Civil War in Skyrim based on History?

[The Blasphemer]

Recently, some friends of mine and I were discussing what we thought the civil war in Skyrim was based off of if anything. What it reminded me off most was the Germanic peoples of Europe being taken over and turned to believe in a Catholic god. After looking at visuals of the Germanic and Roman warriors, there's no doubt that Stormcloaks are Germanic people and the Imperials are Romans. The Romans forced the Germanic tribes to give up all their beliefs and customs and to this day have dealt a great deal of damage to the cultures of what was once Germania. Knowing/theorizing what each side represents/stands for would you still have joined the faction you did and which one do you support? Also, what else do you think the civil war might have been based off of?

 

[Gearuvagen]

There are even more allusions to history...besides the Nords being based on the Norse and the Imperials on Romans, namely the Bretons are based on the Britons (fairly obvious), Hammerfell representing various Arabian cultures that resisted Roman occupation. It's fun to think about, no idea what the Khajiit are though

Also I believe the Empire depicted is a Pre-Christian Rome.

 

[The Blasphemer]

Yeah, it was pre-Christian, that's my bad... Anyhow, I don't think people look far enough into what the games represent at all and as a history buff, I get really into it and HAD to choose the Stormcloaks. Based on my religious views, I found it almost immoral to join the Imperials and be a supporter of religious tyranny.

 

[jjay]

I didn't read that much into it tbh, i just based my faction choice on my capture at the start of the game and how the soldiers treated me generally.

 

[Gearuvagen]

I agree completely even though I completed the Imperial Quests (just to see what happens) I felt bad about having to "end" the war. It's also worth saying that the Empire isn't really to blame for the religious tyranny but the Thalmor.
The Empire as well as the Romans are/were a little more welcoming to other races though.

 

[Mr.Self Destruct]

Sorry, but the Empire isn't forcing anything, its the Thalmor forcing their ways on the Empire.

 

[jjay]

I agree with the above, its not really good v bad

 

[The Blasphemer]

Fair enough, still think the empire are @$$holes haha

 

[Janus3003]

I admittedly haven't looked much into Rome vs Germania, but didn't the Romans usually adapt other cultures into their own as opposed to "GIVE UP EVERYTHING TO BECOME US!"? I understood that they were pretty cool with conquered peoples keeping their religious beliefs so long as they acknowledged the validity of other beliefs (one of the reasons Christianity was so hated was declaring all other gods to be false deities).

 

[Xarnac]

It's not really like that at all, TC. More like if everybody worshiped Roman Catholicism, then the Huns came in and told Rome that they could no longer be Catholics, but the German tribes resist and continue to practice Catholicism.

 

[deacon8]

Just a side note, during that period of time, the Germanic people would have been known as the Goths--there was no Germany, as it was still the Roman Empire. Also, the Redguards would have been known as the Moors back then.

The Romans and the Goths fought many battles for decades, upon decades; both side winning and loser their share of battles. This weakened Rome significantly, but it did not cause it to fall. Rome fell during the 5th century when the Goths invaded Rome and upon winning, the Gothic king declared himself King of the Goths, instead of the King of Rome. That is technically when Rome fell. It is also interesting to note that if you go and really dig into this, you will see a LOT of similar ties between Skyrim's history and Roman history. Just check out Rome, the Visigoths (the ones who took over Rome), the Ostrogoths, and the Moors.

So if we conclude that the Imperials are Roman and that the Stormcloaks are the Visigoths, then we can finally solve the debate regarding who would actually win the Civil War! The Stormcloaks would win because the Goths toppled Rome.

Btw, I'm not just pulling this stuff out of my a$$. I wrote several historical/sociological papers concerning the Romans and this period of history. Specially, I was trying to compare similarities between then and now (imagine that!). The papers were focused mainly on sociological/economic aspects and various things of that nature. However, I did a massive amount of research on this stuff. I actually put several months into the research and notes before I even wrote anything.

Sorry, I wanted to write so much more, but I didn't want this to get out of hand. I tried to shorten it, without dumbing it down. Therefore, if something doesn't make sense for whatever reason, let me know and I will do my best to clarify.

If anything, you can now win the argument if asked to who would really win the Civil War. The answer: Stormcloaks. How do you know? Because they literally won almost 1600 years ago! They didn't have as many resources, they didn't have professional soldiers, they didn't have professional generals, they didn't have "modern" fortifications; they had will, heart, and the ferocity to topple the greatest empire the world had ever seen. And everyone thought Rome would never fall...

-Deacon

 

[Janus3003]

^Wasn't Rome rotting from the inside by the time of its fall, though? Run of crappy emperors and whatnot?

 

[Xarnac]

Actually there were/they were Germani, from Germania. Which migrated south into mainland Europe, descended from Netherlanders. Caesar even referred to them as such. The Goths were further east.

 

[deacon8]

Xarnac,

The Huns did invade the Goths before the fall of Rome. However, Goths still existed after the Hun's invasion. The surviving Goths are the ones who took over Rome, not the Huns. I just wanted to clarify that...

 

[Xarnac]

Xarnac,

The Huns did invade the Goths before the fall of Rome. However, Goths still existed after the Hun's invasion. The surviving Goths are the ones who took over Rome, not the Huns. I just wanted to clarify that...

I never said they didnt. Im putting what really happened into the "Roman" analogy TC tried to use.

More like if everybody worshiped Roman Catholicism, then the Huns came in and told Rome that they could no longer be Catholics, but the German tribes resist and continue to practice Catholicism.

 

[deacon8]

No the Huns were farther East. Trust me on this: the Visigoths took over Rome.

And yes, the Rome was beginning to severely weaken because of the battle they were fighting, the corruption, and the fact that they were allowing themselves to be slowly invaded. It is actually quite complicated. But to answer the question, "yes," Rome was severely weakened at the point of the Gothic invasion.

 

[Xarnac]

No the Huns were farther East. Trust me on this: the Visigoths took over Rome.

And yes, the Rome was beginning to severely weaken because of the battle they were fighting, the corruption, and the fact that they were allowing themselves to be slowly invaded. It is actually quite complicated. But to answer the question, "yes," Rome was severely weakened at the point of the Gothic invasion.

The Huns attacked/influenced Rome. Everything Ive said stands. The Thalmor are the Huns, the Empire is Rome, and the Germanic tribes are Skyrim in this correct analogy. The agreement of the WG concord could be seen as the relationship and agreement between Attila and Flavius Aetius and his claims for lands in Western Rome.

 

[Gearuvagen]

Yes, Alaric I invaded and sacked Rome but I don't think it's as cut and dry as the Nords are the Visigoths, seeing as Ulfric didn't invade Cyrodil he defended Skyrim. I believe they are based on the earlier Norse as Sovngarde is clearly Asgard the Hall of Valor is Valhalla and Shor is Odin (sort of) and as to what Janus3003 said that is what the Pre-Christian Romans did as what the Empire did case in point Kyne -> Kynareth

I don't really see the Thalmor being the Huns though the culture isn't similar at all.

 

[Xarnac]

The Thalmor/AD are the Huns. It has nothing to do with culture, or anything, just how they fit into the analogy. And they fit perfectly. The analogy is totally hypothetical anyway, the Huns didnt give a crap what the Romans beliefs were. They did however want lands and other accordance given to them by Rome, and when they weren't given, Attila invaded northern Italy. Ending in a "peace" similar to the WG concord, sans the religion. Any other civilization put into the AD/Thalmor place makes no sense.

 

[deacon8]

I agree. We are not really in disagreement, I was just trying to clarify how Rome actually fell. I was just trying to stay away from some of the other stuff because of all the different tribes, territories, and migrations is pretty complicated. I was just trying to do this for the sake of Skyrim comparison.

But just to clarify my point in all of this: The Visigoths ("Germanic tribes") sacked Rome and that was a literal fall of Rome. Stormcloaks = Visigoths.

Most people don't really know much about this stuff, so I was giving a simplified version of how Rome fell...