The West Sparwood Crisis

The West Sparwood Crisis was a series of events in the southwest portion of Sparwood involving from various nations across the continent, which eventually led to the collapse of the United Kingdoms of Western Sparwood. It began on June 4, 2021, and ended on June 5.

Prelude
Tensions across the nation of Sparwood had already existed for some time prior to the conflict. The most notable recent event was a border dispute between the UBSR, Fjellheim, and Arxella. While this dispute eventually ended in peace after negotiations, it could not be denied that the mood that settled across the continent was very tense.

Weeks afterwards, this ever-building tension would come to a head. Tortuga announced that a coalition had formed against the UK, stating that they had seen evidence indicating that an enemy invasion of both them and Cyrumar City was imminent. Cyrumar, which had peacefully gained independence from Tortuga, was on good terms with the Free States. Upon hearing of this evidence and viewing it as a threat to their sovereignty, they joined in the coalition force. The UBSR would also join the coalition. Burgamere gave two reasons for doing so - firstly, they stated that the UK had initiated border conflicts along the Avarian border, and secondly, they claimed to have discovered a UK plan to invade and occupy Serafini, a neighboring country aligned with the UBSR.

Collapse
Following the proclamations from these three nations, the United Kingdoms began to rapidly fragmentate. Greentstem, one of the four main kingdoms that made up the LGAE, declared their independence, taking about a third of the entire country's land with them. Arcturus, an island off the southeastern coast, followed suit quickly after. Thirdly, the city of Friholm also declared their independence and broke away. All three of these new states publicly declared neutrality in the upcoming conflict. The main governing body of the UK did not initially oppose or dispute these independence movements.

A representative of the United Kingdoms came forward and officially responded that the aggressive actions of the UBSR were being conducted by lower-class citizens, and were not the fault of the nobility or the government. A statement from Avaria, one of the remaining three kingdoms, took an even more aggressive stance. According to Avaria, the UBSR was in fact the aggressor, spreading lies about UK aggression that did not exist. The statement entirely placed blame on the Duragrad government, stating that it was their fault for turning multiple nations against the UK. The statement concluded by saying that, as far as the Kingdom of Avaria knew, the UK had no intention on trying to unite Western Sparwood through war and violence at all.

Despite these statements, the UK continued on its path of collapse. The three remaining nations agreed to separate from one another. Leythe, Avaria, and Eok became independent, and the United Kingdoms of Western Sparwood was no more. Seeing as the main governmental body of their foe no longer existed, the coalition disbanded and did not pursue war with any of the UK's successor states.

Effects
Many territorial changes occurred after the collapse of the UK. The State of Greenstem and the Junta of Eok united, to form the Military Junta of Eok and Greenstem. Appleharbour, territory which had been disputed by both Greenstem and the United Kingdoms during the crisis, was successfully acquired by this new country. Tortuga and Cyrumar also gained some southwestern land.

Not long after gaining their independence, the Junta chose to give it back up, voluntarily choosing to join Viodoxa. This gave the Archonate a foothold on the continent which previously did not exist.

Prior to the crisis, most people generally regarded the LGAE as one of the world's many great powers. It was held in such high regard that it was one of the ten nations explicitly invited to the Bardonian discussion about colonization of the new world. Now having broken into smaller and weaker nations, the balance of power within the continent shifted. The UBSR was now the only remaining great power entirely contained within Sparwood, and the new nations, while having peacefully divorced, still seem rife with potential for future conflict.