User blog comment:Spritydove/Deeper Thought into the Civil War/@comment-4772788-20120616195356/@comment-5135631-20120630122530

The Redguards would forge an alliance with the Stormcloaks one hundred times before they joined the empire. Hammerfell and Skyrim, the Nords and the Redguards-the two most warlike and warrior-based races in Tamriel. That alliance alone is enough to overbear the Empire, and it's strong enough to resist the Thalmor from a defensive point of view.