The main reason for the Alliance War is that the old Empire is corrupt and basically a pawn of Molag Bal so they invade to kick him out . Problem is , as always , everyone has different ideas of what should happen afterwardsAldmeri Dominion The Empire is corrupt because Men are young . We Elves are old . Let ' s guide them if they want it or not . Daggerfall Covenant We had trade thus prosperity under the Second Empire . Let ' s reestablish it . Ebonheart Pact Any Empire will try to rule us . We want our independence . Let ' s conquer the Ruby Throne ourselves to make sure those others let us alone . However , do keep in mind that this doesn ' t necessarily mean that there aren ' t groups or individuals within each alliance that may have other goals . High Elves range from people like their Queen that actually want to cooperate with other races and want their best to racial supremacists . The Orcs care less for trade and more for the promise to for once keep their ancient homeland . If you want to know more , I really advise reading those links to the wiki entries and the lore articles about the alliances linked on each page .