I'll concede this point, although if you want to be technical, it was the Atmorans who kicked the Snow Elves out of Skyrim.
If we want to get technical... It was the Nords that invaded High Rock, Hammerfell, Morrowind and Cyrodiil. More than once mind you.
Yet you continue to insult the Stormcloaks (who are mostly Nords) for being unintelligent.
Calling the Stormcloaks stupid has nothing to do with being Nords. Their entire rebellion is twenty years too late.
They are competent enough to run their own affairs,
By bankrupting most of the Holds, and Eastmarch being home to the largest and most organized bandit group in all of Skyrim, that are doing exactly what the Thalmor are doing?
Warriors make the worst rulers 9 times out 10. Skyrim is pretty plops on a good day, and only if you're attacked maybe four times.
as are the people of Hammerfell,
The Redguards weren't that great, they were politcally divided for centuries. Not even remotely prosperous for the Empire.
as are the people of High Rock.
Bretons of High Rock are some of the worst rulers in Tamriel. Politically unstable, very unreliable and mostly busy plotting against one another.
You may disagree with me and believe an independent Skyrim would fracture further into Eastern and Western Skyrim, but shouldn't that be up to the Nordic people to decide?
How isn't it up to the Nordic people? Many Nords oppose Ulfric. The Stormcloaks do not represent the Nordic people, only some and only those with a certain view.
Having an overbearing empire enforcing its will on those who no longer wish to be a part of it is oppressive.
Skyrim is represented in the Empire by its High King and their people on the Elder Council. "The Empire" didn't just force anything onto Skyrim that wasn't accepted by the High King and the Nords are not a democracy. High King says jump, Jarls say how high.
Hell, I usually kill Amaund Motierre anyway.
You kill a double. There are two of them, and are slightly different from one another.
Sea trade wouldn't be impeded at all, and as for land trade? It's already impeded by the mere fact that the most direct route from High Rock to Cyrodiil through Skyrim is through the Reach.
Sea trade is impeded. Getting into Skyrim is very hard as noted by various journals, dialogue and all those sea wrecks. Throw in the pirates that are controlling the contested waters. Sailing all around Tamriel itself isn't easy, as for land the most direct route from High Rock to Cyrodiil is not the Reach. Solitude's Hold would likely have several passes.
If I were an Imperial merchant, --scratch that-- if I were a merchant, period-- I wouldn't want to go anywhere near it.
The Legion are fighting the Forsworn. Legion does escort trade through troubled areas if needed. A rebellion tends to put a lot of stuff on the back burner.
All I was saying was that fighting a war on two fronts is not a good idea. You'll spread your forces too thin.
Depends on what you're doing, and what you have. It isn't like they'd need to send much to combat Skyrim. Technically they probably wouldn't need to even send a Legion, there are plenty of mercenaries losing work due to the Stormcloaks ot wanting them.
As well, I believe that the comparison of Nazi soldiers dying in Siberia is an apt comparison to Legionnaires dying of exposure in the frozen wastes of northernmost Skyrim.
You're talking about a Military force that has walked under a lake to assault a fortress from the weak point. Cold isn't an issue, they've been in Skyrim long enough to know how to combat the cold.
"The Legion always finds a way." - Rikke
This wasn't a comparison of the Nazis themselves to the Imperials, but rather their idea that they can both fight off the Dominion and the Stormcloaks at the same time.
Not only that, they're preparing a staging ground into Morrowind. The Empire does many things, bluffing isn't one of them. They're not idiots, and they're hardly weak/pathetic. Imperials are some of the best military tacticians.
Just like how the Nazis tried to fight both Allied attacks coming from the west and Russian attacks from the east, the impact is going to eat away at Imperial forces until it either cripples them, or becomes like the War in Vietnam did for the States. They will have to pull out and negotiate another treaty. (Seems like the only thing Imperials are good at doing. Hah!)
Imperials are good at two things. Politics and war. They're not the most imposing of races, and probably one on one won't win against a master Aldmeri spellsword or a Nord berserker. Except if you give them a few hundred people with several months to train and they'll hold their own. They produce soldiers, not warriors.
Anyway, the Stormcloaks are hardly as threatening as Russia was.
Wouldn't put it past them, but I feel like their designs on world domination wouldn't be complete without controlling the entire map.
That idea ended with Battle of the Red Ring. They had one good shot and blew their load too soon. It took them two hundred years to match a weakened, unprepared Empire and they didn't gain any land from the war.
Perhaps a few Altmer-Imperial marriages of convenience would be all they would need to secure power in Cyrodiil instead of taking it by open force, and then they could secretly control Cyrodiil that way. Just spitballing, of course.
No one person has absolute control. For argument sake, they took control of the Council. How will they get far when the population hates them? You'd need to get the Legion generals on your side, which isn't likely to happen. They're mostly Colovian and that would be like getting Galmar to side with them.
You can't just secure power in Cyrodiil without support. Especially from the Colovians who will simply break away and form the Colovian Estates. They're Empire die hards, it is like finding your most die hard Stormcloak supporter and saying he'll side with the Thalmor or Imperials.
Whether or not the Nords are born conquerors does not preclude or eliminate that the Imperials are as well.
To be fair, they were mostly driven by the Divines to conquer. Mainly Akatosh.
I do Nord, if that means being a proud warrior in battle, but many Nords don't care who rules them, as long as the coin is flowing in. For every Erikur that says "Imperials are good for business", there's a Hulda saying "Well, the Stormcloak guards drink a lot more than the Imperials did, so I've been making more money lately. On the other hand, they're a violent bunch. Every night a fight breaks out and I end up with a smashed chair or a broken table. So, not much has changed, really."
For every Hulda there is a Grelka
"Well, let's all raise a flagon to Ulfric; future King of Skyrim and bringer of poverty to the working class!"
If you think that proves your own point, though, that's kind of a false connection, because a sizeable portion of Skyrim is quite upset at the terms of the WGC.
No one likes the terms of the WGC, just a sizeable portion believe it was needed to fight another day.
Religious persecution should not be tolerated.
Except it is, and has always been tolerated in Skyrim and many areas of Tamriel. When it is someone else's relgion it doesn't matter, but when it happens to you and you have a cry, it is a bit hypocritical to suddenly start going on about how it shouldn't be tolerated.
If you think once the Empire is gone that all will be free, you're sorely mistaken.
If the Stormcloaks wins the civil war against the Empire, and the Empire and most of the Thalmor are driven out of Skyrim will give Delphine and Esbern the opportunity to rebuild the blades faction without fearing of the Thalmor killing them due to the protection of the Stormcloaks.
Protection of the Stormcloaks... Yes, that is what Delphine and Esbern need. Despite thirty years of being able to avoid death from the Thalmor, they now need the Stormcloaks protecting them.
Their best protection, and it is pretty good protection... Is the fact they're in a hidden fortress that no body knows exists and all records of it were lost save a single book, that Esbern has. Unless they drop it in the Thalmor's mail box, it is unlikely they will be killed.
The Thalmor would need an army to get to them, which would mean they would need to defeat all of Cyrodiil, overrun Skyrim and outlast any attacks from High Rock, Hammerfell and any other provinces while they go over Skyrim with a fine comb to find this hidden fortress and then lay siege to it. Translating puzzles written in Akaviri, avoiding death traps and finally past the blood seal that needs the Dragonborn's blood...
What exactly would the Stormcloaks do for them? Remove a Thalmor embassy and a bunch of elves in fancy coats walking around? Totally safe now. Go to the inn for drinks, take the kids to the park, walk down to the shops. Dodge the knife from the assassin not wearing a fancy coat. Avoid the next one, and the one after that and the one after that until they decide they no longer hate you.
