I was brought to attention about a topic. In Skyrim, base on how the Imperial Legion needs Jarl Balgruuf's (even though he supports Empire) permission to station their troops in Whiterun, I think that each individual Hold and its Hold Guards was granted autonomy or right to self-rule as long as they stay loyal to the Empire and adhere by its laws. So I want to start a discussion whether do you guys think if the City Guards in the provinces of the Empire belongs to part of the Imperial Legion or they are an independent military body?

Balgruuf was a special case because he didn't take a side in the civil war until Ulfric attacked.That's why the Legion needed permision they didn't want him to take Ulfrics side.BUT they are still allowed to have troops in the hold even before that if you kill the bandits in Fort Greymoor(Whiterun hold)before you start the civil war it will the manned by Legionaries.

But if we look at the previous games it seems that most of the time the provinces are allowed to use their own troops(Morrowinds Ordinators and House Troops,High Rocks city states also had their own knights and guards) unless it is an Imperial settlement/Colony .

That is what I think too. Most of the regions/Holds with a Lord owning the land would have their own private army because the Imperial Legion isn't big enough to cover all the provinces so they allow this sort of vassal with personal army relationship with the Empire.

But what about if there was no civil war. Like in High Rock? Do you think each region's City Guard belongs to Imperial Legion or they are independent until the Empire order them to contribute soldiers into the Imperial Legion to fight a war?

That's probably one of the reasons but it should be noted that in Morrowind cities with House guards usually had an Imperial Legion stationed in a Fort close to the city.

A minor thing, but Balgruuf is, according to Rikke, refusing the Legion's right to station troops in his city. A circumstance surely brought about by the fact that forcing the issue will likely drive him to join the rebels.

That said, each Jarl(and Count in Oblivion) have their own forces loyal to them/their Hold/County. They are not part of the Legion, for the most part, with some exceptions. Like Captain Aldis, who is apparently both captain of the Solitude Guard and an officer in the Imperial Legion, which has its headquarters in Skyrim in Castle Dour. But the Solitude Guard is not part of the Legion inherently, because Tullius has to conscript them, according to a conversation between Elisif and her Housecarl.

Other things that puts the local guards as not part of the Legion normally is...

... Ocato saying the counties in Cyrodiil are on their own because he doesn't have Legionnaires to send them.

... Balgruuf's steward asking him "What is the harm of letting some Legionnaires dying instead of your own men?"

... the Holds that side with Ulfric still having guards. The rebellion started on the large scale, at the earliest, some months prior to the game starts. Not a lot of time to beat down the Legion in those Holds and then build a guard force back up.

There was a time during the Akaviri Potentates in the 2nd Empire when the vassals were not allowed to have their own armies, but this appears to not have been a practice under the 3rd Empire.

As for autonomy, we know that the nobles in Skyrim, at least, won some autonomy from the Empire after the War of the Red Diamond, as payment for siding against Potema after her only son died and she became a succession crisis in making. Now, that was 500 years ago, but seems to have been maintained as a status quo ever since, so long as Skyrim didn't rebel.

Which is a bit silly since many of the Legionaries in Skyrim are freshly recruited Nords.

That's incorrect Ocato says:"This is terrible news. Under normal circumstances, I would dispatch a legion or two to Bruma immediately. But the circumstances are not normal, are they? I've been pleading for troops for Cyrodiil for weeks, but the generals assure me that the entire Imperial Army is already fully committed."

Not that there aren't any Legionaries in Cyrodiil and there are some guarding the Roads(also at Fort Sutch trying to close the Gate) protecting the IC etc. he just can't send any Legions

I like to think that if the collective size of everyone in Tamriel having profession of soldiers or in military is maybe... 10 million...

3 million is in the Imperial Legion divided strategically in the Empire provinces looking really paranoid

5 million is divided between City/Hold Guards of every provinces minding their own business

2 million is in the Aldmeri Dominion army, divided strategically in the Aldmeri Dominion provinces looking for excuses to play punk with the Empire.

So while there are more people in the collection of all Counts, Lords and Jarls' private army, the Imperial Legion still remain as the largest singular Military Organization in Tamriel.

I would imagine that the right to self-rule for the Holds in Skyrim for example is less a self-rule granted by the Empire and more of an internal arrangement within a Province. So for example, in Skyrim, it is not the Empire that determined that Whiterun could have its own guards, but rather that Skyrim as a province under a High King established an arrangement where its "local" Kings retained their small armies. However, as Imperial subjects, these Jarls and their armies would still have to swear loyalty to the Empire. But in terms of who grants the right of these local lords to their armed forces, I think it would be the provincial government versus the Imperial government.

Does that make sense?