I am sure the Jarls Elisif, Siddgeir, Idgrod, Igmund, and eventually Balgruuf very much agree to that. And as Nords, they see Skyrim as a part of the Empire. As did Ulfric and the vast majority of Nords for many centuries.

Honestly, given Bethesda's track record, I'd say that the outcome of the Stormcloak rebellion and a potential AD invasion is going to matter very little when Skyrim is ultimately nuked by some catastrophic deus ex machina.

double post

A lot of them note that they'd rather secede, but are either afraid of what the imperials will do in response, or don't want to get in bad trade relationships with the empire.

You make some very valid points but the French had a let them eat cake revolution that as far as I know didnt result in a new nation. If the stormcloaks win wouldnt they prefer to call it a war of independence and If the empire win wouldnt they prefer to refer to it as some minor civil unrest ?. It seems to me that its only the Dominion that would benefit from the world thinking of it as a civil war.

Tiber Septim defeated a large Nord-Breton army at Sancre Tor and the Nords agreed to support him, probably because they were awed by his military prowess and were distrustful of their former allies from High Rock. And the Stormcloaks are far from being traditional Nords, they worship Imperial gods rather than the traditional Nord gods for example. Many of them are only fighting the Empire because they are butthurt that their Emperor signed the White Gold Concordat with the Aldmeri Dominion, had Titus Mede not signed it they'd probably have remained loyal to the Empire.

I think that it's more about the legality of worshipping Talos, Tiber, Hjalti... Whatever name you want to give him. They're offended by the fact that the Empire sold out its own founder just to please the Aldmeri.

Agreed. My point was that the rebellion isn't a clash of different cultures as the Stormcloaks and Imperial supporters are culturally very similar (worship the same gods, have the same institutions etc.). The main difference is that one side supports/is indifferent to the signing of the concordat and the other bitterly opposes it (the main condition of which was a ban on Talos worship).

There was some general unrest over imperial interference (see http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Skyrim). All the imperial provinces chafed to one degree or another over the empire ruling over their local customs. Skyrim's history being what it was, that was never as strong as in High Rock or Black Marsh for example, and it was going to take something big to turn chafing into war.

I still say, however, that the fact that Cyrodiil is the one calling the shots makes it more of a war of occupation than the American civil war or revolution. There's an ethnic element to the conflict that you see in Tullius' dialogue especially.

It also barley seems to be happening. The only time Stormcloaks and Empire fight is when the PC is directly involved. Where are the assinations? Why are there no mysterious explosions in the armories? Why aren't sympitheres being made examples of?

Skyrim is part of the Empire though, so that argument is invalid.

Thats like saying the US civil war wasnt as a civil war because the South was occupied by a foreign force, the North. Obviously thats going to be the viewpoint of the guys trying to secede, just like the ones trying to keep the country together will say that the other side are merely rebels against the legitimate autority, that no one should recognize them, and that crushing them is purely an internal matter, refusing to call it a civil war for these reasons.

Essentially, civil war is the neutral term, which neither side truly likes (because it doesn't put THEIR side ahead) but that is fairest and most neutral to describe a conflict.

In Skyrim, the rebels cry Oppression and the status quo forces cry Aggression. But the truth is that the most balanced term to view the conflict is 'Civil War'.

Judea was a part of Romes empire so were the rebellions there civil war ?.

It was the most basic definition of the term of civil war and saying it's wrong just because it happen to be written on wikipedia is absurd at best. Also civil wars are conflicts between vast and armed forces not locals versus armed forces of the state. Stormcloacks are an army if haven't noticed.

Can you point out were I said its wrong ?.

Apple and oranges. Judea was a foreign conquest and holding, something Skyrim is not. In fact, Skyrim is the roots of the Empire and has as much claim as Cyrodill to being Imperial. A war between Constantinople and Rome would be a better parrallel, or the US civil war.

As far as I know the empire is ruled by the emperor Skyrim and its Jarls have no say in what the empire does. That makes it a force of occupation the Imperials are only recruiting locals due to a shortage of there own fighters. That gives it the feeling of an occupation force in Skyrim rather than Skyrim being some kind partner to the empire.

Comparing this situation to US civil war is invalid. If you want to call my argument invalid you need to call American Revolutionary War as civil war. It has same kind of situation as the Skyrims civil war have. If American Revolutionary War was a civil war then I must apologize and accept that war we have in Skyrim is a civil war.

Technically the American revolution was consider a civil war among colonists because about as many as one-fifth. (Maybe even one-third) were still loyal to Britain.

It sort of was. The revolutionaries believed themselves Englishmen who were fighting to have the same rights as other Englishmen, and a good number of colonials were royalists who ended up getting killed/ chased out. So it does have a similar feel to the Skyrim civil war.

On one hand you have the new-ish Mede Dynasty trying to hold together the Empire of the Septim dynasty whilst being battered around the head by a group of racist Elves and on the other side you have the independent Hammerfell and Stormcloaks who want to secede from the Empire they helped forge because the Septim dynasty has ended. To be fair to the Imperials they have to take care of Cyrodiil before Skyrim since Cyrodiil is the front line between them and the Aldmeri Dominion but on the other hand they should really sort out their own problems before the other provinces' problem.

So IMO the best solution is to give Skyrim and High Rock independence so that when the next war comes the Men can stand united but yet independent together against the Dominion.

P.S include the Dunmer and Orcs as well since their still allied to the Empire.

Like I said before, the applicable term is determined by the outcome:
The American Revolution was such because the colonists won and a new nation was formed. The ruling authority in America was completely changed to something new, hence revolution. If the rebellion had ended with British control still in place then it would have been just a civil conflict with little or no overall change.
That's why the American Civil War is deemed such, because the nation emerged whole and intact with Union control winning out over both regions. If the Confederate states had succeeded in forming a new nation, we'd be calling it a revolution instead.
The French and Russian Revolutions are revolutions because everything changed, after the fighting ended the nations that emerged were totally different from the ones that existed before; new governments, new cultures even.

So, whether it's a revolution or civil conflict depends on the outcome. Right now it's rebellion and that can lead to either outcome.

The French Revolution did result in a new nation. Everyone still called it France, but everything about it was different, government, culture, traditon right down to style of dress. The very meaning of what it was to be French changed. Hence Revolution.

I think the reason that the Empire cant go through Hammerfell is not because it's a desert but because the Empire abandoned Hammerfell after the signing of the White-Gold Concordat, Hammerfell is no longer part of the Empire

True

Province pro (on behalf of) vincere (to triumph or to take control of) Skyrim is a province of the empire.