Quote Originally Posted by Martok
Well I haven't experienced the whole "half-your-provinces-spontaneously-rebel" type of civil war personally (thank the gods!), but I've seen it happen to at least a couple of my friends a number of times. And of course, about a gazillion people here at the Org have mentioned (and complained bitterly about) the phenomenon as well.

The only times I myself have gone through a civil war is when my king dies--either in battle, or more often from an assassin's blade (usually my own )--leaving his surviving uncles to fight among themselves for the crown. I've found it's often the lesser of two evils to take out a crappy monarch, even if it means you have fight to win back half your empire! Now if only the Rebels would act in a coordinated manner, civil wars in Medieval 2 would be much more interesting....
I know... and I tried to teach people to preemt their civil wars, but it seems that many people were set in their mind that they were just somthing that happened when you got big enough. Something that won't happen if you are careful (and if I'm anything then it is careful). The same goes for reemergent factions.

The whole civil war structure was just rather complex and many people never bothered to find out what it really took. If a strong general has a strong army and low loyalty he would often cause a civil war. End of story...