The War for Canada: 1901-1907
When the Communist Party first took power in 1887, they immediately realized that their neighbour to the north, Canada, was an imminent threat. While they were now a sovereign nation, their independence was in name only and was a satellite state of Great Britain. Not only were the wounds of war from the 1860's still fresh, but communism was an ideology that the British feared greatly. They viewed communism as a cancer that must be removed before it spreads, and they did not keep this view a secret. The hostile nature of the PRA's relationship with Britain advocated for war from the get go, but the PRA's military, particularly the navy was deemed too weak to fight such a war. By the onset of the 20th century, that picture began to change. The PRA now boasted the largest navy in the world, complete with several state of the art Dreadnought class warships, truly a fearsome spectacle to behold. While Britain soldiers outnumbered the Americans, the Americans were better trained with superior equipment. On top of that, most of Britain's army was on the other side of the world, and could only reach North America by boat.
A fleet in the PRA Navy, now complete with several Dreadnoughts
In early 1902 the PRA's military high command began drafting plans for an invasion into Canada. Their plan, dubbed 'Operation Red Sword' would involve a naval blockade across Canada's Atlantic provinces, all the while defending the American coastline. The army's main thrust would come up from the northeastern states into Ontario and Quebec, quickly occupying Canada's most heavily populated areas. The army would then move westward, gradually occupying the entirety of Canada to force their surrender. The ultimate goal of the war was to eliminate any ties to Britain in Canada, and for the communists to install a puppet regime of their own. The biggest threat to the PRA was Britain's navy, and a possible attempt by Britain to send reinforcements into Canada, or to even try an invasion into the PRA itself from the sea. If the Navy could maintain control of the sea, then victory should come easily as the PRA's army far outnumbered the mix of Canadian and British soldiers stationed in Canada.
The tentative date for the invasion was set for Spring 1903, and the American military spent most of 1902 organizing it's now massive army and navy, and finalizing their plans for their invasion. In the meantime, the communists waged more proxy wars in South and Central America, with their allies doing all of the dirty work, just like in years past. During 1902, Puerto Rico and Ecuador would join the ranks of countries in the Americas with communist governments.
Throughout the winter of 1903 the PRA ran propaganda showing the Canadian people as helpless and oppressed by their capitalist, British overlords, and as a people in need of saving. According to the propaganda, the American populace were to believe that Canadians would welcome communism with open arms, and longed to cut all ties with the British. In addition, the communists vilified the British even more in the eyes of the average American, by installing fears that they may try to subjugate Americans in the same way they apparently subjugate the Canadians. This was of course a complete lie, but after deliberately raising tensions, the communists fabricated an event where the PRS Maine, an American cruiser, was fired upon by Canadian warships under command of a British Admiral. This was seen as an act of war, and on April 7th 1903, the PRA declared war on Britain and demanded that they cut all ties with Canada.
The PRS Maine was sunk by an attack blamed on the Canadians and British
The PRA navy, already positioned in the Atlantic, moved in and blockaded every major Canadian port within less than a week. The army moved in swiftly as well, and by late April the PRA had either killed, wounded or captured over three quarters of the Canadian army. The largest battle of the war was the Battle of Montreal, where American general Jeffrey Taylor led his men to one of the most decisive victories in the history of the PRA.
Results of the Battle of Montreal
The Canadians feebly attempted to mobilize their reserves, but most of them faced combat before they could become remotely organized. A large force of mobilized reserves was being assembled at Trois-Rivieres, but before the force of 69,000 men could be organized into anything useful, the Americans under the recently victorious Jeffrey Taylor besieged the town. The ensuing battle was a complete slaughter, as the unorganized Canadian command sent men hopelessly to their death in what would become an utterly humiliating defeat for the Canadians. In the end the town of Trois-Rivieres was little more than a pile of rubble, and the Army that defended it had completely disintegrated. Not a single Canadian that survived the battle escaped American captivity.
Results of the Battle of Trois-Rivieres
PRA soldiers in the ruins of Trois-Rivieres
During the summer of 1903 the American war machine pressed on, as what was left of the Canadian fighting forced regrouped deep in their northern hinterland. Battles were infrequent, but when the Canadians did attack, they used their knowledge of the vast land to their advantage. While unable ultimately stop the Americans, they did fight to the death, and took many Americans with them.
PRA soldiers marching in Alberta
Unwilling to surrender, the Canadians continued to evade the Americans in the far north, and attacked when the conditions were right. This lasted throughout the fall, and even into the winter of 1904. Much like in the war with Britain in the 1860's, the Americans found themselves unprepared to handle the harsh Canadian winter. More men were lost to the elements than to fighting, and entire armies starved in the far north as supply lines completely broke down. It was in these conditions that the Canadians made their attempt at several counter attacks. They succeeded in pushing back the Americans, if only temporarily. By the time spring arrived the American high command regained control of the situation, and pushed the Canadians in to the remotest parts of their country.
Dead PRA soldier in the Canadian winter
All the while the army pushed deep into Canada, the navy worked hard to defend the seas against a possible naval invasion by the British, or one of her allies whom had joined the war on her side. Britain unleashed her royal fleet in all its fury, which inflicted massive damage on the PRA's great fleet. At times the PRA's naval blockade of Canada completely broke down due to defeats at sea, and remaining ships were spread thin to maintain a blockade. The waters of the PRA were left vulnerable as well, as the combined fleets of Canada, Britain, and Spain worked hard to punch a hole through the PRA's naval defense line in an attempt to gain a foothold, from which they could mount an invasion of the American homeland. Losses were heavy for the PRA, and by on onset of summer 1904 over 80 ships had been sunk, with nearly the same amount docked due to heavy damage. Despite these losses, the British were unsuccessful at making any progress, and by August of 1904 it became clear to Britain that the war was lost.
PRA Navy off the Canadian coast
Britain agreed to cut ties with Canada, and allow Canada to be placed in the American sphere of influence. Despite that, the communists had trouble achieving their ultimate goal of installing communism in Canada. While communist propaganda had portrayed Canadians as a people longing to be rid of capitalism and willing to embrace communism, the reality was totally different. By and large, the Canadian population was conservative and content with British rule. Their southern neighbour were seen as ruthless invaders, seeking to impose their evil dictatorship onto Canada. While Canada had no choice but to cut ties with Great Britain at the Treaty of Kingston, they tried to keep their government intact. By the end of the war the reality of the Canadian people who hated communism began to become clear to the American people, who saw less and less reason to continue the war in the north. Realizing that the Canadians would fight to the bloody end to prevent communism, and that their own troops were unwilling to continue that fight, the communists reluctantly agreed to keep the current democratic structure of government in Canada. For now.
Victory in Canada
Following the war, the Americans again shifted it's focus to South America, where it continued to wage several more proxy wars to install communism. Their largest ally in South America, Brazil, was in fact not communist. Previously forced into the PRA's sphere of influence, they agreed to fight for the PRA out of fear more than anything else. However, the liberal party in Brazil won an election, with their main platform being to stop the pointless bloodshed of Brazilian soldiers, fighting wars for a nation they were not a part of, and for an ideology they did not possess. Relations between the PRA and Brazil quickly turned south, and in 1906 all diplomatic ties between the countries were cut.
Meanwhile in Europe...
Europe had seen relative peace throughout the second half of the 19th century, but that peace did not last as the 20th century commenced. Hostilities erupted all throughout the continent, with France finding itself involved in several wars. First, Britain had declared war on them over colonies in southeast Asia. Italy had declared war on Austria in an attempt to gain the South Tirol region from Austria, and France made good on their alliance with Austria, and intervened on the Austrian side of that war. The newly formed North German Federation, or NGF, had quickly annexed several smaller German states, and soon set it's eyes on the Alsace-Lorraine province of France. France now found itself in three wars, and completely overstretched.
The communists in America recognized France's situation as an opportunity. With their eyes still set on South America, they realized this as a perfect opportunity to take French Guyana and kick one major European power off the mainland Americas for good. They thought it should be an easy victory, as France would be too occupied with wars closer to home to care about some distant colony. In 1907, the communists went to work on propaganda showing the French as cruel imperialistic, capitalist overlords, and French Guyana in need of liberation. On April 1st 1907 the PRA officially declared war on France, and once again found themselves at war with another Great Power. This time however, the communists would get more than they bargained for.