I saw this fascinating article from the Washington Post entitled, "
Raiding the Icebox." The article talks about contingency war plans that the Americans drew up during the 1930s. The declassified documents outline how the Americans planned on taking over Canada if it was required to do so (ie to get back at the evil British).
From the article:
The United States government does have a plan to invade Canada. It's a 94-page document called "Joint Army and Navy Basic War Plan -- Red," with the word SECRET stamped on the cover. It's a bold plan, a bodacious plan, a step-by-step plan to invade, seize and annex our neighbor to the north. It goes like this:
First, we send a joint Army-Navy overseas force to capture the port city of Halifax, cutting the Canadians off from their British allies.
Then we seize Canadian power plants near Niagara Falls, so they freeze in the dark.
Then the U.S. Army invades on three fronts -- marching from Vermont to take Montreal and Quebec, charging out of North Dakota to grab the railroad center at Winnipeg, and storming out of the Midwest to capture the strategic nickel mines of Ontario.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy seizes the Great Lakes and blockades Canada's Atlantic and Pacific ports.
At that point, it's only a matter of time before we bring these Molson-swigging, maple-mongering Zamboni drivers to their knees! Or, as the official planners wrote, stating their objective in bold capital letters: "ULTIMATELY TO GAIN COMPLETE CONTROL."
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It sounds like a joke but it's not. War Plan Red is real. It was drawn up and approved by the War Department in 1930, then updated in 1934 and 1935. It was declassified in 1974 and the word "SECRET" crossed out with a heavy pencil. Now it sits in a little gray box in the National Archives in College Park, available to anybody, even Canadian spies. They can photocopy it for 15 cents a page.
War Plan Red was actually designed for a war with England. In the late 1920s, American military strategists developed plans for a war with Japan (code name Orange), Germany (Black), Mexico (Green) and England (Red). The Americans imagined a conflict between the United States (Blue) and England over international trade: "The war aim of RED in a war with BLUE is conceived to be the definite elimination of BLUE as an important economic and commercial rival."
In the event of war, the American planners figured that England would use Canada (Crimson) -- then a quasi-pseudo-semi-independent British dominion -- as a launching pad for "a direct invasion of BLUE territory." That invasion might come overland, with British and Canadian troops attacking Buffalo, Detroit and Albany. Or it might come by sea, with amphibious landings on various American beaches -- including Rehoboth and Ocean City, both of which were identified by the planners as "excellent" sites for a Brit beachhead.
The planners anticipated a war "of long duration" because "the RED race" is "more or less phlegmatic" but "noted for its ability to fight to a finish." Also, the Brits could be reinforced by "colored" troops from their colonies: "Some of the colored races however come of good fighting stock, and, under white leadership, can be made into very efficient troops."
If you read on in the article, it outlines what the Canadian war plan against the Americans was like. It's strange because the Canadian military planners appear to believe that a military victory against the Americans was achievable. This is very strange to look back on because this is definitely not a plausible outcome if it were to happen today.
What I also thought was interesting was that the Americans had a war plan that outlined how to wage a war against Japan. It's interesting that America perceived Japan as a potential threat even way back in 1920. I didn't know that American felt threatened by Japan that early. I always assumed that Japan only started making the world worried about its power during the 1930s when it built a lot of battleships (which were symbols of military might, there was actually a treaty signed that limited the number of battleships a country could have, the cap was roughtly a dozen battleships per country).
Anyways, I encourage you to read the rest of the article. It's a very fascinating look at the geopolitical realities that were in place before WW2 broke out, and Canada, Britain, and the USA became friends.
It'd be even more interesting to know what a modern American war plan against Canada may look like. If I had to invade Vancouver Island, I would send agents to infiltrate the BC Ferry Union and cause a labour strike. The strike would disable the ferry service, thus depriving the Island of reinforcements from the mainland. Then, to cause further chaos, I would purposefully cause a car accident on the Malahat, which would block traffic at a critical choke point in the transportation system, thus preventing military forces from moving about in the Island. I would take out the few airports we have on the Island, and that will achieve air superiority. For the final death blow, I would cut the underwater BC Hydro powerlines that link the Island with the mainland, and the Island would be deprived of power. Check mate.
