Interwar Anglo-American war plans show why contingency preparation should not be read as political intent. Britain and the United States each represented the strongest plausible opponent against which the other could test plans and staff work. Some material available to British planners came from Canadian Army officers who travelled through the United States by bus, took photographs, and even met National Guard units. It is unclear whether that tour was part of the planning effort or merely supplied information already at hand. The distinction separates prudent military preparation from evidence that political leaders expected or wanted the war.
Notable Point · 0:57-2:49
War plans did not make conflict inevitable
British and American plans for fighting each other tested each navy against a powerful hypothetical opponent rather than proving an intention to start that war.