perfidy

Should we need to invade Canada, we have at least one plan. Back in the interwar period, the United States maintained a series of color coded plans for wars with various potential enemies. Most well discussed of these was Plan Orange, which actually ended up being a big part of our actual war plans against Japan in the Second World War. Less well known is Plan Red, the plan for war with British Empire.

In the plan, the war was assumed to be continental. I imagine that this is because it was an Army plan rather than a Navy plan, and as such, it focused on "Crimson" which is Canada. The plan in its entirety can be found here, but the essentials are simple:

Step One, a joint Army/Navy assault on Halifax and the Maritime provinces to cut off Canada from reinforcements from Britain. Step Two, land assaults from New York and Vermont toward Montreal and Quebec City, with Quebec being the primary target. This would cut Eastern Canada off from the rest. Step Three, assaults from Niagara and Detroit into Ontario. Seizing these areas would deny the enemy their industrial facilities, staging areas for air attack, and secure control of the Great Lakes. Step Four, a thrust towards Winnipeg to cut the Trans-Canadian railway and communications between the far west and Eastern Canada. Finally, Step Five, an assault on Vancouver which would lead eventually to the occupation of British Columbia and deny Canada access to the Pacific.

This seems like a good plan, decisive strikes to disable communication, followed by occupation. Seeing as 90% of the Canadian population is within a three-day march of the American border, Canada is not exactly easy to defend. This plan, suitably updated to incorporate changes in the geo-political and military worlds, would likely have an even greater chance of success than it did in 1935. Alongside the phenomenal American military advancements over the last few decades, Canadian military strength has greatly diminished. Did you know that Canada once had the third largest Navy in the world? Canada's one real hope in '35 would have been to slow down an American offensive long enough for Britain to come to her aid. Now, Britain would find it nearly impossible to come to the aid of her former colony in the face of opposition from the US Navy.

The initial invasion would almost certainly be successful. But the idea of 33 million pissed off Canucks no longer across an international frontier is not exactly heartening.