Post by Tipsyfish on Nov 24, 2017 17:02:01 GMT
Finally got around to making a new video. Let me know what you lot think.
The color coded war-plans were military operations created by the United States after World War 1 for possible conflicts against threats around the world. The greatest viewed threat to the United States was Great Britain and her Empire, and two war-plans were created that included Great Britain, Plan Red, and Plan Red-Orange. Red Orange envisioned the Anglo-Japanese alliance being in effect, but after the expiration of the alliance in 1924, and the failures of keeping Japan in the League of Nations, Only Plan Red seemed feasible. The plan called to push the British out of Canada, the Caribbean and the whole Western Hemisphere, causing the empire to collapse at its seems. However, The political and over-all world attitude changed very much since the end of the first world war, and the possibility of an altercation between the United States and Britain was far less likely as the years went on. While War Plan Red was still constructed and modified into the early 30's, the reality of having it occur was hardly logical. The whole view of war had very much changed from it's view the century before, and a blossoming friendship was much more advantageous avenue then making enemies. But, for the sake of Alternate history, let us look at what would occur if war plan red actually happened.
For this scenario, we will have the war start in 1937. According to the plan, one of the first actions made would be an attempt to take Halifax Nova Scotia by amphibious assault, this was to cut British and Canadian trade, and prevent Halifax from being used as a naval base for the British. Many agree that this attack would fail for the lack of planning that went into it, World War 2 showed that major amphibious landings needed months of intense planning, a landing taking place so soon would be unlikely to succeed. With Halifax not being taken, the plan was to occupy New Brunswick and cut off Nova Scoita from the rest of Canada. From their the U.S was to launch four avenues of invasion. One would be launched from Vermont to Montreal and Quebec, this was to cut-off the rest of Canada from the East coast, another from North Dakota to take over the railway junction at Winnipeg, limiting any major rail movements from one end of the nation to the other. Another from Bellingham and Seattle to capture British Columbia and launch landings at Vancouver Island, this is to prevent any reinforcement from the pacific and the last from the Midwest to capture the strategic nickel mines in Ontario.
The Canadians had a series of defensive strategies that was created in the 1920's. Raiding parties constraining of tens of thousands of men would rush over the border and attempt to capture as much Territory as possible before staging a fighting withdrawal, where they would destroy everything that could be of use to the Americans. The main avenues would be the same routes taken by the U.S army, one would attempt to take Seattle, Portland, and Spokane, while another would strike at Fargo North Dakota and Minneapolis, Detroit and Chicago, and lastly with a strike at New York, focusing on Albany. These raids were meant to delay the Americans for as long as possible and wait for British reinforcements. The men designed for these raids would need to be raised and equipped quickly, as the Canadians only had around 40,000 men in their peace time army, half of them lacking experience and only having received minimal training. Not men that would be capable for the raids. The Canadians could possibly be able to muster around half a million men, given close to a year to fully mobilize, which would include veterans from the CEF during the first World War, Only around 100,000 of these men saw combat of any kind however, with many others being absorbed into reserve battalions, or performing in other, non-field roles. While this would give Canada some well experienced units, a lack of military equipment within Canada itself would limit their ability to be armed and supplied, as most military equipment coming from England would be intercepted by American naval patrols, or the ports to which these ships could unload would be of rather small capacity. Canadian manufacturing would be heavily crippled in a land war, as most of the industry, population, and transportation was within the first 100 miles of the U.S border. Canada had spent very little in terms of military spending until 1937, were they passed a modest re-armament program in response to the increased tensions in Europe.
While the U.S and Canadian planners had anticipated the bulk of Britain's army to be transported to Canada both were mistaken. The officials in the Royal Navy considered Canada a lost cause if an Anglo-American war happened, and knew that trying to send an army to Canada could not be kept supplied, but also that Canada would be impossible to fully defend against the much larger aggressor. And while the navy was Britain’s strongest arm, it was the strongest more out of necessity then choice, for without the constant trade convoys at the mainland, Britain could not hope to last long at war. Meaning that risking the fleet for Canada's defense would be far too risky. British allies would be rather limited at this point in time as well, France was nearly bankrupt, and viewed the re-arming Germans as a much greater threat and use of their resources. Germany lacks the military might to assist the British in any meaningful way, even if they were willing to help. The Japanese have just launched their second war in China, and are thus focused on their Asiatic possessions, rather then want to get dragged into a western war.
Yet with a retaliatory invasion of the U.S unrealistic and a blockage too slow, the only option left would be rendering the American Fleet incapable of major operations, either through destroying or blockading it in ports. With both navies so even at this period in time it would be unlikely that either could create a massive advantage over the other, so the war would turn into an attritional stalemate at sea. The British would bomb coastal cities on the east coast, and keep the American navy locked up as much as possible. And while the Americans would likely occupy Canada within a year of the invasion, amphibious assaults against possessions in the Caribbean such as Jamaica, Bahamas, and Belize, would be secondary and have a low chance of seceding. The balance between the two navies would simply be too even.
What forces are left to the pacific theater would largely be left to their own devices, as neither side really had the naval strength to challenge each other in the region. A good portion of the American pacific fleet would be used in the invasion then stuck into a patrol and protection role, not being able to be used for offensive actions. Smaller islands could possibly be gained but their military value would be rather limited and be a very long detour for any vessels. The British would find themselves in very much the same position, while each of the Commonwealth nations did contain their own naval units, separate of the Royal Navy, these navies were rather small in number and equipped for patrol use, not large scale open seas action. Guam and American Samoa could potentially be open to the British, but again, their military value would be rather limited.
How would this affect the world at large? Well, with WW2 looming it changes the whole dynamic of the events that proceed it. It might be a little too late to prevent most of the main causes, especially in Europe. What this will do is give the Japanese a little bit more freedom to act in China and the pacific as a whole, not out-right conquest, but the diplomatic action to isolate Japan may not be anywhere near as severe. Not to mention, the oil embargo placed on them IOTL may not happen until later, which was the main reason that the Japanese struck south in the first place. Nazi Germany would likely be able to gain some more local power then they did IOTL as well. France wasn't really willing to wage a war without British support and likely wouldn't have been able to long-term without heavy finical support. At most, this would mean that Poland is divided up similarly to OTL without war being declared. That is a bit of a stretch to say for certain however.
The color coded war-plans were military operations created by the United States after World War 1 for possible conflicts against threats around the world. The greatest viewed threat to the United States was Great Britain and her Empire, and two war-plans were created that included Great Britain, Plan Red, and Plan Red-Orange. Red Orange envisioned the Anglo-Japanese alliance being in effect, but after the expiration of the alliance in 1924, and the failures of keeping Japan in the League of Nations, Only Plan Red seemed feasible. The plan called to push the British out of Canada, the Caribbean and the whole Western Hemisphere, causing the empire to collapse at its seems. However, The political and over-all world attitude changed very much since the end of the first world war, and the possibility of an altercation between the United States and Britain was far less likely as the years went on. While War Plan Red was still constructed and modified into the early 30's, the reality of having it occur was hardly logical. The whole view of war had very much changed from it's view the century before, and a blossoming friendship was much more advantageous avenue then making enemies. But, for the sake of Alternate history, let us look at what would occur if war plan red actually happened.
For this scenario, we will have the war start in 1937. According to the plan, one of the first actions made would be an attempt to take Halifax Nova Scotia by amphibious assault, this was to cut British and Canadian trade, and prevent Halifax from being used as a naval base for the British. Many agree that this attack would fail for the lack of planning that went into it, World War 2 showed that major amphibious landings needed months of intense planning, a landing taking place so soon would be unlikely to succeed. With Halifax not being taken, the plan was to occupy New Brunswick and cut off Nova Scoita from the rest of Canada. From their the U.S was to launch four avenues of invasion. One would be launched from Vermont to Montreal and Quebec, this was to cut-off the rest of Canada from the East coast, another from North Dakota to take over the railway junction at Winnipeg, limiting any major rail movements from one end of the nation to the other. Another from Bellingham and Seattle to capture British Columbia and launch landings at Vancouver Island, this is to prevent any reinforcement from the pacific and the last from the Midwest to capture the strategic nickel mines in Ontario.
The Canadians had a series of defensive strategies that was created in the 1920's. Raiding parties constraining of tens of thousands of men would rush over the border and attempt to capture as much Territory as possible before staging a fighting withdrawal, where they would destroy everything that could be of use to the Americans. The main avenues would be the same routes taken by the U.S army, one would attempt to take Seattle, Portland, and Spokane, while another would strike at Fargo North Dakota and Minneapolis, Detroit and Chicago, and lastly with a strike at New York, focusing on Albany. These raids were meant to delay the Americans for as long as possible and wait for British reinforcements. The men designed for these raids would need to be raised and equipped quickly, as the Canadians only had around 40,000 men in their peace time army, half of them lacking experience and only having received minimal training. Not men that would be capable for the raids. The Canadians could possibly be able to muster around half a million men, given close to a year to fully mobilize, which would include veterans from the CEF during the first World War, Only around 100,000 of these men saw combat of any kind however, with many others being absorbed into reserve battalions, or performing in other, non-field roles. While this would give Canada some well experienced units, a lack of military equipment within Canada itself would limit their ability to be armed and supplied, as most military equipment coming from England would be intercepted by American naval patrols, or the ports to which these ships could unload would be of rather small capacity. Canadian manufacturing would be heavily crippled in a land war, as most of the industry, population, and transportation was within the first 100 miles of the U.S border. Canada had spent very little in terms of military spending until 1937, were they passed a modest re-armament program in response to the increased tensions in Europe.
While the U.S and Canadian planners had anticipated the bulk of Britain's army to be transported to Canada both were mistaken. The officials in the Royal Navy considered Canada a lost cause if an Anglo-American war happened, and knew that trying to send an army to Canada could not be kept supplied, but also that Canada would be impossible to fully defend against the much larger aggressor. And while the navy was Britain’s strongest arm, it was the strongest more out of necessity then choice, for without the constant trade convoys at the mainland, Britain could not hope to last long at war. Meaning that risking the fleet for Canada's defense would be far too risky. British allies would be rather limited at this point in time as well, France was nearly bankrupt, and viewed the re-arming Germans as a much greater threat and use of their resources. Germany lacks the military might to assist the British in any meaningful way, even if they were willing to help. The Japanese have just launched their second war in China, and are thus focused on their Asiatic possessions, rather then want to get dragged into a western war.
Yet with a retaliatory invasion of the U.S unrealistic and a blockage too slow, the only option left would be rendering the American Fleet incapable of major operations, either through destroying or blockading it in ports. With both navies so even at this period in time it would be unlikely that either could create a massive advantage over the other, so the war would turn into an attritional stalemate at sea. The British would bomb coastal cities on the east coast, and keep the American navy locked up as much as possible. And while the Americans would likely occupy Canada within a year of the invasion, amphibious assaults against possessions in the Caribbean such as Jamaica, Bahamas, and Belize, would be secondary and have a low chance of seceding. The balance between the two navies would simply be too even.
What forces are left to the pacific theater would largely be left to their own devices, as neither side really had the naval strength to challenge each other in the region. A good portion of the American pacific fleet would be used in the invasion then stuck into a patrol and protection role, not being able to be used for offensive actions. Smaller islands could possibly be gained but their military value would be rather limited and be a very long detour for any vessels. The British would find themselves in very much the same position, while each of the Commonwealth nations did contain their own naval units, separate of the Royal Navy, these navies were rather small in number and equipped for patrol use, not large scale open seas action. Guam and American Samoa could potentially be open to the British, but again, their military value would be rather limited.
How would this affect the world at large? Well, with WW2 looming it changes the whole dynamic of the events that proceed it. It might be a little too late to prevent most of the main causes, especially in Europe. What this will do is give the Japanese a little bit more freedom to act in China and the pacific as a whole, not out-right conquest, but the diplomatic action to isolate Japan may not be anywhere near as severe. Not to mention, the oil embargo placed on them IOTL may not happen until later, which was the main reason that the Japanese struck south in the first place. Nazi Germany would likely be able to gain some more local power then they did IOTL as well. France wasn't really willing to wage a war without British support and likely wouldn't have been able to long-term without heavy finical support. At most, this would mean that Poland is divided up similarly to OTL without war being declared. That is a bit of a stretch to say for certain however.
, you would probably find a lot of interesting info here.