User blog comment:IGotsAName/Empire vs Stormcloaks... Gray & Grey Morality? Really?/@comment-4544033-20120406162704/@comment-69.146.244.153-20120406190334

Redguards didn't leave. The Empire was forced to renounce them as a province to uphold the White Gold Concordat. This was seen as a betrayal by the reduards and they probably ended up being happy about the split, but it was not done on their terms. There was also no civil war about the split, leaving Hammerfell much more capable to deal with the Thalmor than the Stormcloaks would be.