Operational Plan Three

Operational Plan Three

Operational Plan Three (Operationsplan Drei in German) was the German Empire plan to invade the United States. The plan was ordered by Kaiser Wilhelm II at the end of the 19th century. The operation was shelved in 1907.

Contents

Background

Germany was a latecomer in the Empire Race, being that the country was unified in 1871, and the "race" began beforehand. Germany, like almost all European nations during the late nineteenth century, wanted the honor and security of having a large empire so they could increase their size, power, and wealth. Germany was intensely nationalistic, in fact the Germans have the term: Realpolitik, meaning practical or realistic politics that then implied the use of any means to achieve nationalistic aims, such as unification, empire-building and cultural prestige.[1][2]

It is alleged that the German General Staff was intensely jealous of the United States and its vast wealth. They despised their ever growing hold over the Pacific, which increased during the late nineteenth century. However, the only colony America had was the Philippines, which it acquired from the dwindling Spanish Empire in 1898 after their defeat in the Spanish-American War.[3][4][5]

The Plan

The invasion of the United States was considered vital by many within the reticent German General Staff. The plan was of great detail, and it included an attack on America's Eastern Seaboard with 60 ships and 100,000 men. They planned to start off by shelling Manhattan and capturing Boston.[6]

Kaiser Wilhelm II and his General Staff

Kaiser Wilhelm II was more militaristic than his father, who died on the throne in 1888. Wilhelm II was a vehement critic of capitalism and democracy, particularly the kind that was practiced by the United States. He felt that capitalism was incredibly vulnerable; he believed that an attack on the international systems of trade, credit, and insurance could bring America to its knees.[5]

In 1903 Eberhard von Mantey, a war planner with the German Admiralty Staff, wrote in his diary that the "East Coast is the heart of the United States and this is where she is most vulnerable. New York will panic at the prospect of bombardment. By hitting her here we can force America to negotiate."[7]

However, various factors would contribute to the shelving of this operation. One factor was the buildup of the United States Navy; German military leaders realized that the German Imperial Navy was not powerful enough for such an armada. It is alleged that they switched their focus on European domination, instead of global (for the time being).[5][7] As a result of this decision, the American Theater (1914-1918) saw relatively little action during World War I.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ David Fromkin, Europe's Last Summer: Who started the Great War in 1914?, (Vintage Books, 2004) p.17-20
  2. ^ Michael J. Lyons, World War I: A Short History, (Prentice Hall, 2000) p.11-17
  3. ^ Mark Sullivan, Our Times: The Turn of the Century, (Scribners, 1926) p.544
  4. ^ Larry Schweikart & Michael Allen, A Patriot's History of the United States, (Sentinel, 2004) p.470-71
  5. ^ a b c German archive reveals Kaiser's plan to invade America
  6. ^ Hew Strachan, The First World War: Volume I: To Arms', (Oxford, 2003)
  7. ^ a b Jonathan Lewis, The First World War DVD, Disc One, Part Three: Global War, (Image Entertainment, 2005)

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Single Integrated Operational Plan — The Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP) was the United States general plan for nuclear war from 1961 to 2003. The SIOP gave the President of the United States a range of targeting options, and described launch procedures and target sets… …   Wikipedia

  • Plan W — (sometimes referred to as the W Plan Fact|date=March 2007), during the Second World War, was a plan of joint military operations between Ireland and the United Kingdom devised between 1940–1942, to be executed in the event of a an invasion of… …   Wikipedia

  • Plan Wschód — ( Plan East ) was a Polish defensive military plan, created in the 1920s and 1930s in case of war with the Soviet Union. Unlike Plan Zachód ( Plan West ), it was being prepared during the whole interbellum period, as the government of the Second… …   Wikipedia

  • Operational history of the Luftwaffe (1939–1945) — Main article: History of the Luftwaffe (1933–1945) During the Second World War the German Luftwaffe was the main support weapon of the German Army (Heer). It fought and supported the Wehrmacht s war effort throughout the six years of conflict and …   Wikipedia

  • Three Gorges Dam — Three Gorges Dam …   Wikipedia

  • Operational risk management — See also: Risk management The term Operational Risk Management (ORM) is defined as a continual cyclic process which includes risk assessment, risk decision making, and implementation of risk controls, which results in acceptance, mitigation, or… …   Wikipedia

  • Three Mile Island accident — The Three Mile Island accident of 1979 was the most significant accident in the history of the American commercial nuclear power generating industry. It resulted in the release of a significant amount of radioactivity, an estimated 43,000 curies… …   Wikipedia

  • plan — {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun 1 for future ADJECTIVE ▪ ambitious, audacious, grand, grandiose ▪ The government has ambitious plans for prison reform. ▪ future ▪ …   Collocations dictionary

  • Operational semantics — In computer science, operational semantics is a way to give meaning to computer programs in a mathematically rigorous way. Operational semantics are classified into two categories: structural operational semantics (or small step semantics)… …   Wikipedia

  • Schlieffen Plan — For the French counter plan, see Plan XVIIThe Schlieffen Plan was the German General Staff s early 20th century overall strategic plan for victory both on the Western Front against France and against Russia in the east, taking advantage of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”