War Plan White

[4] Lack of instruction at the federal level in several labor disputes left states and local governments to effectively handle these issues on their own.

[5] Alarmed by information gathered by the Military Intelligence Division (MID) that alleged an imminent domestic communist uprising, Brig.

Gen. Marlborough Churchill sent a memorandum to Director of the War Plans Division, Maj. Gen. William G. Haan, in October 1919 warning of the potential for rebellion.

War Plan White began being drafted in earnest in the winter of 1919-20 with the help of intelligence reports from the MID, which were oftentimes drawn up based on information collected from the surveillance of citizens and resident aliens suspected of having communist sympathies.

The MID also procured contingency plans from foreign powers, such as the United Kingdom, so that each corps area could utilize them as references.

The legality of federal forces being used at the discretion of state and local officials was a matter of concern within the higher echelons of the War Department (due to the Posse Comitatus Act).

Planners of War Plan White believed that control of the railroads would be essential to orchestrating a successful coup d'état, and subsequently drafted contingency plans for moving essential supplies, such as food, into major population centers if important railroad networks were seized or sabotaged by insurgents.

Brigadier General Churchill . pictured here circa 1912, was likely the original proponent for the creation of War Plan White
Major General William G. Haan, pictured here circa 1920, was director of the War Plans Division of the U.S. Department of War and authorized the drafting of War Plan White