The Peace Arch, a monument to US-Canada friendship located between Washington, USA, and British Columbia, Canada. Though the US-Canada relationship has long been friendly, the US military drew up plans to invade in case of war with the United Kingdom. (Shutterstock/Nalidsa)

‘War Plan Red’: America Once Had a Secret Contingency Plan to Invade Canada

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The plan centered on an invasion of Canada in order to deny it to approaching British troops—but also envisioned a naval war against the mighty Royal Navy in the Atlantic.

It sounds like a mere academic exercise, or perhaps an episode of alternative history—but in the decades between World War I and World War II, the US military maintained a contingency plan for war against the British Empire.

Known as War Plan Red, the classified strategy prepared for a conflict with the world’s most dominant naval power, which included a rapid invasion of Canada, before Britain could reinforce it. Although the plan was obviously never implemented, it illustrates the justifiably paranoid nature of living in an anarchic system. 

What Was “War Plan Red”?

War Plan Red was part of the US........

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