Recently I learned that in the 1920s the US developed a plan to attack Canada called War Plan Red. As a Canadian, myself, I find this very interesting because, although I am familiar with "Manifest Destiny", the War of 1812, and other US attempts to invade Canada during the 1800s, I was unaware of any such ideas in the 1900s.
It seems War Plan Red was only a contingency plan but, after the plan was approved by both the Secretary of War and the Secretary of Navy, the US did try to secretly build some military airfields near the US-Canada border. It was officially withdrawn in 1939 following the outbreak of World War II and replaced with plans to deal with the Axis threat. But what if the US had gone ahead with the plan earlier? The US was in the depths of the Great Depression in the 30s so at first it seems unlikely that they would want to start a war. But wars have been "manufactured" (by the US it's self, some would say) to stimulate the economy before and considering Americans' historical tendency to regard Canada as a push-over it wouldn't be too hard to create a "believable" scenario in which the United States attacked Canada in the mid-1930s.
If this had happened it would not have only changed the course of North American history but the history of Europe and the world. The US and Canada both knew that, in the long-term, Canada's only hope of fighting-off US invasion was in the Great Britain. Plan Red largely focused on how to cut-off the Canadians from their British allies including a joint army-navy mission to capture the port city of Halifax. Other targets included Montreal (Canada's biggest city at the time), Quebec City, Winnipeg (a railroad hub), and the nickel mines of Ontario. The Navy was to take the Great Lakes and to blockade Canada's key Atlantic and Pacific ports. To make things even more interesting the Canadian military actually developed their own plan to attack the US! "Defence Scheme No. 1" called for the rapid deployment of flying columns to occupy Seattle, Great Falls, Minneapolis, and Albany. Like it's US counterpart this plan was mainly concerned with the British involvement in the conflict. In contrast to it's US counterpart, it's objective was surprise US troops and divert them away from Canada long enough for British reinforcements to arrive. Defence Scheme No. 1 was actually terminated in 1928 (two years before the approval of Plan Red) but I wouldn't be surprised that if Canadian forces had got wind of an imminent threat American attack they would have tried something like this.
Anyway, if British forces were involved in a war in North America when Germany invaded Poland in 1939 I don't know if Britain would have been as quick to declare war on Germany. And after the Axis invaded France, Hitler might have postponed his plans on Russia and shifted his focus to Britain. With British forces stretched thin North America the British Isles would look pretty ripe for the taking.
At this point the British government would be feeling the pressure to reduce their presence in Canada and protect the home front. Even though Canada would have the support of other British Empire forces such as Australia and New Zealand I think this would lead to downfall American take-over of Dominion of Canada. Plan Red outlined some post-invasion plans including how the Provinces would be changed into new States (I guess British Columbia would be shortened to Columbia).
Without the US on their side and many Imperial forces fighting the war in North America, Great Britain would eventually fall to the Nazis. Since Germany attacked Britain instead of Russia, the Soviet Union would be slower to get into the war than they were in the real world and this would also contribute to the downfall of Britain. I'm not sure what part Russia would play in the long-run, though. I'm sure tensions between the Nazis and the Soviet Union would eventually boil-over, though, and result in a full-out war between the two superpowers.
I'm not sure where Japan would fit into this but I'm sure they'd be glad to see the US take a beating. They'd probably go ahead with their attack on Pearl Harbor or maybe they'd get involved early on the side of the British and Canadians. Either way, the war in North America would be to their advantage. And a Japanese attack on the US would also be to the advantage of Canadians.
At this point this timeline is very undeveloped but I think it's got a lot of potential. What are your thought? Any and all input is welcome.
It seems War Plan Red was only a contingency plan but, after the plan was approved by both the Secretary of War and the Secretary of Navy, the US did try to secretly build some military airfields near the US-Canada border. It was officially withdrawn in 1939 following the outbreak of World War II and replaced with plans to deal with the Axis threat. But what if the US had gone ahead with the plan earlier? The US was in the depths of the Great Depression in the 30s so at first it seems unlikely that they would want to start a war. But wars have been "manufactured" (by the US it's self, some would say) to stimulate the economy before and considering Americans' historical tendency to regard Canada as a push-over it wouldn't be too hard to create a "believable" scenario in which the United States attacked Canada in the mid-1930s.
If this had happened it would not have only changed the course of North American history but the history of Europe and the world. The US and Canada both knew that, in the long-term, Canada's only hope of fighting-off US invasion was in the Great Britain. Plan Red largely focused on how to cut-off the Canadians from their British allies including a joint army-navy mission to capture the port city of Halifax. Other targets included Montreal (Canada's biggest city at the time), Quebec City, Winnipeg (a railroad hub), and the nickel mines of Ontario. The Navy was to take the Great Lakes and to blockade Canada's key Atlantic and Pacific ports. To make things even more interesting the Canadian military actually developed their own plan to attack the US! "Defence Scheme No. 1" called for the rapid deployment of flying columns to occupy Seattle, Great Falls, Minneapolis, and Albany. Like it's US counterpart this plan was mainly concerned with the British involvement in the conflict. In contrast to it's US counterpart, it's objective was surprise US troops and divert them away from Canada long enough for British reinforcements to arrive. Defence Scheme No. 1 was actually terminated in 1928 (two years before the approval of Plan Red) but I wouldn't be surprised that if Canadian forces had got wind of an imminent threat American attack they would have tried something like this.
Anyway, if British forces were involved in a war in North America when Germany invaded Poland in 1939 I don't know if Britain would have been as quick to declare war on Germany. And after the Axis invaded France, Hitler might have postponed his plans on Russia and shifted his focus to Britain. With British forces stretched thin North America the British Isles would look pretty ripe for the taking.
At this point the British government would be feeling the pressure to reduce their presence in Canada and protect the home front. Even though Canada would have the support of other British Empire forces such as Australia and New Zealand I think this would lead to downfall American take-over of Dominion of Canada. Plan Red outlined some post-invasion plans including how the Provinces would be changed into new States (I guess British Columbia would be shortened to Columbia).
Without the US on their side and many Imperial forces fighting the war in North America, Great Britain would eventually fall to the Nazis. Since Germany attacked Britain instead of Russia, the Soviet Union would be slower to get into the war than they were in the real world and this would also contribute to the downfall of Britain. I'm not sure what part Russia would play in the long-run, though. I'm sure tensions between the Nazis and the Soviet Union would eventually boil-over, though, and result in a full-out war between the two superpowers.
I'm not sure where Japan would fit into this but I'm sure they'd be glad to see the US take a beating. They'd probably go ahead with their attack on Pearl Harbor or maybe they'd get involved early on the side of the British and Canadians. Either way, the war in North America would be to their advantage. And a Japanese attack on the US would also be to the advantage of Canadians.
At this point this timeline is very undeveloped but I think it's got a lot of potential. What are your thought? Any and all input is welcome.
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