User blog comment:Spritydove/Deeper Thought into the Civil War/@comment-4772788-20120616195356

I believe if Ulfric were to win, then the Aldmeri dominion would view the Empire as too weak, and would replace them entirely, removing any illusion of the Empire surviving, with the Empire staying intact, it would remain strong enough to rebel against the Aldmeri. I believe that the Empire would do better at fighting the Aldmeri then the stormcloaks because the Empire would be more likely to ally with the Khajjit and the Redguards, as well as possibly making a deal with the bretons (the bretons are an enemy of the Nords and the Nords don't view Khajjits as equals in any way) we know from in game lore that the Khajjit are trying to take back their land from the Elves, we also know that the Redguards are gaining speed for a full out rebellion against the Aldmeri. If these groups were to form a coalition, the Aldmeri would be powerless to stop them. The Dunmer and bosmer would likely stay divided over who to ally with (bosmer and Dunmer don't gain anything from siding with either force.) However Ulfric stormcloaks rebellion would likely favor the nords, resulting in a weak or non existent alliance with any groups (the Khajjit aren't allowed inside the city gates much less into the castle.)  so due to this I think that for the sake of defeating the Aldmeri, the Empire must survive. This is also a bigger problem because the high elves live for over 1000 years each, so they can theoretically win any war of attrition as the army they have can be maintained with the same troops for decades.