User blog comment:Sgt. S.S./Why I support the Empire/@comment-2172565-20120321182901/@comment-71.116.244.135-20120322011740

With the empire in control of skyrim, the vast majority of skyrim's inhabitants are united against the thalmor; this would not be the case if the stormcloaks were in charge. the dunmer, for instance, would never support the stormcloaks' war against the thalmor with the rampant racism against their kind held by the stormcloaks; the empire and the orcs have traditionally had very strong ties to one another, so there's another group pissed off. the wood elves (though not quite as bad) are also mistreated by the stormcloaks, so there is probably little help against the thalmor there. via the rebellion itself, the stormcloaks have made sure that they will recieve no imperial support from Cyrodiil in a fight against the thalmor. it honestly doesnt matter whether or not the blades chose to aid the stormcloaks, as there are only a few blades left at all. as for the nords, the stormcloaks themselves alienated many nords by launching their rebellion.

add to that the fact that a large portion of skyrim's trade comes from imperial Cyrodiil (not to mention other imperial provinces). by cutting themselves off from the empire, the stormcloaks are also cutting skyrim off from that valuable trade(or at least dramatically hurting it). by reducing trade, the stormcloaks are losing a large amount of money; that means less money to get weapons, armor, food, animals, and the other supplies that would be hugely needed in the event of a war with the Aldmeri Dominion.

There is also the factor that Ulfric seems less than adept at negotiation. it seems unlikely that he could raise much support for a war from other provinces. while his speeches about nordic honor and strength may work on some of the people of skyrim, i doubt that any dark elves or orcs or other any other races for that matter would be impressed.

You also said that the empire is failing due to the weakness of the emperor Titus Mede II. you said that the empire was once great, with great men as their leaders; however, when you look at some of the folks of the line of Septim rulers, the starting line-up has some issues; Pelagius the Mad becoming emperor with his mother, Potema the Wolf Queen, who many people in skyrim try to forget, for instance. the leader is not what solely defines the strength of a society. and if you want to complain about the a group's leader, just look at who is heading up the Stormcloaks: Ulfric, the SELF PROCLAIMED leader of skyrim, the blatant racist, who just decides that he ought to lead skyrim, and to get the ball rolling decides to kill a young king just to make point in what he calls 'fair combat". throwing your inexperienced, young opponent to the ground with a shout, and stabbing him while he is down......Ulfric talks a lot about nord honor....... what the hell was so honorable about that fight?