This was written up in MHQ: the Quarterly Journal of Military History over ten years ago.

It should also be noted that by siezing Halifax, we protect the vital Strategic Lobster Reserve.

British opinion was never going to allow them to side with the slavers--it was always a canard.

From the column: "David Biette, director of the Canada Institute in Washington, which thinks about Canada."

Thinking about Canada for a living! What a sad, sad life.

it sounds like we have everything in place.. what are we waiting for?

Depends on which British opinion. The upper classes were pro-South (like the upper classes of WWII here were pro-Nazi). The middle class and working class (despite the loss of textile jobs as a result of the Union's blockade of the South's cotton trade) were pro Union.

While Her Majesty's government would never have deliberately sided with the South, nations have been known to bungle their way into war (like when an Austrian archduke gets assassinated in Sarajevo). One possible scenario:

A rebel victory at Antietam in September 62 leads the British to offer mediation (Palmerston had pretty much decided on arbitration in the summer of 62 but Lee's check at Antietam caused him to shelve the idea - Lincoln's EP put the last nail in the coffin).

With Lee's cavalry raiding as far as Harrisburg and Philadelphia before retiring to winter quarters behind the Rapidan, hysteria and furor grip the north. Lincoln, forced to listen to the Radical Republicans, rejects the British offer.

In early 63, a frusterated Palmerston takes the next step, recognition of the South - especially after another bloody Union defeat at Fredricksburg in December. This in and of itself doesn't directly cause a war, but naturally heightens anti-foreigner feelings in the North.

At this point, unless things can be cooled down fast, another Trent-like incident could push someone over the edge into declaring war. Or maybe someting stupid by the pro-Southern Napoleon III of France, perceived by the North to be Britain's ally.

Wouldn't be the first time a nation has stumbled into a war it didn't want or need.

Bob:

At least he gets paid for it. How about some pity for those of us who put in a hard day at the office and then think about Canada in our spare time!

Nice to see we just let Vancouver go their own way, eh?

Peter: You have just described hell!

bplus: "like the upper classes of WWII here were pro-Nazi"? Any evidence of that (and Joe Kennedy doesn't count)? It is an outrageous statement.

No, it couldn't. The Brits were never going to fight here and would have been beaten easily had they tried.

Public opinion throughout the Anglosphere favored Germany against Russia, Poland & France but was against getting involved at all.

The plan doesn't mention the battalion of Seattle grunge-slackers who will occupy Vancouver coffee houses, thus bringing British Columbia to its knees.

Like the Soviet Union Canada will crumble from within and the US will just have to help pick up the pieces.

mike, i hate to tell you this but the canucks have rigged the lobster reserve with high explosive pucks. they will take it all down with them, if we try anything. so who is the kim il jung of canada ?

We'll have to get Red Adair to put out all those lobster fires

Bryan:

Forget it. We'll have Red Green there ready to take him out.

Nice to see WaPo getting up to speed.

The U.S. has had contigency plans for over three decades concerning which part of Canada it would annex if national security required it. I know this because a U.S. native of Sasketchewan who worked as an analyst on it told me so. The report concluded that western Canada, with its agricultural and mineral resources, was important. Forget Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. We already get enough actors, comedian, and Space Shuttle arms from them as it is.

The new plan does not sound nearly as sensible.

Re: Lobster Reserves.

I heard BushCo had intel that the Ottawa was going to destroy Canadian lobster reserves rather allow them to fall into our hands, so he has put into place secret lobster breeding areas in former Soviet bloc countries where lobsters are growing bigger and better than the wimpy peacenik Canuck lobsters.

Soon we'll integrate these super-sized lobsters loyal to the U.S. into our Navy SEAL program where they'll be taught how to break out of Canadian lobster pots and to infiltrate and conquer the weaker Canadian lobsters and then the reserves will be ours.

Further resistance is futile.

Wow, that's quite the fantasy, erp. Canada is just so boring, right?

We need to attack Canada in the summer. That way they can't use their mechanized force, the Zamboni Royal Regiment.

English public opinion was in FAVOR of Germany defeating England's ally Fance? Citation please.

Bob,

Start with the former King the Duke of Windsor and his wife Wallis Simpson, then the Duke of Bedford, the Lord Londonderry, the Duke of Hamilton, Lord Astor, Sir Samuel Hoare, RAB Butler, Lord Lothian, Sir Oswald Mosley, Lady Astor, Lord Halifax, the entire Cliveden Set, etc. Not a conspiracy mind you, but in favor of betraying freedom through their pro-appeasement, anti-Semitic and pro-German attitudes

MI5 had a war time contingency to arrest up to 400 prominent members of British society and the aristocracy (as wellas quite a few small fry) they considered pro-German.
See
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/10/12/nna12.xml.
and
http://www.guardian.co.uk/secondworldwar/story/0,14058,1334364,00.html

Actually, I just read something recently about War Plan Red. Who ever I was reading said that, after WWI, it was politically impossible to plan for any war that might actually occur, especially against Germany. So the military "planned" for a war that couldn't occur (and thus nobody would get upset if the plan leaded) against the British Empire, which let them plan for action in both Asia and Europe. War Plan Red, the plan against Canada, was an offshoot of that effort.

The United States government does have a plan to invade Canada. It's a 94-page document called "Joint Army and Navy Basic War Plan -- Red," with the word SECRET stamped on the cover.

Interestingly, the Canadian government also has a plan to attack us. It's called Defence Scheme No. 1 and it's in the Canadian National Archives. It theorizes that highly mobile, lightly armed columns can move across the border and occupy key points...and then retreat back to Canada to give the Royal Navy time to blast the eastern seaboard.

I guess the idea is that, if everything goes according to plan, the U.S. counterattack would mean a lengthy American occupation and, as Germany and Japan can tell you, that's not such a bad thing at all.

David: War Plans, such an the "color" plans of the 1930's are mere outlines for various contingencies. For example, we long had a War Plan Orange" for Japan, Green for Germany (in Mexico, of course), Gold, for France, Red, for the U.K. with different shades of red for various contingencies, such as Scarlet for Australia, Gray for taking over the Carribbean, Brown for the Philippines and White for domestic insurgency.

Militaries make contingency plans all the time, which are only remotely related to intentions. It would military malpractice not to have beach and tide plans for Cuba, whether or not we were about to land there.