Jedi and the army.

yes, but in the movie, she's not there... (but she wasn't really needed, as almost the entire galaxy was a republic). And the war started as a civil war (when a number of planets decided to secede from the republic (separatists), and they prepared thoroughly in secret).

And the events of KOTOR seem to take place about 5,000 years before the movie (or a thousand...). Well, in any case, a long time ago.