| War Plan Red |
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| canadian-american relations | |
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There is some debate over whether the plan was actually meant to be put into action. Although an Anglo-American war had been a real possiblity during the 19th century, the likelihood of this declined substantially following the turn of the century. The amicable negotiations of the tense Venezuela - British Guiana border dispute, the Hay-Paunceforte Treaty , the establishment of the International Joint Commission , and the Washington Naval Treaty are examples of the increasingly close U.S.-Canadian relationship during this period. War Plan Red is notably generalized and lacking in detail, indicating its low priority in the planners' eyes. War Plan Red is only one of a number of U.S. Color-coded War Plans developed at this time. Many of these plans address highly speculative scenarios, since heavily focusing plans on specific countries like Germany would have appeared militaristic and aroused domestic opposition. War Plan Red was declassified in 1974, and caused a stir in American-Canadian relations; Canada , named "Crimson" in the plans, was to have been the principal target of American forces. The war plan did not go into detail regarding offensive or defensive naval campaigns against Great Britain , at that time still the world's dominant naval power. It primarily set out a description of Canada's geography, military and economic resources, and transportation, and then proceeded to discuss a series of possible campaigns aimed at occupying key ports and railroad lines before British troops could reinforce Canada. This would prevent Britain from using Canadian resources, ports, or airbases against the United States. The main zones of operation discussed in the plan are:
''Bordering on Aggression: Evidence of U.S. Military Preparations Against Canada,'' is a book by former Queen's University professor Floyd Rudmin on this issue. It is generally little-known that a Canadian military officer, Colonel James Sutherland Brown, developed a counterpart to WPR called Defence Scheme No. 1 . Maintaining the best defence was a good offence, "Buster" Brown planned for rapid deployment of "flying air columns" to occupy Seattle , Portland (Oregon), Minneapolis and St. Paul . Simultaneous troop movements to converge on Albany , naval assault on Maine and bridgeheads along Niagara and Detroit . With no hope of actually maintaining an invasion force - the reasoning was to divert USA troops to the flanks and away from Canada - hopefully long enough for Commonwealth allies to arrive with reinforcements. DS1 was denounced as impractical and unlikely, and withdrawn in 1931. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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