Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-71.91.107.58-20140401194503/@comment-24261859-20140404100528

They did not, though there were other instances of "limited" british aggression against the Indian protestors. However, that was more due to the British not wanting to harm their image by starting a conflict, a trait that they do not share with the Thalmor. Plus, Gandhi would not have reciprocated even if they had (unless this is Civ V's Gandhi we're talking about, haha.)

If the people of the (former) Empire protested in public, the Thalmor (assuming that they still occupy the territory in force) would probably not hesitate to go in and attack. Given the fairly violent nature of Tamriel, to the point where, canonically, it is nicknamed the Arena to explain the title of TES I, it seems more likely that it would indeed end up in open conflict.