Anthony Mcdonald (2032: Collapse)

**Anthony Mcdonald** (October 6, 2001 - March 11, 2058), also known as **Anthony I**, was a Ohioan political and military leader who served as dictator and later the self-crowned emperor of Ohio from 2051 until his deposition and shortly thereafter his execution in 2058. Mcdonald's leadership saw Ohio's entry into World War 3 on the side of the Global Organization in January 2052, a major genocide against minorities, and the invasion of Indiana-Michigan. His controversial coronation as Emperor of Ohio in October 2055 nearly bankrupted the struggling economy of Ohio, and he was deposed in March 2058 and executed a few days after his deposition by the military junta on charges of high treason.

## Early life

Anthony Mcdonald was born on October 6, 2001 to a relatively poor family near the community of Greer, Ohio, on a small farm. He would grow up in below-average conditions, however did attend several schools in the region, before dropping out of high school. He would ultimately end up in a relationship with Braylee Melton in 2018, although the two would remain partners until Mcdonald's death in 2058, they would never marry. Mcdonald contracted COVID-19 in 2020, and was hospitalized for 3 weeks with severe symptoms. Mcdonald was appointed to the governor of Ohio's cabinet after Black Wednesday, becoming a notable voice in the far-right in Ohio.

## Post-collapse military career (2032-50)

### Ohioan War of Independence, Mccarthy regime (2032-34)

During the final weeks of Ohio's stent in the United States, Anthony Mcdonald resigned from the governor's cabinet and joined a far-right underground Ohioan independence movement known as the Ohioan Conservative Salvation Front, and when a OCSF-supportive government came to power during the Ohioan War of Independence, Mcdonald was made a colonel in said war, becoming known as a national hero for his actions at the Battle of Wellston, in which he commanded a greatly outnumbered Ohioan garrison that still managed to beat back the American attempt to take the city in a decisive battle, becoming the last American attempt to retake Ohio.

Mcdonald was briefly the Ohioan ambassador to Indiana in October and November 2032, before being recalled to get a promotion to general. Mcdonald would oversee Ohioan military forces in the Ohio-Pennsylvania border war of 2033, which would end in Ohio's favor, and a 2 mile sliver of disputed territory was ceded to Ohio in early 2034, after several battles. Mcdonald also oversaw the Ohioan forces during border clashes with Indiana in January 2034, however would be humiliated by the outcome of that conflict. He would command the southern army group in the 9 Day War, also with Indiana, and fled to Kentucky during the Ohioan Revolution of 2034.

### Time in-exile in Kentucky (2034-39)

Mcdonald was purged in July 2034 by the new President of Ohio, Taylor Anderson, and charged with several crimes by a court in absentia that August, being sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. However, the Kentuckian government refused to extradite Mcdonald to Ohio to serve his sentence, and dictator James Fitzgerald had Mcdonald made a speaker in the new military junta installed after the October 2034 military coup in Kentucky. Anderson was granted Kentuckian citizenship under special circumstances in January 2035, and resided near Lexington for several years, becoming a predominate speaker in the Kentuckian government. He was pardoned by Taylor Anderson in March 2039, and he returned to Ohio that June.

### Private life in Ohio (2039-42)

After returning to Ohio in June 2039, Mcdonald lived a largely private life in his hometown of Greer on the family farm, owned by his brother. This all changed in September 2042, when general Truman Donaldson called him to Columbus to receive a promotion to Donaldson's staff team. Mcdonald would become a lead conspirator in the October 19 conspiracy, which saw president Taylor Anderson deposed and deported to Indiana-Michigan, and would become one of the seven lead members of the military junta installed in the new Ohioan State established after the coup.

### Rise to the dictator of Ohio (2042-51)

#### Pre-presidency (2042-50)

Over the next few years, Mcdonald would work in various positions in the Donaldson-Moore government, ultimately being nominated as the Director of the Department of Media Consumption in 2045, while keeping his rank as general, even being promoted to field marshal in 2046. He was known as a vocal supporter of Donaldson, and ensured that no media that would threaten Donaldson's leadership got out. In 2048, Mcdonald was nominated by Donaldson to become Vice President of Ohio, and resigned his position as Director of the Department of Media Consumption on October 3, 2050.

#### President of Ohio (2050-51)

On October 8, 2050, Adam Moore dismissed Truman Donaldson from his position as Head of State. However, the army rallied behind Donaldson, and Moore fled Ohio on October 9. Although he never officially resigned as President of Ohio, the government assumed that him fleeing the nation was a form of resignation, and swore Mcdonald in as the President of Ohio that afternoon. However, despite this, Mcdonald held little power to Donaldson, and in early November, Donaldson and Mcdonald held a meeting in Cleveland. Donaldson's health took a serious decline in early January, as Mcdonald appointed Alexander Lloyd to become his new vice president on January 9, after several months of vacancy. On January 20, Donaldson was hospitalized while visiting Pittsburgh, and was flown back to Ohio on January 24, where he fell into a coma on January 25.

Mcdonald became the de facto head of state (dictator) of Ohio on January 27 as it was declared that Donaldson was brain-dead. He declared a indefinite extension of the martial law that had been in place since 2042 on January 30, and went about establishing a artificial cult of personality. Many of Donaldson's supporters were purged by the Mcdonald government in February, however on February 25, Donaldson awoke from the coma, and it was determined that he was falsely diagnosed with brain-death. On February 27 however, Donaldson relapsed into the coma, and he died on March 3, making Mcdonald the new de jure head of state (dictator).

### Early phase of dictatorship, Ohioan entry into World War 3, coronation as emperor (2051-55)

In the early phase of the Mcdonald dictatorship, he furthered relations with the Peoples Republic of China and signed several treaties with the Kentuckian State in October. One such treaty, the Frankfort-Columbus Union Treaty, featured a secret protocol calling for the invasion of Indiana-Michigan, which started on November 8 with Kentuckian air raids on major Hoosier-Michigander cities followed shortly thereafter by a ground offensive. Ohio wouldn't join the invasion until January 5, 2052, bringing them into World War 3. Mass conscription was introduced on January 27 as Ohioan troops massed for the invasion of Missouri. Mcdonald was the target of a failed assassination attempt on February 5, and dismissed much of his old government on February 8.

In early March 2052, Kentucky and Ohio launched their invasion of Missouri, with Ohioan troops quickly advancing on Jefferson City before turning their attention south towards Arkansas that summer. The Ohioans won their greatest victory of the war at the Battle of Little Rock in mid October, before being pushed to a stalemate near Pine Bluff in November, which would last several months. The offensive would resume in Spring 2053, and would quickly overwhelm the remaining Arkansan and Texan forces holding on to the rest of Arkansas, with Arkansas completely falling to a joint Kentucky-Ohio occupation force by June. What ensued was a slow and deadly push toward the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex which would take over two years.

In early 2054, Mcdonald abruptly fell into what was suspected to be a coma while meeting with high-ranking Chinese and North Korean officials at Pyongyang, however emerged from the suspected coma several weeks later, after numerous false reports of his death. During this time, several high ranking military officers attempted to form a military junta and switch sides, however this coup failed and they were purged that May. Mcdonald's mental health began to decline around this time, as he wrote a book describing his ideology and ordered it be given a special class at every school in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Arkansas starting in first grade. Propaganda portrayed Mcdonald as a near-divine being by the end of 2054, even as air raids from Canada ramped up that winter.

The Ohioan State was legally renamed to the "Mcdonaldist State of Ohio" in January 2055, and he announced that all future rulers of Ohio would be the previous ruler's eldest son, all of which would have to be from the Mcdonald family. He was sometimes referred to as a "dictatorial monarch", citing his status as being referred to as a "near-monarch", and in October 2055 he abruptly had himself crowned as Emperor of Ohio in a costly ceremony held near his hometown of Greer. He ordered his brother executed two days after the coronation ceremony on charges of "conspiracy to overthrow the government".

### Later part of dictatorship, downfall and execution (2055-58)

In December 2055, the Ohioan Army suffered a humiliating defeat the Battle of Fort Worth, which is what's considered to be around the time the tide of war changed. Mcdonald's health took a noticeable decline physically in 2056, and he had his lifelong friend Alexander Lloyd ousted as Prime Minister and executed in late December of 2055, blaming him for the defeat at Fort Worth. Previously neutral Oklahoma unexpectedly entered the war on the side of the Eastern Pact in February 2056, as large scale partisan revolts forced Ohioan forces to redirect troops to northern Arkansas that spring. Although the revolt was subdued relatively quick, cracks in Mcdonald's leadership began to show.

Things only continued to deteriorate into autumn of 2056, with the second Battle of Little Rock and the Battle of Hot Springs both ending in disastrous defeats for the Ohioan Army. While the conflict with Texas continued at a relatively slow pace, Canadian forces launched a amphibious raid on Sandusky in April 2057, capturing the city, looting it and stealing vital Ohioan military intelligence before retreating back across Lake Erie, albeit not before destroying several Ohioan divisions in the region. The northern armies of Ohio were largely destroyed at the Battle of Chatham-Kent in June 2057, while Ohioan troops retreated from Arkansas that July. The Battle of Poplar Bluff in early August further weakened the Ohioan Army, and the entire higher command was purged on orders by Mcdonald in late August.

After further defeats in September, Ohioan and Kentuckian troops retreated to the Mississippi River in early October. Meanwhile, China signed a armistice in late October after the fall of Nanjing and Beijing to Eastern Pact forces within a few weeks of each other, allowing the Eastern Pact to turn it's attention fully to the North American front. Mcdonald's son and heir apparent was captured on the front line by Hoosier-Michigander exiles in mid November at the Battle of Benton, Illinois, where his son had led the defense of the city. A abortive military coup was launched on December 1, with the goal of deposing Mcdonald, who several high-ranking officers judged as incapable of ruling mentally.

On December 16, the largest partisan revolt against Global Organization occupation broke out in occupied Indiana-Michigan, as nearly one hundred thousand partisans rapidly took control of large parts of Indiana and some of Michigan, before the partisan movement largely collapsed. The revolt was largely crushed within a month, however much of southwest Indiana remained under partisan control until the Eastern Pact invasion of Indiana-Michigan began in late January of 2058. Much of the Ohioan Army was encircled in the Battle of Chicagoland in early February as the North American front collapsed. Mcdonald made his final public appearance on February 10, where he pledged that he would turn the war around.

Relations with Kentucky, the only other Global Organization nation remaining, became increasingly strained during this time, and on February 17, Indianapolis was liberated after a week-long urban battle for the city. The small Ohioan Navy was largely destroyed in a naval skirmish in Lake Erie on February 20, as preparations for the final offensive against Ohio began. The Warsaw Hoosier Government began secretly negotiating a armistice with the Eastern Pact on February 24, seeing the writing on the wall. 4 of Mcdonald's most trusted senior advisors were ordered executed on February 28 after it was discovered that they were secretly negotiating with the Eastern Pact.

Canadian forces began a massive naval invasion of the Lake Erie shore and the Grand Michigander Congress on March 1, capturing Cleveland on March 3, Akron on March 5, Toledo on March 6, and Findlay on March 8. On March 8, military forces detained Anthony and his family and declared their deposition not long later over public radio. The new military junta announced that they were accepting a armistice with the Eastern Pact over state media early on March 9, ending the Eastern Pact's war with Ohio. Mcdonald was sent from Lancaster, where he had moved the government to in late January as air raids against Columbus further intensified, to Bremen on March 10. That afternoon, he was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity, genocide, and various other crimes, and he was executed on March 11.

## Legacy

Mcdonald's leadership was considered to had dragged Ohio into ruin, and into the Third World War. His leadership has often been associated with many unspeakable crimes against humanity, particularly in occupied Missouri and occupied parts of Texas. Many towns were wiped out on his orders, often due to the slightest resistance activities in the region. He has often been ranked among the most cruel dictators in human history, and perhaps the second most brutal of the Global Organization, only behind James Fitzgerald of Kentucky. He has also been called "Ohio's Hitler" by many, given his extreme far-right views, and his near worship of Hitler while in office.