To this day, Mexico there is still a famous saying: "Too far from heaven, too close to the United States." Almost any country that is a neighbor to the United States is unfortunate.
Take Mexico as an example. Before the 1840s, Mexico was also a well-known power in Latin America. However, after experiencing a US-Mexico war , the United States actually poached millions of square kilometers of land from Mexico. Mexico, once a huge country, has shrunk by half.
Of course, in the vast North and South America, Mexico is by no means the only victim under the iron heel of US imperialism. Although the " Monroe Doctrine " was introduced, the United States regarded the entire Americas as its own backyard. As for the countries in the Americas, they can be beaten and robbed whenever they want, without a trace of reason. The crime of genocide can be described in countless ways. Even just to eat the cheapest bananas, the United States went so far as to invade a Central American country - Guatemala.
However, in the Americas, there is one country that fortunately escaped the conquest and bullying of the United States. It is one of the only two neighboring countries of the United States-Canada.
1. Burn the White House
Canada is the second largest country in the world, and its vast territory contains countless minerals, oil and water resources. But its population and military numbers are vastly different from those of the United States. So the question is, why did the United States let Canada go? Why does the United States show its rare kindness only when facing Canada?
In fact, the United States has wanted to annex Canada more than once. There were even two occasions when the Americans personally went out and attacked Canada, but both ended in disastrous defeats. The first time
invaded Canada was during the Revolutionary War period. As early as 1774, when the thirteen states of North America decided to establish an independent country, they issued an initiative to Canada, which was also a British colony, calling on them to form their own congress and elect a delegation to Philadelphia to participate in the Continental Congress . Business plan to fight against Britain.
In the eyes of Jefferson, Franklin and others, Canada and the United States were both victims of British colonial rule and should stand together with them. Therefore, Franklin also referred to Canadians as fellow citizens of the 13 states. Escape from British colonial rule should be easier with Canadians helping us.
However, to the dismay of the founding fathers of the United States, Canadians are not interested in independence. On the contrary, they still regard themselves as British and regard themselves as "the most loyal subjects of the British King". This group of Canadians who are close to Britain are also called "Loyalists."
In March 1775, the Continental Congress sent three envoys to Montreal to promote propaganda. Among the three, there was Benjamin Franklin, a highly respected and diplomatic man, and two Marylanders. In addition, a Catholic priest and a Frenchman accompanied him. After dozens of days of lobbying work, the mission found no progress, and finally concluded: "The occupation of this area must ultimately be decided by the sword."
In the eyes of the Americans, the Canadians were allowed to continue to be loyal to the British. , will undoubtedly provide the enemy with an excellent foothold. How can you allow others to sleep soundly in the place where you lie down?
In November 1775, the United States planned an armed expedition to Canada. The expeditionary force was divided into two groups, one led by Richlin to attack Montreal.
At that time, the Americans had already deployed many spies in Montreal. When the main force of the US military arrived, Montreal surrendered without a fight.
The other route, led by Benedict Arnold, was preparing to take Quebec City directly along the Kennebok River. Quebec was originally a French colony, and the British took it from the French only after a great effort. Therefore, in Quebec City, the British gathered heavy troops.
Due to the dangerous terrain of the city and the large number of troops, Arnold was unable to conquer it for a long time. More than half of his troops were killed and wounded, with only more than 700 men left. Later, Arnold asked Montreal for help.
After the two armies were united, they originally planned to launch an attack on New Year's Eve. Unexpectedly, the weather suddenly changed in the early morning of the next day, with wind and snow blowing.MontgomerySeeing no movement in the city, he thought that the defenders were not prepared, so he took it lightly. Unexpectedly, he was ambushed and died.
Arnold's department also made poor progress and withdrew from the city. The U.S. military suffered heavy casualties during this siege, with more than 100 people killed and another 400 captured. In May 1776, the British army massively reinforced Quebec, and all American troops had to withdraw. The invasion of Canada failed.
Through this unsuccessful conquest, the Canadians fully proved their ability to fight. In the following 200 years, the Canadian army repeatedly responded to the call of its sovereign country, the United Kingdom, and participated in two world wars, with considerable military exploits. And this strength from the polar regions has also caused Americans to suffer repeatedly in front of Canadians.
After the American Revolutionary War , the thirteen states in North America successfully established the United States of America. In order to avoid political persecution, a large number of loyalists from thirteen states were forced to flee to Canada. You must know that before the Revolutionary War, Canada was regarded as a cold and cold place in the far north, which could not be compared with the blessed land in the south. With the arrival of a large number of "royalists", Canada's strength has greatly increased.
Therefore, some scholars in the United States and Canada put forward a view that the American Revolutionary War not only created the United States, but also shaped Canada.
For Americans who are superstitious about force, not eating meat is the biggest sin. Canada's rich resources have always made Americans salivate. At the same time, the British colonial troops stationed in Canada were like the Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of the Americans and could fall at any time. In order to seize Canada and completely drive British power out of North America, the United States decided to launch a second war of aggression against Canada.
In 1811, the United States launched a war against the Shawnee Indians who were loyal to the British. Driven and massacred by the Americans, the Indians fled and entered Canada. So the United States ordered Canada to hand over these Indians immediately, but it was refused.
Naturally, it was impossible for the United States not to take advantage of this excuse for war. So on June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on the United Kingdom and Canada at the same time, which was known in history as the Second Anglo-American War. In 1812, Thomas Jefferson, the outgoing President of the United States, said: "This year, we will annex the Canadian region, including Quebec, and just move forward and attack Halifax, and finally completely drive the British power out of the American continent."
The reason why the United States chose to The war was launched at this time because Napoleon was making waves on the European continent and Britain really could not spare the troops to reinforce Canada. It can be said that Canada is isolated and helpless at this time.
However, on the battlefield, the Americans found that the Canadians were really difficult to deal with. In Canada, the British only stationed 2,200 regular troops, and most of what the colonial government could use were Canadian militia. In Detroitand Niagara, the Canadians repeatedly frustrated the US military's offensive.
With Napoleon's defeat, Britain could finally free up its hands and send more troops to deal with the ungrateful Americans. With the main force of the British army joining, the Americans were not enough.
This war is divided into two major battlefields: the Eastern Front and the Western Front. On the eastern front, the U.S. military performed well, fully controlling Lake Erie , and saw-sawing with the British army many times at Lentis Lane, and maintained this stalemate to the end.
But on the Western Front battlefield, the US military was defeated. British general John Sherbrooke led the British army and Canadian militia to raid Maine and occupied most of Maine. At the same time, the British marched straight in and attacked Washington in August 1814, burning the official residence of US President Madison into a charred house. If Madison hadn't been a fast runner, he might have been a prisoner.
After the U.S. military recaptured Washington, they painted the presidential palace white with white paint to cover up the burn marks. So to this day, the official residence of the President of the United States is still called the White House.
Just when the United States was at an absolute disadvantage, Napoleon saved their lives. It turned out that Napoleon escaped from exile and established the so-called " Hundred Days Dynasty". Britain had no choice but to transfer its troops back to the mainland to deal with Napoleon's attack.In desperation, the British had no choice but to give up and sign the Treaty of Ghent with American representatives in Belgium, agreeing to return to the status quo in 1811.
As a result, the second invasion of the United States failed.
2. In order to resist the United States, Canada established
The failure of two wars made the Americans understand that Canada is indeed not that easy to conquer. After all, Britain is still too powerful to compete with it. Meanwhile, Canadians seemed to have little interest in a democratic republic and abandoned the annexation plan.
The persimmon was about to be softened. The United States stopped its invasion of Canada and turned its expansion direction to the west and south. Subsequently, the United States launched a vigorous westward expansion campaign, and both the indigenous Indians and Mexicans suffered a devastating disaster.
The aggressiveness of Americans makes Canadians extremely nervous. Many people know that the capital of Canada is Ottawa, , not the more economically developed Toronto, Montreal or Quebec. The reason why Canada has its capital in Ottawa is because it is worried about the invasion of the United States. After all, both Toronto and Montreal are on the U.S.-Canada border, making them easy to attack and difficult to defend. The city of Ottawa has forests as a barrier, which is relatively difficult to overcome.
Since then, Canada has strengthened its defenses in the US-Canada border area in an attempt to deter opponents. However, even so, there is still an irreversible gap in national strength between Canada and the United States. The United States' ambitions for Canada have never disappeared.
By around 1860, the United States had completed the Industrial Revolution , and the invasion of Canada was once again on the agenda. It is worth mentioning that the United States is engaged in a brutal Civil War. The civil war in our country has not yet ended, but we are still thinking about other people's land. This shows that the United States is really an aggressive country.
At this time, the United States is promoting the so-called "Manifest Destiny", which is also the so-called "destined expansion theory." This theory advocates that "it is in accordance with our manifest destiny to seize and dominate the God-given continent with the freedoms, rights and federal autonomy entrusted to us."
To put it bluntly, the United States just wants to annex the entire America as its own. At this point, Canada and the British "big brother" behind it are the biggest obstacles. Therefore, unless Canada is destroyed, the United States cannot truly dominate the Americas. At that time, American newspapers believed that since the southern states had become independent, they should go to Canada to "find compensation."
After the Civil War, the United States was reunited and had a well-equipped and large number of troops. Some extremists began to repeat the old tune - "Why don't we just destroy Canada?" Newspapers in New York and Chicago continued to promote the war:
"Wait and see, as soon as this war is over, we will repair you." ,"
Canada is naturally aware of the ambitions of the Americans. In order not to worry about their southern neighbors, they decided to make Canada strong and able to protect themselves. From the perspective of Canadians, Britain is too far away from the Americas, and water from far away cannot quench the thirst of nearby people. Therefore, they began to consider establishing an autonomous federal state of their own and taking charge of Canada's finance and military.
Britain unexpectedly agreed to the Canadians' plea. British liberal scholar Bentham believes that the British colonies in North America will become independent sooner or later. Why not speed up this process? Wouldn't it just reduce the burden on Britain by allowing Canadians to shoulder their own defense tasks?
On July 1, 1867, Canada officially established its independence and became a Dominion country. Although it nominally recognizes the suzerainty of the United Kingdom, it is actually an independent federal country.
Just when Canada became independent, bad news came again. It turned out that the United States spent more than 7 million US dollars to purchase the ownership of Alaska from Russia. As a result, Canada was attacked from the north and south by the United States, and its national defense situation was in danger. As a result, the Canadians proposed an expansion plan “from ocean to ocean”.
In just four or five years, Canada's territory has expanded exponentially, reaching the Pacific Ocean in the west, the Atlantic Ocean in the east, and the Arctic Ocean in the north. Canada has become a veritable three-ocean country, with its territory expanding to 9.9 million people. square kilometers. Not only that, the Canadians also overhauled the railways to form a railway line running from east to west, integrating the entire Canadian federation.
At this time, the population of the United States was 39 million, while that of Canada was 4.3 million. Canada integrated all its own forces, and with the support of the British navy and army, it was enough to resist the American invasion. Thus, the third U.S. invasion of Canada was ultimately aborted.
The United States has always hated and feared the existence of Canada. In the early days of Canada's founding, the U.S. House of Representatives expressed regret for this "British Monarchy" dominion country. Some members cursed viciously that the Dominion would be disintegrated.
At the beginning of the 20th century, US President Theodore Roosevelt once said, "I hope to see the British flag disappear from the map of North America before I am 60 years old." Others said: "Let the American flag fly throughout North America from the Rio Grande River to the North Pole."
Facing the increasingly powerful United States, Canadians have begun to worry about the safety of their country again.
3. Canada was preparing to invade the United States
After the end of World War I, the United States made a fortune from the war, and Britain, the former empire on which the sun never sets, also began to admit its decline.
In vs. , Britain owed a lot of debt to the United States, and there was still a high amount of interest to repay. Britain is trying to ease its heavy debt burden through various diplomatic channels. However, the United States wants to use these debts to completely squeeze the British and reduce their national power, thereby wresting world hegemony from the British.
At that time, although the United Kingdom and the United States claimed to be an alliance, they actually had their own agendas.
In the 1930s, Americans were determined to completely expel British power from the American continent, so they made various plans carefully. To this end, the U.S. military issued a 94-page detailed document called the "Joint Army and Navy Basic War Plan - Red Plan" (also known as the Red Plan), planning to launch a surprise attack to seize the port of Halifax and cut off Canada Alliance with Great Britain.
Before World War II , although the US military could not be said to be the most powerful army in the world, it was more than enough to deal with Canada. At that time, the Canadian army was only one-tenth the size of the United States. At the same time, the vast majority of Canada's population is located along the US-Canada border, forming a long snake formation . Once the United States launches an offensive, it can easily cut off the connections between the east, center, and west, and defeat them one by one. And red war plan is based on this.
The U.S. Army plans to invade Canada from three directions to seize the Canadian energy plant near Niagara Falls.
: Starting from Vermont to seize Montreal and Quebec, starting from North Dakota to seize the railway hub of Winnipeg, launching an attack from the Midwest to occupy Lake Ontario strategy nickel mine . Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy would occupy the Great Lakes and blockade Canada's Atlantic and Pacific ports.
Military planners wrote in an annex to the war plan:
"This policy will prepare Canada and the provinces and territories involved in the Red Plan to become states and territories of the United States in the form of a declaration of peace."
Regarding the United States' attempts, In fact, Canadians are also prepared. What is unexpected is that Canada had formulated a plan to resist the US military as early as 1921. In this plan, Canada actually wanted to invade the United States.
The architect of the Canadian plan was Buster Brown, the country's leader in military operations and intelligence activities and a hero of World War I. Brown believed that the Canadian front was too long and was not conducive to defense. To defeat the U.S. invasion, the best plan is to strike first, seize some areas along the U.S. border, and establish a buffer zone.
In the Canadian plan, the Canadian military will take the initiative to acquire Albany, Minneapolis, Seattle, Montana, and then seek to expand its territory on a larger scale.
Of course, the Canadians did not invade the United States to capture more territory. Brown emphasized that the Canadian army must fight quickly and withdraw quickly, try to destroy the US military's roads, railways and logistics facilities, and withdraw to the Canadian mainland as soon as possible. At the same time, Canada will also harass New York, Boston , Washington and other cities to delay the military build-up of the US military.
If the US military's offensive is slowed down, support from Britain's "Big Brother" will surely arrive. At the same time, according to the "British-Japanese Alliance", the United States' biggest enemy in the Pacific, Japan, will also land on the west coast of the United States, forming a pincer offensive with the British troops landing on the east coast. If the three countries jointly attack, it will lead to chaos in the United States. Mexico can also take the opportunity to go north and seize California, Texas, New Mexico and other states occupied by the United States.
What’s interesting is that at that time, the United States introduced the “ Alcohol Prohibition Order ”, which caused serious social problems. Brown believes that Americans are "fat, lazy, and very fond of drinking." As soon as the "King of the Canadian Army" arrives, these drunkards will "eat the pot of juice and greet them in the streets." And this is Canada's "Defense Plan No. 1" to invade the United States.
With the "easing" of British-American relations, the British ordered Canada to cancel this plan in 1928 on the grounds that "the United States would no longer invade Canada." But they never expected that just two years later, the United States would make plans to invade Canada. If it had not been for the outbreak of the " Great Depression ", I am afraid that the United States' third invasion of Canada would have entered the practical stage.
In 1939, World War II broke out. The United States believed that Nazi Germany posed a greater threat to itself, so it chose to form an alliance with Britain. As for Canada, together with the United Kingdom, it became an ally of the United States. Attacking Canada is completely unnecessary. Therefore, the "Red Plan" was shelved and became top secret. It was not made public until 1974.
After World War II, Britain completely declined, and the United States, which dominated the world, could finally have unimpeded access to North America. And Canada, from the British "Dominion", became the little brother of the Americans.
Mao Zedong once commented: "U.S. imperialism is very arrogant. Wherever it can be unreasonable, it will be unreasonable. If it can be unreasonable, it will be forced to do so." The United States did not annex Canada not because it was soft-hearted, but because Canadians did use their wisdom and bravery to protect themselves. Leave the United States with nothing to do.
Canada is a country that was originally established to prevent American invasion. But now, Canada has completely handed over its country's defense to the United States, and is enjoying life in the south. Later, the United States repeatedly asked Canada to upgrade its armaments and not rely on itself for everything. Yet Canada has turned a deaf ear. Thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi , the United States and Canada have finally transformed from irreconcilable rivals to brothers who are good enough to wear a pair of pants.
