Skyrim Civil War

"When the sons of Skyrim would spill their own blood."

- -Esbern on the prophecy to unfold

The Stormcloak Rebellion, also called the Great Uprising, is an ongoing civil war in the province of Skyrim. It started when High King Torygg was killed by Ulfric Stormcloak, who then founded the Stormcloak Rebellion.

The Stormcloaks believe that the Empire betrayed Skyrim by signing the White-Gold Concordat with the Aldmeri Dominion at the end of the Great War, as the Concordat now binds the Empire to several Thalmor demands — including the outlawing of Talos worship — and the Stormcloaks feel that the Thalmor have far too much influence over the Empire. The Imperial Legion see the Stormcloaks as traitors — partly due to their desire to secede from the Empire, and partly due to Ulfric Stormcloak's alleged murder of High King Torygg — and seek to crush the rebellion and prevent it from taking control of Skyrim.

As the war between the Stormcloaks and Imperials heats up in Skyrim, the Dragonborn can choose a side and end the war.

Stormcloaks
The Stormcloaks were founded by Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak of Eastmarch, with the goal of expelling the Empire, turning Skyrim into an independent Nord state, and restoring Talos worship. Aside from the ban on Talos worship, the main motivation behind the Stormcloak rebellion is the belief that the Imperial government has become little more than a puppet for the Thalmor, and is therefore unfit to rule Skyrim.

Their base of operations is the Palace of the Kings in the city of Windhelm, with Galmar Stone-Fist serving as their field commander.

Imperials


The Imperials represent the Mede Imperial government that once ruled over most of Tamriel. They are fighting against the resistance led by Ulfric Stormcloak, with the goal of keeping Skyrim in the Empire and punishing Ulfric for the alleged murder of Torygg, the province's last High King. Many citizens of Skyrim support the Legion because they feel Ulfric's speeches about freedom and independence are nothing but political posturing, and his true motive for starting the rebellion was simply his desire to become Skyrim's next High King.

General Tullius, the Military Governor of Skyrim, leads the Legion's military operations in Skyrim; Jarl Elisif the Fair of Haafingar is the primary pro-Imperial political leader. In Skyrim, the Legion is headquartered at Castle Dour in the city of Solitude, with Legate Rikke serving as their field commander.

Initial territories
Initially, if the Dragonborn has not reunified/liberated any hold, the Empire controls 15 territories across four western holds (Falkreath, Haafingar, Hjaalmarch and the Reach) while the Stormcloak rebellion controls 10 territories across four eastern holds (Eastmarch, the Pale, the Rift and Winterhold). The central hold of Whiterun remains neutral unless the Dragonborn begins the Civil War questline.

Trivia

 * Choosing to complete the Civil War quests does affect some quests. Season Unending, in the main quest, pauses the Civil War temporarily. However, If you complete either of the Civil War quests, The peace meeting is never made.
 * Dragonborn may lose any bounty they had in a city with the Civil War questline.