This thread is not about which side has the most just cause to win the war and whatnot.Looking at most cities+settlements in Skyrim , you cant help but notice that they are most in ruin.The only ones that are somewhat prosperous are Solitude and Whiterun.

Now if you go by that alone, siding with the imperials should be a nobrainner.But if the imperials win the civil war,whos to say they wont use Skyrim`s economy to further there war efforts against the Thalmor?On the other hand, if the stormcloaks win it..well they just dont seem smart enough to see that they need to rebuild and start to think forward to the future, if they want to have a strong country.

So whats your 2 cents on this guys?

Both sides will rebuild.

The Empire, they have the money, man-power, resources, and support. Ulfric bankrupted his own treasury during the war which is a extremely bad thing and not good for actually rebuilding skyrim not to mention the stormcloaks have no trading allies or alliances with any of the other provinces or outside force.

Both sides will rebuild.

But the Empire has more coin to do just that, if they so desire.

I'm afraid that is the inevitable destination of all CW related threads.

I know right!

Honestly they both would rebuild, ALTHOUGH, with the truce they could pool their resources and rebuild faster.

Both sides will.

I think while they have more coin, they also have more provinces to fix. Cyrodiil AND Skyrim. I think since the East Empire Company is independent of the Empire, and both provinces are in need of trade, that SCs are in a better position for Skyrim to be rebuilt because Skyrim is their first and only priority. Just my opinion. I hope we can all at least consider the possibility without shouting "Ulfricz dumb en stoopid and would nevr do it." I know you won't Dean. Others though....

Both will rebuild, the better question is: how long would either side take to rebuild. I think stormcloaks would rebuild skyrim quicker because the empire is rebuilding Cyrodiil.

Stormcloaks.Empire will svck Skyrim dry.

And so it begins.

Both will rebuild.

You think Stormcloaks rebuild quicker because you are a Stormcloak supporter. Skyrim, even under Imperial rule, operates in a very autonomic fashion and Jarls of each hold are responsible for the reconstruction of their own holds. In the end it matters little who holds the crown.

Stormcloaks may have the advantage of working close to home, but the Imperials have the advantage of good business and money shipments from Cyrodiil. Neither have any true upper hand over the other.

As much as I support the Stormcloaks. This is true.

The Empire has more wealth, the Stormcloaks work close. It's very balanced.

They still get those from the east empire company. And what about Cyrodiil's need to rebuild? Surely that would limit them? As for the Jarls, thats how it works normally, but if the High King orders it (I'm guessing) he'd be able to control aspects of rebuilding. Again, (I'm guessing).

edit: However, I don't know how much money the Empire has, so I'll agree its balanced, assuming they do have enough for both.

Well first they would have to probably negotiate a new trading deal with the EEC than Ulfric has to find to set up trading regulations for skyrim as well as exporting and importing taxes seeing as skyrim would be an independent nation they probably wouldn't have the same trading regulations and laws as the Empire did. The negotiations with the EEC could end up going south causing the EEC not to do business, now I'm not saying it's what's going to happen I'm just saying there is a chance it could. Than you have to take in account that since Ulfric is the new crown his treasury becomes the treasury of skyrim as well meaning skyrim would be plunged into bankruptcy and he would probably have to loan money from his vassals causing him to go into debt and would end up making it bad for himself if he ended up not being able to pay for it.

You also have to take in account that the stormcloak army is still pretty small and weak and we don't know how well they'd do against Forsworn and bandits meaning that the silver shipments from Markarth could easily end up getting attacked since the silver-bloods no longer have a hold on the Forsworn and no matter what the forsworn are more driven to fight after the forsworn conspiracy and the EEC has a reason to not trust the local nord shipping companies after what happened in windhelm meaning they could not do business with that company or end up seeing all the Nordic trading companies as the same after that incident causing trading negotiations to go downhill, again nothing 100% concrete on this I'm just saying it's possible.

As others have said, both sides will.

I think the manner in which they'd approach it - and should approach it - is very different, however. The Empire would likely continue to promote Imperial culture in the province, with luxuries from Cyrodiil and a focus on thanking the Eight - and later the Nine. The Stormcloaks, on the other hand, would likely focus on rebuilding Talos' image and worship in Skyrim. I can imagine the grand shrines to Talos in every city and on every road.

The Stormcloaks would also have to put more emphasis on defence. All out war in Tamriel - the Dominion versus everyone else - is inevitable. The Empire has the benefit of a more people, more wealth, more military power. If Skyrim falls under Dominion invasion, Legions can be sent from High Rock and Cyrodiil to defend the Empire's northern border. The Stormcloaks wouldn't have that luxury - they share borders with the hostile Cyrodiil and High Rock, their ancient enemies in Morrowind and the constant threat of Aldmeri invasion. They'd need to build fortifications, raise and train armies, and pour diplomats into Hammerfell and Black Marsh.

As High King, his treasury will be that of Solitude's I'd imagine. He could easily claim that for his own. As for the army, It wouldn't be small, he controls all the holds. All those men would be his, and if he had to he could draft them. It's no longer a matter of support, he's the new King. Not just some rebel. Once he starts preparing to fight the elves I highly doubt that recruitment would be an issue, and he could conscript if he had to. For the trading negotiations, its possible, but I think Ulfric's charisma would come into play. That and a war preping Skyrim would be very good for their business. Just my opinion, none of this is of course fact.

edit: And I think the forsworn will be no more than a nuisance in the reach really.

edit edit: It's clear both sides will have potential issues, and ways to deal with them, so not really much to discuss. As everyone mostly already said, it's balanced.

The East Empire Company is a funny bit of business and there are several factors to consider.

1) That little bit of nastiness with the Shatter-Shields. The question here is whether or not Ulfric would do anything about a Stormcloak supporting shipping company that has probably contributed to his campaign. On the EEC's side I would be wary of doing business in that regard, but in terms of Ulfric I can't say I would blame him if he looked the other way.

2) We don't really know how intertwined the Empire is still with the EEC. Yes, Vittoria mentions about trading with the Thalmor but well.. I think we can both agree her plans are irrelevant in the long run, spoilers not withstanding. It's also not outside of the realm of possibility that the EEC still has exclusive trading rights to certain items, like they did in Morrowind for ebony. If those exclusive rights prove to be more valuable than trade in Skyrim.. then, well, as a business they will go with the money.

3) The EEC still employs Legionnaires, or at least outfits their actual guards as such. The sight of people like Adelaisa Vendicci walking about has a good chance of inflaming sensibilities.

Furthermore, I don't really see the EEC being the great equalizer in terms of coin in Skyrim versus the Empire. Short of accepting Thalmor gold, there's not really anyway Skyrim can command a treasury the like of which the Empire can. Yeah, they've got more places to spread the coin around but we've seen glimpses of the kind of coin they have; at the conclusion of the Great War they were able to give large sums of Septims as compensation for the war.

I do concede though that the Empire's focus, and coin, is likely going to be the south of Cyrodiil not the North in the event of a Tullius' victory.

Not to forget that Hammerfell doesn't have that much of a good reputation with the Empire, I suppose they would be quicker to join Ulfric's side.

A land of the most naturally gifted warriors at your side, it makes a nice alliance for the Nords.

Not because i support the stormcloaks but because the empire has to rebuild Cyrodiil.

I think Skyrim should completely give away Dragonstar to acquire their allegiance. Instead of having it split in half.

Ulfric's charisma might not have the same effect on outlanders since the only real reason his charisma worked was because everything he said was pro-nord which is the nords favorite thing to hear and the forsworn were only really a nuisance because they were being controlled by the silver-bloods, without the silver-bloods controlling them the forsworn can be more driven to attack caravans and settlements. Conscripting people who don't support Ulfric's rule could end up being a bad thing and not everyone would just go "welp I better just give up my views" there would still be heavy support for the empire or just people that aren't happy under Ulfric's rule. Also I don't think that's how it works in a elective monarchy, I think that should a new High King be voted in than the treasury of their hold becomes the treasury of skyrim and he has no right to take whatever he wants from Solitude's treasury which we don't even know if Solitude had a prospering economy, solitude's treasury would still be the treasury of the Jarl of solitude and if Ulfric did try to claim it that would most likely show him as a greedy tyrant which could fuel more hatred from the people who didn't like the idea of a stormcloak rule as well as the inhabitants of Halfingar.

These are good points. No doubt someone, whether it be Hammerfell, or Morrowind if not the Empire even though I think they will if they agree to stop fighting and accept their independence to fight the thalmor, will seek out the war prepping Skyrim for trade due to how lucrative this would be for them.

We really don't know how that will work out, but considering this, I think Ulfric would just move to Solitude or something. If not, it's a good point, but Solitude has what it was because it is the seat of the High King. If that changes, it could in their eyes be seen only as natural that the money goes to where the High King is. But we'll see. No news of how that works was given. But it doesn't seem unreasonable to me that he gets it since he needs it for the nation's army and the nation as a whole. Thats why Solitude has more. It's not all just for Solitude.

As for the conscripting, people in RL have done the same thing after conquering lands with success, although it can also be said that it has failed and led to rebellions. But considering the threat of the thalmor, it seems unlikely to me that the Imperial supporters, while still angry, would persist. Remember the battle borns and how they said they felt abandoned? That could be how a lot of them feel. If so, and with some speeches of how they need to become a strong nord nation to defeat the thalmor and yadyadya, I think he'd get the support he needs. They may not all chant his name to the heavens or whatever, but I think everyone hates the Thalmor more than they hate the opposing side of the civil war.

Speaking of the Thalmor;

On Ulfric and Solitude, I still think politically-wise his best move would be to marry Elisif regardless of what the Ulfric fan-girl club thinks.

Depends if Elisif is willing to marry him, she could easily say no and ignore any further attempts by Ulfric.