History Main / WashingtonDCInvasion

Invade UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC, of course! One second, the army's just rocking up on the outskirts, and the next, the BigBad's already asking the defeated army to TakeMeToYourLeader!

Invade UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC, of course!

In RealLife DC traffic is so bad that any invasion would be quickly stalled by the circles and roundabouts, which was their original intended purpose. To date, only two (technically three) forces have ever managed to hold the Capitol by invading it: Great Britain (and Canada) in the Burning of Washington during the War of 1812, and the insurrectionists during the January 6, 2021 Storming of the Capitol.

* The second-to-last mission of the American campaign in ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth2'' is a scramble to defend Washington from an attempted MilitaryCoup by cybernetically-enhanced troops who are opposed to large cutbacks in military spending.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The UsefulNotes/WarOf1812. The British burned down the White House, the Capitol, and the Treasury among other public buildings in retaliation for the American destruction of the Canadian capital, York (which would later be incorporated as UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}} in 1834). The overall campaign was a failure, however, due to the British failure to take Baltimore's Fort [=McHenry=] (memorialized in poem and later song with [[EarWorm/NationalAnthems The Star-Spangled Banner]].)
* In UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, the Confederacy ''wanted'' to do this, but the closest they got was [[GeneralFailure General Jubal Early]], whose army reached the outskirts of Washington before being repelled at the Battle of Fort Stevens, where UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln [[PassThePopcorn watched the fighting with his top-hat on]] and was famously told ''"Get down, you fool!"'' -- by [[YoungFutureFamousPeople future Supreme Court Justice]] Oliver Wendell Holmes, no less![[labelnote:*]]While taking the Union's capitol city would have been a great victory in itself, the operation, much like the earlier Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, was not to conquer the North; as the War of 1812 demonstrated, even burning down the capitol building and a majority of the city was not adequate to conquer a country, and the CSA held no illusions that they could beat the Union with pure attrition; instead, the battle was meant to give the "Yankees" a bloody nose and put them on the backfoot, which would give the CSA the validation it needed to be seen as an independent nation capable of sustaining itself, and hopefully win foreign support to back up its claims of such. Unfortunately, all of this overlooked the fact that the reasoning behind their secession (the topic/argument of slavery) was already considered taboo overseas, with most modern (for the time) countries having washed their hands of it and meaning anyone supporting them would by proxy be supporting slavery. As a result, this meant that getting foreign support and validation was still highly unlikely even ''if'' the Confederacy's operations against the North had succeeded.[[/labelnote]] As the war went on, Washington was said to have become one of the most fortified cities in the world, owing to both its importance as the seat of government and its location close to the front lines in Virginia. The war, in fact, was a major catalyst for its growth from a minor city into a major metropolis, appropriately enough given how the war ended with a far more centralized nation than before.[[note]]This also created the ongoing issue of residents of the nation's capital having no representation in the Congress that controls them. When D.C. was being built, this wasn't seen as a big deal because it was expected to barely ''have'' any permanent population, just people temporarily moving in from their home states to work government jobs and then going back home afterward. The idea that it would end up with a population larger than some entire states was unimaginable to the founders.[[/note]]
** The incident at Fort Stevens with Lincoln was the POD for Creator/HarryTurtledove's AH short story "Must and Shall". Lincoln was killed by a Confederate sharpshooter leading to a much harsher reconstruction as depicted in the story.
* That joke above about how DC traffic would thwart any invasion is actually the basis of [[https://www.quora.com/Is-Washington-D-Cs-road-system-designed-to-intimidate-foreign-policy-makers-and-diplomats-when-they-visit an urban legend]] about the L'Enfant Plan, the master plan for the city that produced its unique layout. The legend goes that Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the engineer who designed the city, laid out the streets with the intention of confounding any army that tried to attack it, leading them down avenues that didn't bring them to their targets. In truth, the squares and circles that the city was built around were originally supposed to be the home of "embassies" for each of the states, an idea that, in practice, was soon abandoned as the states were uninterested. (Washington, D.C., like most master-planned cities, was actually built to be fairly open and easy to navigate... by the standards of its day, anyway.)
* In another relatively minor action, a "truck" convoy of protesters (hoping to duplicate the success of one in Canada) in April, 2022 became hopelessly mired in traffic around the beltway, split apart by the traffic and forced to withdraw. An example of the 'circles' doing their job. Since traffic is ''always'' terrible in D.C., the locals didn't notice any disruption, quite unlike their counterparts in Ottawa.
* This trope also occurs frequently in the professional {{Sports}} world when Washington D.C.'s sports teams stand their ground against other "invading" sports teams that drop by to visit.
[[/folder]]

* The UsefulNotes/WarOf1812. The British burned down the White House, the Capitol, and the Treasury among other public buildings in retaliation for the American destruction of the Canadian capital, Upper York. The overall campaign was a failure, however, due to the British failure to take Baltimore's Fort [=McHenry=] (memorialized in poem and later song with [[EarWorm/NationalAnthems The Star-Spangled Banner]].)

In RealLife DC traffic is so bad that any invasion would be quickly stalled by the circles and roundabouts, which was their original intended purpose. To date, only two (technically 3) forces have ever managed to hold the Capitol by invading it; Great Britain (and Canada) in the Burning of Washington during the War of 1812, and the insurrectionists during the January 6, 2021 Storming of the Capitol.

* A minor example, but still qualifies -- on January 6th, 2021, mostly peaceful protestors gained access to the Capital building to contest the electoral college vote due to unexplained voting irregularities in certain states. They eventually dispersed several hours later, and the National Guard took up position around the Capitol for several weeks after. The death toll was one protestor who was shot and killed without provocation by a Capitol police officer, and the Capitol building itself sustained minor damage.

* A minor example, but still qualifies -- on January 6th, 2021, mostly peaceful protestors gained access to the Capital building to protest the electoral college vote due to unexplained voting irregularities in certain states. They eventually dispersed several hours later, and the National Guard took up position around the Capitol for several weeks after. One protestor was shot and killed without provocation by a Capitol police officer, and the Capitol building itself sustained minor damage.

* A minor example, but still qualifies -- on January 6th, 2021, egged on by UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump and other Republican politicians, a mob of several thousand people attacked the U.S. Capitol building in a bid to stop the Electoral Vote count and attack Democratic politicians, due to Trump's disproven allegations of electoral fraud. They were eventually repelled when the National Guard arrived hours later, and the National Guard remained in the Capitol for several weeks. Still, a few people were killed as a result, including one supporter who was trampled by her colleagues, another who tried to break into the Speaker's Lobby, getting shot for her trouble, and a policeman who died from injuries sustained during the assault, ultimately the casualties amounted to 5, though the mob came very close to various prominent politicians, including the Vice-President. 4 other police officers were so unnerved by the experience that they subsequently committed suicide. In addition, the Capitol sustained severe damage to numerous areas of its interior as a result of the invaders damaging and defacing it, with a total repair cost of around $30 million to bear.

* ''Literature/TheFireNeverDies'': The climax of the [[SecondAmericanCivilWar Second American Revolution]] is the Battle of Washington, with the Red Army unleashing one of their trademark [[MoreDakka artillery barrages]], [[MonumentalDamage destroying the White House]], before Red troops cross the frozen Potomac and enter the city, leading to [[MonumentalBattle firefights in the Smithsonian and Capitol]]. The city falls after ten days of fighting.

** In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'', the first Soviet mission has you destroying the Pentagon. This contradicts the Allied (canon) side, where you actually have to defend and attack with a lot more than just basic grunts. Naturally, ''[=RA2=]'' was when the series started to get {{camp}}y and {{Troperiffic}}, so the triteness of the premise can be excused. The eighth Soviet mission involves attacking [[CivilWarcraft General Vladimir's base]] near and capturing the White House.

* In UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, the Confederacy ''wanted'' to do this, but the closest they got was [[GeneralFailure General Jubal Early]], whose army reached the outskirts of Washington before being repelled at the Battle of Fort Stevens, where UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln [[PassThePopcorn watched the fighting with his top-hat on]] and was famously told ''"Get down, you fool!"'' -- by [[YoungFutureFamousPeople future Supreme Court Justice]] Oliver Wendell Holmes, no less![[labelnote:*]]While taking the Union's capitol city would have been a great victory in itself, the operation, much like the earlier Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, was not to conquer the North; as the War of 1812 demonstrated, even burning down the capitol building and a majority of the city was not adequate to conquer a country, and the CSA held no illusions that they could beat the Union with pure attrition; instead, the battle was meant to give the "Yankees" a bloody nose and put them on the backfoot, which would give the CSA the validation it needed to be seen as an independent nation capable of sustaining itself, and hopefully win foreign support to back up its claims of such. Unfortunately, all of this overlooked the fact that the reasoning behind their secession (the topic/argument of slavery) was already considered taboo overseas, with most modern (for the time) countries having washed their hands of it and meaning anyone supporting them would by proxy be supporting slavery. As a result, this meant that getting foreign support and validation was still highly unlikely even ''if'' the Confederacy's operations against the North had succeeded.[[/labelnote]] As the war went on, Washington was said to have become one of the most fortified cities in the world, owing to both its importance as the seat of government and its location close to the front lines in Virginia. The war, in fact, was a major catalyst for its growth from a minor city into a major metropolis, appropriately enough given how the war ended with a far more centralized nation than before.

* In another relatively minor action, a "truck" convoy of protesters (hoping to duplicate the success of one in Canada) in April, 2022 became hopelessly mired in traffic around the beltway, split apart by the traffic and forced to withdraw. An example of the 'circles' doing their job.

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

* ''VideoGame/TheConduit'' takes place almost entirely in Washington D.C. at the start of such an invasion. The sequel, ''VideoGame/{{Conduit 2}}'', has a level where you return to the city at the peak of the invasion.

[[folder: WebOriginal]]

* A minor example, but still qualifies -- on January 6th, 2021, egged on by UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump and other Republican politicians, a mob of several thousand people attacked the U.S. Capitol building in a bid to stop the Electoral Vote count and attack Democratic politicians, due to Trump's disproven allegations of electoral fraud. They were eventually repelled when the National Guard arrived hours later, and the National Guard remained in the Capitol for several weeks. Still, a few people were killed as a result, including one supporter who was trampled by her colleagues, and a policeman who died from injuries sustained during the assault, ultimately the casualties amounted to 5, though the mob came very close to various prominent politicians, including the Vice-President. 4 other police officers were so unnerved by the experience that they subsequently committed suicide.
* In aoother relatively minor action, a "truck" convoy of protesters (hoping to duplicate the success of one in Canada) in April, 2022 became hopelessly mired in traffic around the beltway, split apart by the traffic and forced to withdraw. An examole of the 'circles' doing their job.

In RealLife DC traffic is so bad that any invasion would be quickly stalled by the circles and roundabouts, which was their original intended purpose. Also note that no such fictional invasion ever took place under the term of [[MemeticBadass Theodore Roosevelt]]. Coincidence? ''We think not!''

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'''s third season episode, "The Red Badge Of Gayness" has Cartman attempt to pull this off by playing the role of UsefulNotes/RobertELee in a historical re-enactment and riling up the Confederacy re-enactors just so he can win a bet with Stan and Kyle. He almost has UsefulNotes/BillClinton ready to surrender until Stan and Kyle come in dressed as UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis and UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln in order to end the re-enactment as a Union victory.

* ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' saw Waspington, DC (Washington's Earth-C counterpart) attacked on several occasions by villains.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

* In ''FanFic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', [=ProtoMan=] plans this in episode 9, but it doesn't happen due to Wily's interference. Wily then steals his idea to use in episode 11.

* Dr. Wily tries this in one episode of the Ruby-Spears ''WesternAnimation/MegaMan'' cartoon.

* In aoother relatively minor action, a "truck" convoy of protesters in March, 2022 became hopelessly mired in traffic around the beltway, split apart by the traffic and forced to withdraw. An examole of the 'circles' doing their job.

* In UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, the Confederacy ''wanted'' to do this, but the closest they got was [[GeneralFailure General Jubal Early]], whose army reached the outskirts of Washington before being repelled at the Battle of Fort Stevens, where UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln [[PassThePopcorn watched the fighting with his top-hat on]] and was famously told ''"Get down, you fool!"'' -- by [[YoungFutureFamousPeople future Supreme Court Justice]] Oliver Wendell Holmes, no less! As the war went on, Washington was said to have become one of the most fortified cities in the world, owing to both its importance as the seat of government and its location close to the front lines in Virginia. The war, in fact, was a major catalyst for its growth from a minor city into a major metropolis, appropriately enough given how the war ended with a far more centralized nation than before.

* A minor example, but still qualifies -- on January 6th, 2021, egged on by UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump and other Republican politicians, a mob of several thousand people attacked the U.S. Capitol building in a bid to stop the Electoral Vote count and attack Democratic politicians, due to Trump's disproven allegations of electoral fraud. They were eventually repelled when the National Guard arrived hours later, and the National Guard remained in the Capitol for several weeks. Still, a few people were killed as a result, including one supporter who was trampled by her colleagues, and a policeman who died from injuries sustained during the assault, ultimately the casualties amounted to 5, though the mob came very close to various prominent politicians, including the Vice-President.[[/folder]]