"In 1921, Canada developed a secret plan to invade the U.S." Topic

""Very dishonest and weak": that's what Trump called Canada's prime minister Justin Trudeau just a few months ago. And now the president wants to exclude Canada from a revised NAFTA. Yes, U.S.-Canada relations have been better.

They've also been a lot worse.

Less than a century ago, simmering tensions between the two countries led generals on both sides to draw up plans to invade their neighbour. Canada's 1921 plan for a ‘pre-emptive invasion' of the northern U.S. was called Defence Scheme No. 1. America's plan to knock out Canada, developed a few years later, had a rather more belligerent title: War Plan Red.

Why would Canada want to invade the U.S.? Paradoxically, because it felt offence was the best defence against an imminent American attack. Here's a quote from the document itself…"

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What if…? (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Seemsely fantastic. Could Canada field enough troops for something like this?

I believe the US version of the plan used a multi-pronged thrust north, mostly in Ontario/Quebec and Manitoba/Alberta, in hopes of isolating portions of the country from the inevitable Commonwealth response.

I would suspect that the Canadian plan was meant to delay our advance until the Royal Navy could secure the North Atlantic and reinforce the Canadian Army.

in 1921 we would have had over 500,000 WWI veterans . Canadians were involved in battles starting in 1915 so we had a lot of combat experienced troops .
granted , the US sent about 4,000,000 troops , so it would have been a tough fight for us :)

Also Help would be a long time in coming from England. The USA had a newer Battleship fleet and almost as many as England. England was Bankrupt due to the Great war and was also dependent on Canada & US for food.

Both the US and Canadian plans were War College student projects, not serious war plans. The primary sources for the US plan were the Encyclopedia Canadiana and various Canadian government publications.

Good point, Ross!

Almost every government plans, games, makes contingencies for poss/prob future events.

Methinks we had a lot of "Spectrum" plans floating around the joint during the same time frame!

I'd bet somewhere in US OPLANs there is one to invade Canada today …

Both the US and Canadian plans were War College student projects, not serious war plans.

That is true, we had to do somethings similar in US ARMY CAS3 …

I believe the US plan to invade Canada at the time involved dropping gas bombs on Canadian cities.

Glad you enjoyed it guys!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

They invaded Hollywood I hear. :)

Dan

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

"Both the US and Canadian plans were War College student projects, not serious war plans. The primary sources for the US plan were the Encyclopedia Canadiana and various Canadian government publications."

Apparently the Canadian plan was a bit more detailed. An enthusiastic staff officer assigned to do it actually went to New York and Vermont posing as a tourist and checked out bridges, roads, possible sites for ambushes etc. I've read it and his comments about Vermont rural are interesting. Apparently he was reprimanded for his enthusiasm.

LOL !

When the NHL opened franchises in Boston, New York and Chicago and stocked them with big, brawny Canadian lads with aggressive tendencies, that was supposed to be the opening move of the campaign of inevitable conquest.

Followed by: free toques, back bacon and extra strong beer. After that, the US would have fallen easily.

I believe the US plan to invade Canada at the time involved dropping gas bombs on Canadian cities.

I understand the US dropped that idea when they were informed it would actually IMPROVE Hamilton, Ontario's air quality….

LOL !!!!