The Peace War and Formation
The importance of the Peace War isn't only supplemental in learning the formation of our country, but it is also helpful in learning the upbringing of our very first President, Romulus Peace.
Birth and Youth
Romulus Peace was born on January 31st, 2000 A.D. under the name of Warren Monocelli, to the parents of Guilia and Gerardo Monocelli. As his namesake proves, he is of Italian descent. His dialect and appearance further supported this fact. He was born in Denver, Colorado at the Denver Health Medical Center.
Monocelli was a computer science prodigy. In elementary school, he completely revamped the school's computer system all by himself, with no help from even people who did that for a living. By the time he was 12 years old, he developed the world's only existing indestructible firewall, which would end up being the firewall to span Panem's whole technological network. His other subjects weren't horrible either. Due to his outstanding GPA (grade-point average) and grades, he graduated from George Washington High School in Denver on June 2nd, 2015.
Collegiate Career
Because of Monocelli's academics, multiple big league colleges and universities were attempting to recruit him on full scholarships. Harvard University, Yale University, Vanderbilt University, etc. were all examples. Only, instead of going to a college such as those, or even a technical school, he went to the University of Denver, the college that would transform into the University of Panem in time, on a full scholarship for a Computer Science major.
During his down time, he learned any hacks that have been attempted on firewalls and were successful in any way. Using that knowledge and information he learned by professors, he strengthened his firewall and attempted to use all those hacks from a separate computer to verify that the firewall was unbreakable. His suspicions were proven correct when none of the hundreds of hacks could not break it even a little bit. He gave the software to his highest education level computer science teacher at the University, and the professor was shocked that an undergraduate student, especially while only 16 years old, could develop something that even the most intelligent people in the computer world couldn't even get close to inventing. Bill Gates, the CEO of the Microsoft Corporation, came to a demonstration of the software that the professor set up. Gates went to Monocelli personally and praised him for his work, offering him a high technology position at Microsoft, which he declined due to not wanting to be in business. Gates respected the decision and gave him a consolation instead, including all of the brand new Microsoft products for free. Monocelli appreciated the gesture, and he accepted it, but he knew that Gates wanted the firewall, and he wasn't going to give it up. Monocelli decided to keep testing and then sell it to the United States government in time to protect from foreign cyber-terrorism.
Monocelli met the love of his life at a fraternity party that his friends persuaded him to go to, on his birthday in 2017. She was currently a freshman that started in the 2016 fall semester, so she wasn't too old for a 17 year old like Warren. Her name was Emily Sruvank, and she was from Los Angeles, California. It was love at first sight for both of them. Monocelli walked into a room to get a can of soda, and he noticed her. She looked up, he looked away and she walked over to him. They began regular conversation to get to know one another, and then they ditched the party due to the extreme amount of intoxication among the partiers. She invited him to visit her dorm room and they spent a long night together.
A week later, they interacted at the main hub on campus. Emily officially asked Warren on a date, and he accepted. They continued to date through the end of their college careers, and would end up marrying in 2024.
Beginning of a Political Career
Warren Monocelli graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Denver in June of 2019. He went to become a computer education teacher at his high school alma mater while he was raising money to visit the capital city of the country, Washington, D.C. to propose the use of his firewall by the United States government.
His original plans were offset when the Great Recession of 2020 hit when the government was unable to raise the debt ceiling by the deadline while under a government shutdown. Monocelli was furious that the government couldn't come to a consensus on a plan that was for the great of the nation. Insult to injury came when taxes were spiked on the middle class while the upper class got away with less taxes. He decided to put a halt to his computer career and go into politics in order to change the path the country was going on.
Because of the democratic structure of the United States government, all federal, local and state, he would choose to run for office through the election process. He had to wait until 2025 to begin running for any office due to age requirements, so he stayed a teacher until then. He ran for Denver City Council beginning in 2025, but failed. He ran again and won the election in 2027. He was re-elected twice in 2029 and 2031. After noticing that being in City Council wasn't good enough, he decided to run for mayor of Denver. In the 2033 election, he lost by only eight votes compared to his opponent, which was the incumbent, political leader already in office.
Monocelli ran again in 2037, putting a lot more money and effort into his campaign. He won by a landslide over the incumbent and then would stay mayor of Denver until the formation of Panem.
Signs of Rebellion
The financial crisis in the United States was progressively getting worse. Everyone who wasn't rich was struggling, and the rich with less money were nearly borderline middle class because of taxation. State and city governments were forced to add more taxes due to the lack of funding from the federal government, and they had no choice if they wanted to prevent poverty, which was growing at an accelerated pace anyways. Monocelli kept Denver afloat by sacrificing most of his mayoral paycheck to pay the taxes, and passed a city law forcing taxes to be higher for the richer, and lower for the poorer. Of course it didn't prevent struggle, but the city was more stable than the rest of the nation. When he ran for re-election in 2049, he knew he couldn't sit by and watch the country struggle, but knew he had no chance to be elected into Congress, the US lawmaking body, because of his lack of funding so he can help pay off most of the taxes. He decided it was time for demonstrations to begin, a rebellion to fix the troubles. He felt that if the political leaders aren't helping out like he was, it was time to show that the near financial depression could not be afforded nor tolerated.
He began holding secret speeches in the City Hall over plans he has to begin rallying all over the country. He issued a secret declaration making the Denver Police Department and SWAT forces to begin military training for if war broke out. Monocelli didn't want to win with violence, but he knew that there would be retaliation, so he wanted to be prepared. The word of his rebellion spread fast around the populace, and the general consensus agreed with him. It was time for action.
Monocelli's slogan was "Panem republica", which was meant to stand for "Bread Republic" even though the actual Latin translation is Panem Rei Publicae. He was trying to say that he wants to make a republic that no one starves, everyone has food.
Rallies began as peaceful protests, but no action was being taken. Riots began in big cities around the nation and the government began to fear a civil war forming, yet were doing nothing to prevent it or fix things. The whole thing was launched into motion in 2052 after the inauguration of President Arthur Perona. The rebels kidnapped the President's daughter, Emily, and took her to Denver to Monocelli's base underneath his mansion. Monocelli did not command the kidnapping nor did he fully agree with it, but he was able to see that Perona did not trust the government, regardless of her father's position. She agreed to be a D.C. insider for Monocelli in return for if a victory does come for the rebellion, her father's life will be spared. Monocelli agreed.
Now, many had allegations that Monocelli had committed himself sexually to Perona, due to her being 16 years old at the kidnapping. This, of course, was not true. Due to these allegations making him look like a sexual predator, his wife, who was with him whenever he was with Perona, defended him. She was honest in stating she was always there and put out the flames of allegations by stating the truth that there was nothing more than professionalism with the President's daughter. This prevented any rebels from turning the tide against him. Perona even made a statement supporting everything Mrs. Monocelli said.
In 2053, the tide turned into a full out war, which would end up being called the Peace War. Sadly, there was weakness in the US's side. The government had most troops off fighting in China in World War III due to a military alliance with Japan made after World War II. The Union had too little wins in the major battles. Monocelli dictated troop movements from the safety of his base, hiding from federal US agents that were searching for him.
In 2054, the odds were too much out of the US's favor. With the Battle of Capitol Hill, the rebellion won and swore Monocelli in as interim leader of the United States. He said it was time for a new country with new laws and a new foundation. "It is a time for rebirth. Financial struggles cannot be repaired without a complete governmental overhaul. I declare this the end of the United States and the birth of a new land, new nation. With the new freedom, and our fight against hunger, this nation will be named Panem, from the Latin word for bread. I will take myself as anew with the nation, renaming myself. I am no longer professionally Warren Monocelli, I am now Romulus Peace." These were the famous First Words of Panem as printed on his statue outside of the President's Mansion in the Capitol.
AN: There is the formation, next will be the codification of the Capitol and its 49 states. No districts yet. Also, by "no longer professionally Warren Monocelli", he means that to friends and family, his name is the same, but for all formal actions in the government, it's Romulus Peace. Romulus from the mythological founder of Rome, Peace for what he planned to have in Panem. We know that's not gonna happen. XD Anyways, please review.