I found this website: http://www.glasnost.de/hist/usa/1935invasion.html and wondered about the validity of such plans. I have been unable to find any other resource to either dispute or explain this document.
I am aware that annexation was still sought around the late 1800s, but that was more in hoping Britain would just hand it over, not go to war over it. I also know of a Canadian soldier, James Sutherland Brown, who made plans to invade the US. Is it possible that’s why the the US countered with this plan? Or is it possible this was just some military exercise to keep their minds busy?
Basically, I wish to know if this plan was for real? was fully intended to be carried out? why were plans made to invade Canada? and why was it scrapped?
Blue is the US, Crimson is Canada, so is Red Great Britain? It looks like just war games to me…you know, in the event war breaks out between the US and Great Britain and her allies, here’s a plan to invade Canada before she can get British reinforcement.
1935:
a) Liberals take over many offices in Canada due to the Canadian public blaming the Conservatives for the depression.
b) Elvis is born
d) Monopoly was created
e) The Wagner Act gave employees the right to unionize
f) Nylon is discovered
g) Franklin D. Roosevelt is president and rumor has it he thought Canadians were ‘Bloody Wankers’
I don’t know, I don’t think this is all a coincidence.
Of course, it is possible that since the country was in a massive depression, some war plans were being made. Wars keep people busy and kill off a few people. Less mouths to feed is always ok with Uncle Sam right? Sad as it may be, wars are very good at gaining the support of the country, putting people to work in the military as well as jump starting manufacturing. It’s very possible these were real plans that got put on hold when a bigger and better enemy was found.
Modern armies make detailed war plans for all kinds of contingencies that might not really happen. This provides practice for officers, gets the basic thinking and research out of the way if something unexpected happens, provides a basis for actual operations if something happens, and provides an assessment of relative military strength. (While today comparing the Canadian and US militaries seems silly, in 1935 the US had a very small army and Canada was tightly allied with the world’s top naval power, so the comparison would be more interesting.)
Of course we now know that war between the US and Canada wasn’t exactly likely, but do you as a person in 1935 know for sure that Britain or Canada isn’t going to end up putting someone dangerous in power as a result of the depression? Bear in mind that the CIA got suprised by the collapse of the USSR with a much larger spying budget than the US had in 1935.
I don’t know the history of the particular set of plans you’ve laid out, but most likely they’re ‘for real’ in that they were actually drafted by someone in the army, but not ‘for real’ in the sense that the US army was just about to invade Canada in 1935.