Tsardom of Westreach

The Tsardom of Westreach, also referred to as Westreach or the Third Tsardom of Ryzan, was a Tsardom that was located within the Bardonian Empire and ruled by Jacob Azurov. The capital of the Tsardom was Volkoregrod. Briefly the region was divided into 2 provinces ruled by Nikolai Tossovich Vorpes-Delzgrenzvari and Ibris Tossova McSpiegel Vorpes-Delzgrenzvari. However early on in the transition it was clear that the planned system was considered unworkable to most Ryzani, and within a few days the relatively popular Jacob Azurov declared himself the Tsar of a united Ryzan province. The Azurov Dynasty would mark the first time in Ryzani history that a non-Toss family rose to position as leader of the region. Due to Westreach not being apart of the main Ryzan governments, it would also be the third time that a foreign power ruled Ryzan. It would also be the first iteration of Ryzan's governments wherein the head of state follows Twin Dragon, and not Soleannen nor Tossanism.

The Tsardom would cease to exist following the revolutions of the Bardonian Spring, marking the restoration of Ryzani Sovreignty as the Third Ryzani Republic.

Creation
Ahead of the Bardonian annexation of Ryzan high level leaders of Bardonia worked in secret with several citizens of Ryzan to plan the war and post war government of the region. Most prominent of these Ryzani were Nikolai Tossovich and Ibris Tossova who were dissatisfied with the current state of Ryzan. The agreed upon plan was to split Ryzan into 2 provinces with 1 being led by Nikolai Tossovich and the other being led by Ibris Tossova. At the same time that these secret talks Jacob Azurov, a Ryzani by birth, was busy making himself known to the Ryzani people and offered to take a leading role in the integration process that was to come.

After the annexation Bardonia declared its intention to split Ryzan into the 2 planned provinces which proved extremely unpopular with the Ryzani who wanted to stay as a single entity. Jacob Azurov took this opportunity to create a Ryzani-Bardonian Committee in which several of the more moderate members of both nations were invited to discuss how to successfully integrate Ryzan in a peaceful manner. The creation of this committee saw Jacob's popularity increase even more and a campaign was started by several of the Ryzani to make him Tsar of Ryzan. While initially publicly opposed to the idea Jacob eventually decided to pursue the position as his concerns regrading the perseveration of Ryzani culture and keeping the region healthy as well as peaceful intensified. Uni agreed to Jacob's proposal and made him the Tsar of a united Ryzan province with the Nikolai and Ibris acting as provincial representatives under the new Tsar.

Early history
From the moment it was created the Tsardom of Westreach was beset by many serious problems. First and foremost among them was the Interim Ryzan Government, abbreviated to IRG, which was created by leaders of the former Ryzani Republic to act as a rival to the Westreach government and to lead the resistance against Bardonia. Although it was widely expected for the resistance to be violent Tsar Jacob reached out early to the Committie which lead the IRG and established a line of communication whose purpose was to peacefully resolve issues as well as seek advice to prevent potential issues from ever arising. Tsar Jacob also made a great effort to be as non-confrontational as possible and had a strict policy of reconciliation with all members of the Ryzani resistance. While a majority of Ryzani still opposed the Bardonian occupation the efforts made by Tsar Jacob did not go in vain as he personally continued to be significantly more popular than Uni or Bardonia. This personal popularity combined with the extreme leniency and non-violent nature of the Westreach provincial government is largely credited with maintaining the peace in Ryzan during a very turbulent time.

Another serious problem that threatened the young Tsardom was a near complete lack of local government. Nothing from the previous government was inherited given the nature of the transfer and many influential Ryzani such as town owners and former nobility were opposed to the new government. An insurgent underground state known as Free Ryzan would operate behind the scenes, seeing itself as the legitimate continuation of the Second Republic. To combat this the Tsar sought the creation of a local provincial government made up of ministers, a advisory Duma, and a personal guard force. During this time there was a great amount of dialogue between the Tsar and Ryzani nationalists as Jacob attempted to bring more Ryzani into the fold. While largely respectful and peaceful only a few new Ryzani would be convinced to fully cooperate with the new leadership. As a result the Duma would never truly be realized and most of the power remained within the hands of the Tsar and a select few allies.

Ryzan also suffered from depopulation and a sharp decrease in activity as many Ryzanis had been killed, had fled, or had gone underground with the resistance. During this period 2 cities would dominate Ryzan with those being Carthya and Volkoregard. Carthya, the previous capital of Ryzan, would become home to most of the Ryzani dissatisfied with Bardonian rule. While this did naturally include some rebels the city was led and populated by many peaceful ryzani. Volkoregard, the new capital of Westreach and home to the new Tsar, would instead become home to the loyalists to the tsardom. Managed personally by Kino, son and heir to the Tsar, the formally ailing city would see a massive boom in population, wealth, and projects as it attracted many Bardonian citizens from outside Ryzan. Volkoregord would also benefit greatly from large investments directly from the Tsar who was adamant about making Volkoregard the wonder of Syltor.

The final major problem that Westreach faced actually came from the same nation that allowed for the creation of Westreach in the first place- Bardonia.