The Great Civil War was an internal dwarven conflict due to Golloch's claim as High King. It was the bloodiest and most shameful chapter in dwarven history.
Many holds realised what Golloch was up to before he claimed the throne but general disunity amongst them prevented any effective opposition and many kings refused to believe that any dwarf would stoop so low as to seize power politically rather than by pursuing a just claim. Much of Abkhazia was thus unprepared when Golloch renamed his great hold ‘Caeryn Golloch’, declared himself High King, and demanded that all loyalties of all dwarfs be turned immediately to him; any who refused could consider themselves at war. A great many refused.
So began the great civil war.Here the worst traits of the dwarfs were made clear. Brother turned against brother as greed overtook valour. Promises of great peerage and wealth in the new dwarfen empire drove great rifts in sturdy allegiances and brought many dissenters to heel behind the ascendant Golloch. Those that fell to the new High King's military might were subjugated.
Many clans sought to avoid this fate and fled northwards toward the freeholds, causing new and bloody conflicts to erupt as imperial dwarf clashed with free clansmen as Golloch closed his iron fist around Abkhazia. When the dust had settled, Golloch stood atop a great new empire and bore a new title: Conqueror.