User blog comment:Thedoucheinthenorth/The Civil War - Why it is great/@comment-5469467-20121101051603/@comment-1600847-20121102015559

The Empire lost on both fronts. Had they not accepted the Concordat, the Thalmor would have brought up new levies to fight a weakened, exhausted army. But the Thalmor were weakened enough that they doubted they could win swiftly, so they accepted.

And this Hammerfell thing is getting old. They didn't defeat the Dominion, they caused enough trouble that the Thalmor withdrew. Just like Vietnam didn't defeat the US, they just made it not worthwhile to continue fighting. Had the Thalmor not been weakened from their war with the Empire, Hammerfell would have been destroyed. If Skyrim secedes, you can bet the Dominion will invade. It's easier to fight two divided, weakened enemies than a single, united Empire.