User blog comment:Zippertrain85/"Why the Empire Should Prevail Over the Stormcloaks" refuted (part 1)/@comment-11532953-20131210060926/@comment-11532953-20131212065903

The slower reproduction rates of evles compared to humans was not a considerable factor. The reason Titus Mede signed the Concordat was the vast differences in resources between the two powers. The Empire was no longer a power with only Skyrim and Highrock left under its control, losing most of Tameriel in the previous years of chaos.

Both sides could well foresee that war would end in the Thalmor's favour. In fact the generals under Titus were in favour of surrender to the Thalmor demands before the war had even started. A comparison can be drawn from the real life battle of Heraclea. Greek King Pyrrhus of Epiras fought the Roman invaders and won. Except he didn't have enough resources to rebuild his army in time for the next battle. The Romans who enjoyed a huge initial supply of troops and weapons sent in another army to finish the job.

Likewise there wasn't much Titus could do to hold onto the lifeless ruins of the Capital after the Battle of the Red Ring. It had been raised by seige and sacking and the evles had butchered its human inhabitants. The farmers of Cyrodil who hadn't fled the country were working hard with the farmers of the last few provinces of the empire to supply their own countries plus the failing war effort.

On the other hand, the elves had none of these problems. The loss of the invasion force against the capital was a minor price to pay. In the event of further war, the Empire would be crushed, and both sides knew it. This is why the Thalmor felt free to bully the Empire into a deal for truce that heavily favoured the evles. The Empire was left to sit there like good children and suck it up.

My opinion is that this war could have been avoided had the empire signed the concordat before the bloodshed. Look how it turned out...