Wargamers Agree: Michigan Is Among Easiest States to Defend During an Invasion

Imagine a scenario, as wargamers might, were an invasion force to come for the United States. What state would be the most easy to defend?

You might be tempted to say an interior state far from national borders like Kansas or Nebraska. Or a state with difficult and rocky terrain like West Virginia.

Get our free mobile app

But would it surprise you to consider Michigan? Yes, the state sits on an international border with Canada but there are special geographic features that make it particularly easy to defend in an invasion.

The question came up recently on the Geography subreddit of Reddit asking which US state would be easiest to defend in such a scenario.

Here are the cases for Michigan being easily defended in an invasion

Case 1 - Michigan has the right geography and population to defend against an invasion

Michigan would be my vote, water on all sides and a highly armed population with plenty of rural towns full of wannabe militia members that have been waiting for this scenario their entire lives.

If it's rural, locked-and-loaded population, then perhaps the Thumb would be the most defendable of a most defendable state.

READ MORE: A Trip to Point MOO - the Michigan-Ohio-Ontario Tripoint in Lake Erie + What Is the Great Lakes Point of Inaccessibility - the Farthest Spot from Land?

Case 2 - The Lower Peninsula Stronghold + Urban Core makes Michigan easy to defend in an invasion

The Lower Peninsula is surrounded by three sides by vast bodies of water while the approach from land can only be done from the south.

Lower Michigan pretty defensive if you have a good navy.

Only major point of entry in lower Michigan would be south which people would then have to navigate through Indiana and Ohio. Lower Michigan would be pretty protected by Lake Michigan and Huron

We have Detroit, Flint, AND Saginaw. We'll be alright. What's the UP gonna do? Arm the moose lol

Historic Michigan Military Invasions

It's not that there were never invasions of Michigan throughout history. The first successful invasion of the United States by a foreign power happened during the War of 1812 when the British took Mackinac Island coming ashore at the spot today known as British Landing.

👇🏼BELOW: This is What it Looks Like to Enter Michigan from Canada + What Michigan Cities Have a Big Sibling - Little Sibling Relationship?👇🏼

Michigan was wary of any Ohioan crossing the border leading up to and during the Toledo War and passed the Pains and Penalties act to forbid any Ohioan from crossing north.

The 1838 Patriots War that involved rebels in Southern Canada saw a military garrison in Detroit raided.