in which High Command introduced the plan to destroy the shield generator protecting the Empire's second Death Star
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Since Luke and Wedge were both present for the briefing before the battle, it makes sense for both Luke and wedge to also be present for the debriefing that occurred after the battle of Endor.

Luke Skywalker, a Commander for the Rebel Alliance, would have reported to High Command in that post-battle debriefing. That report would likely have included the revelation that Palpatine was a Sith. Knowing the Sith identities of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, it wouldn't be too difficult for Wedge to work out how Palpatine's scheme had unfolded in hindsight.

Even Tarkin, without knowing (for sure) that Palpatine was a Sith, had suspected the Emperor of having orchestrated and manipulated events in his favor during the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War.

The "seeds of the Empire" that came from around the Outer Rim include:

1. Emperor Palpatine was the senator of his home planet Naboo, which is right on the border of the Outer Rim.

2. Darth Vader was born on Tatooine.

3. The Clone Army that would obey Palpatine's orders with out question were created on Kamino.

4. The droid armies that gave Palpatine an excuse to use the Clone Army were built on Geonosis.

Wedge would know about these things as they were generally known historical events.

So in conclusion, Wedge would've known about how the Clone Wars led up to the creation of the Empire and would know Palpatine was a Sith after Luke filled everyone in after the Battle of Endor.

Answer 2

I believe Wedge thinks about well known events which led to the Empire, a lot of them happened in the Outer Rim. I think it's obvious for a citizen of the Empire (who knows history as said by Wedge) that the Empire arose because of the Separatist movement and the Clone Wars.

The whole Separatist movement started in the Outer Rim - it is confirmed if you look at the Separatist movement article on Wookieepedia. Geonosis, the headquarters of the Separatists and where the Clone Wars begun, is in the Outer Rim (confirmed by Wookieepedia as well).