(I forgot a lot of these details - but I remember also there was something about Palpatine being insane and having this automatic protocol that purposely sabotages the Empire in the event of his death.)

Yeah, there was that whole “Operation Cinder” protocol that was basically an order for the Empire to self destruct upon the Emperor’s death. Basically him saying “If I can’t have it, no one can.” That’s the canon explanation for why the GCW ended so quickly after Endor.

Of course, it makes less sense when you know that Palpatine was still alive.

And yeah, the demilitarization would be fine in theory if there weren’t still factions of Imperials at large that are actively hostile to the New Republic. And the proto-First Order must already be kidnapping kids at this point in the timeline. Basically, don’t throw away your military yet until you’re absolutely certain that the Empire is gone and every Imperial remnant is accounted for.

Maybe it’s realistic to real-life politics that the Republic made that mistake, but I’ve never bought the idea that Star Wars was a realistic political allegory. Besides Andor.