The Invasion of America, 19?? (1935 Scenario for Invasions via Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean)

JF Ptak Science Books LLC  Post 898

(This is a continuation of the Invasion of America series, started here.)

Even before WWII,   the American military and variously-aligned think-tank subsidiaries had for years hypothesized U.S. invasion scenarios.  For convenience’s sake, they were color-coded so as to not confuse one invadee with another: for example, there were War Plan Citron (an invasion of Brazil); War Plan Emerald (intervention in Ireland); War Plan Green (war with Mexico); War Plan Indigo (an invasion of Iceland); War Plan Lemon (an invasion of Portugal); War Plan White: (plan for dealing with civil disturbances cause by Communist insurgents), and many others. (I cannot find the color-coded plan for the 20^th century invasion of Canada, but it did exist.)

Lesser known are the U.S. military’s preparation for the invasion of America.

This two-page spread (all that I have of a longer article) appeared in Fortune Magazine for September 1935.  It was undoubtedly generated by a number of causes, not the least of which was the rearming of Nazi Germany (referred to in this article as a ‘miracle”), which could theoretically cause some amount of concern in semi-fortress America.  It was also an opportunity for Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur to whip up a little hell in Congress for the federal government to give the military some more money so that there was more to the “fortress” part of America than two oceans. 

Basically the plan seems to call for a standing, ready army of specialist forces that were agile and highly trained, a large network, of anti-aircraft batteries and detection areas, and of course a large buildup of the Army Air Force.  All of this of course cost money, and almost all o fit would’ve been directed towards MacArthur and his subordinates. (It is interesting and odd to note that the Fortune article notes that three of the top four major general assistants to MacArthur were Irish (“see the four big shots…with three Irish names”).)

[Due to difficulties in the size of this map I have to present it in three sections, but I’m sure that the overall flavor will be maintained.] 

The most prominent feature (besides the black invasion routes) are the terribly antiquated (even for 1936?) depictions of coastal defense canons.  Perhaps this was disingenuous to include them with such flair, what with the main point of the article lending itself towards air invasion, but there they are, protecting the American coastline from a ripping adventure from the sea. 

But as we can see the successful invasion routes are coming from odd places—from Alaska, Canada, the Caribbean) against which the U.S. seemingly had no defense.  This was especially true in the Pacific Northwest (“here defense system is weak”) where America was entirely susceptible to attack and invasion “from army basing in Alaska”.  The rest of the west coast didn’t fair so well, though the only other direct threat was from “25,000 able-bodied male Japanese…Californians suppose they have secret arms and drill at night in dark halls”.

The southwestern and southern California areas were relatively secure, except in the case of an enemy capturing Mexico; then, “an attack here would almost certainly be launched, in conjunction with one against San Antonio”.  I guess there would be long intrigue, much preparation and enormous effort to attack and secure Mexico, and I’m assuming that the thinkers behind constructing this map assumed that the U.S. would be doing nothing during this prolonged period of time. 

The attack on America in the Gulf would ostensibly come from Mexico and “an enemy basing in the Caribbean”, with a central interest in Birmingham and Norfolk.  But the main thrust coming to the U.S. from unnamed horribleness would be coming through the St. Lawrence and points east in Canada, swooping down on Lake Champlain, the Mohawk Valley, Troy, Buffalo and Detroit.  I know that there were bigger industrial concerns in these places in 1936 than there are now, but, well, my god there would be better places to begin an attack on the U.S. than from Montreal and Toronto.

In all of this I see that the industrial northeast is left alone, save for a “feint” attack to dislodge resources and attention away from the movement against the Virginia coast. There’s the navy yard and industry and shipping and etc. there, but it would seem a terrible waste to attack here rather than a much juicer and more northerly series of prizes. 

No attacker is named in what I own of this article, and there is a very curious absence of any threat coming from the already-warring Japan (save for the Japanese super secret nighthawks in San Fran).  The article does make a case—apart from the map—that national defense was at a low ebb insofar as manpower and ordnance were concerned.  But it scoots around the issue of the war of Japan against China and the vast militarization of the Nazis.  (Of course, this is Fortune magazine, and Krupp and Hoechst and other German firms, and Standard Oil, and the Bank for International Settlement, and Ford, and SKF, and etc. abetting the Nazi war machine were doing some nice business in the U.S., so perhaps it would’ve been best not to make Nazi money upset with some bad press.)

Taking all sorts and manner of considerations into account, this is just simply a miserable attempt to reckon what the future might bring to America in the hands of unlabeled enemies—it is simply a rousing caroling of general fear of attack from places unknown. 

Comments

[Jordan]

The potential invasion of Canada was tied to thinking about a hypothetical war with Britain. See War Plan Red, and War Plan Crimson. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Color-coded_War_Plans)

[Rick]

John, I see your point about the outdated look of the icons for shore defenses, but I think fondly of them because they remind me of the Guns of Navarone. Great movie.

[John Ptak]

When in doubt, bet on Greg Peck.