Was America really planning war against Britain ?

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G#Gill
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Was America really planning war against Britain ?

Post by G#Gill »

It seems that America was going to war against the UK in the 1930's !!! War Plan Red also known as the Atlantic Strategic War Plan, seemed to have been planned in order to overcome the UK's huge empire - a threat to America's supremacy, well so the Americans thought. Aren't the Americans supposed to be our allies? No wonder they left it so long before joining Britain in WWI, (1917) , and in WWII (1941) and then only because they had been personally attacked by Japan ! Apparently this has been known about for many years, but I did see a small mention of it in one of the daily rags, so I looked it up in Wikipedia...................

War Plan Red - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

America's Planned War On Britain: Revealed | Revealed | Channel 5
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Clodhopper
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Was America really planning war against Britain ?

Post by Clodhopper »

It's ok Gill. Everybody had plans for going to war with everybody back then. Probably still do. It doesn't mean they'll follow through on them. They are done just in case... And given we'd had a couple of small wars with the independent rebel rabble (:sneaky:) anyway, it wasn't so beyond the bounds of possibility as all that. It's only from our modern perspective, with 2 world wars and 60+ years of NATO behind us, that it seems so unthinkable.

However that doesn't mean the USA was above taking the opportunity to hammer the British Empire because (a) they saw the Empire as a commercial rival and (b) they didn't like the colonial nature of the Empire. (Which seems a bit peculiar given what they did to the Native Americans after 1776...)

They also sucked every bit of gold out of us - twice. In WW1 one of the reasons Versailles demanded so much money of the Germans was that we had to pay back colossal loans to the Americans, who got rich making us weapons.

All the money going out of its economy helped destabilise Germany in the 1920s, which helped Hitler rise to power and caused WW2.

We might have coped with one world war, but two so close together crippled us. By the end of WW2 we were completely committed to the fight against Hitler and completely dependent on the USA for food and money. Suez ended any lingering pretensions of great power status.

To be honest, they could have been much nastier.
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gmc
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Was America really planning war against Britain ?

Post by gmc »

In 1917 they discovered the germans were trying to persuade mexico to go to war with the US again, doesn't get much mention but that seems to have been the main reason for the change of heart in government circles. America was itself an imperial power itself in the 1930's conflict in the far east with Britain over trade was also a possibility in the 30's.

Kind of hard to put yourself in the mindset of the time isn't it!.
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Scrat
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Was America really planning war against Britain ?

Post by Scrat »

All countries make plans to war on one another, Russia has plans to war on the UK and the UK has plans to war on Russia and America at the same time. It's all about preparedness and contingency plans. Iceland probably has a plan to war with China somewhere. Countries even share their plans and doctrines. If you look into it you will see how doctrines and plans worked between France Russia and Germany in the '30s. Russia used the French way of war (methodical and static warfare) as their standard. They also helped to develop the German way of warfare (the Blitzkrieg) and realized that it was in ways better suited to future needs in the world. When they began to develop a mechanized force the Germans and Hitler realized they had to attack them before they had changed over completely.
fuzzywuzzy
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Was America really planning war against Britain ?

Post by fuzzywuzzy »

I just remember reading in a doco book about america would save britain in the 40's if they handed over the crown jewels ..when britain said "get stuffed" they had to do it on moral grounds ...and they have the audacity to call us allies.......ha ha ha hahahahahahahhahahaha

In the end America only got into the war (first world war or second can't remember now)because britain were able to scramble german radio calls for America to help them .
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Bryn Mawr
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Was America really planning war against Britain ?

Post by Bryn Mawr »

fuzzywuzzy;1370637 wrote: I just remember reading in a doco book about america would save britain in the 40's if they handed over the crown jewels ..when britain said "get stuffed" they had to do it on moral grounds ...and they have the audacity to call us allies.......ha ha ha hahahahahahahhahahaha

In the end America only got into the war (first world war or second can't remember now)because britain were able to scramble german radio calls for America to help them .


Would you be thinking of Enigma machine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - we developed the first programmable computer to make it possible.

Whilst we were at it we also gave the Americans RADAR and the Jet engine - to help the war effort you know :-)
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Snooz
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Was America really planning war against Britain ?

Post by Snooz »

Yes, we all voted, every single one of us, about all that you've mentioned above. No secrets in the military and upper government in this country.
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spot
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Was America really planning war against Britain ?

Post by spot »

It strikes me you've very little control over what your politicians do which, for a country which trumpets democracy, is odd. In England we're more prone to voting on performance rather than on tribal divisions and there's quite often a difference between the party policies on offer.
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Snooz
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Was America really planning war against Britain ?

Post by Snooz »

Is that why Blair led you all by the nose into the Middle East conflict? Well done, English voters.
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