Germany Had Plan to Take New York in 1900

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm had drawn up detailed plans in 1900 for an invasion of the United States centered on attacks on New York City and Boston, according to documents in a military archive published on Thursday.

Beginning in 1897, a German navy lieutenant named Eberhard von Mantey was assigned the task of preparing an invasion of the United States after German and American interests had collided in the Pacific.

"Wilhelm II wanted colonies and military bases around the world," author Henning Sietz wrote in Die Zeit. "The United States was increasingly getting in the Kaiser's way."

Von Mantey's aim was to find a way to force the United States to sign a treaty giving Germany free reign in the Pacific and Atlantic. He rejected ideas of a naval blockade or a naval battle and made plans for an invasion of the northeast instead.

"This is the core of America and this is where the United States could be most effectively hit and most easily forced to sign a peace treaty," von Mantey wrote. He said the morale and discipline of American soldiers was low.

The plans were reworked and revised over the next decade. Chief of staff Alfred von Schlieffen, who planned Germany's invasion of France in World War One, was skeptical about the idea of attacking the United States, 3,000 sea miles away.

But his loyalty to the Kaiser prevented him from rejecting the war planning outright, Sietz said. At one point the German chief of staff had a plan to bombard New York City.

"The greatest panic would break out in New York over fears of a bombardment," von Mantey wrote.

So how do you keep them supplied afterwards?

There's a lot more to an invasion than simply putting a bunch of guys on ships. Same reason an invasion of Taiwan would fail.

They don't need supplies for tanks or aircraft. They can seize American cities and military bases in the initial assaults which hold plenty of ammunition, transportation and supplies. They can then hold millions of the citizenry hostage and begin negotiations. No American President would nuke a city on American soil filled with our citizens. My assumption is that they would also sabotage our nuclear power plants and attempt to seize the nuclear arsenals. They could also release vast quantities of biological agents. It would be a massive special forces operation.

Remember that the Chinese have no chance in a conventional war with the US or even in a thermonuclear war. Their only chance lies in an unorthodox application of assymetrical warfare. Can anyone think of a better strategy if they decided to go to war with us? They may attempt to do this when most of our front line forces are engaged at the other end of the Globe: the Gulf. Middle Eastern terrorist groups would most likely join in the fray as well.

Well, if the Chinese invaded and took control of say, Seattle and Portland (Oregon, not Maine!) and a few other cities in the NW, I still think we could handle it. First, our troops would blow up every bridge in the cities, making it difficult for them to move about. We'd use smart bombs to selectively destroy various troop enclaves, and if the troops were so spread out amongst the general population, the local population would likely attack them. Finally, we'd be launching all kinds of things at the Chinese mainland, and we'd cripple the Chinese navy completely.

We wouldn't use nuclear weapons on our own cities. But the Chinese couldn't suddenly take them. They'd need enough troops to overrun the cities, and we'd know they were coming. They wouldn't get far.

Well, if the Chinese tried to invade California, every able-bodied man would grab up his rifles and handguns and head to the beaches to repel the invaders. Oh, wait a minute. A lot of cities don't allow you to own guns, and there's a 10 day waiting period. Never mind.

I heard they like Chinese food in CA.

It would be interesting if they tried to invade thru Galveston or Mobile.

They'd be met by about 10 million guys with 4x4's and high-powered hunting rifles.

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