Sinking Of The Lusitania

After reading a book called the Dead Wake, by Erik Larson, the book showed the different sides of the conflict both form the U-boat captain and the people onboard the Lusitania. This made excited to look into this more.

The incident started on May 7, 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed the British-owned steamship, Lusitania, killing 1,128 people, but importantly including 128 Americans. This brought tension to the already strenuous relationship between the US and Germany during WW1. After WW I began in 1914, Lusitania was a passenger ship, although it was modified for war. But this did not fool the Germans as they soon came to realize that much of the armaments that kept Britain in the war came from trade with the US. By February 1915, German commanders knew the British were secretly arming their ships and that both merchant and passenger ships were transporting weapons and supplies from the United States to Europe. Germany declared the waters surrounding the England as a war zone and "stopped following international naval “prize laws,” which warned ships of a submarine’s presence. "(McDermott)

The passengers aboard this boat were warned about the possibility of a strike because they were passing through a warzone. But from previous treaties it was understood that the Germans would signal the boat and tell them they are about to strike and let the people onboard into lifeboats before they try to sink it, thus many people were not worried about the cautions. On May 7, 1915, Lusitania took a direct hit from a U-boat (without the warning that was previously expected) and sunk within 20 minutes. Similar to the Schlieffen plan, this aggression was also able to make it look like that the fault of the war was on the Germans. Germany defended its aggressive play, claiming Lusitania had carried weapons and war supplies and was fair game for sinking.

But after Germany signed more treatys to end this warfare, President Wilson seemed fine with the deal and did not feel that he need to go to war. The sinking of the Lusitania was a public relations nightmare for Germany, public opinion in the United States turned against them which was once neutral. But the Americans were then able to intercept the Zimmerman telegram which stated that Germany planned to return to unrestricted submarine warfare and would sink all ships, and was wishing for Mexico to start a war with the US.

The sinking of Lusitania did not directly start the United States to deploy troops and start the all out war with Germany. It fuel anti-German ideas in Britain and the United States and ruined diplomatic relations between Germany and the United States.

(McDermott)https://www.history.com/news/how-the-sinking-of-lusitania-changed-wwi
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/lusitania
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lusitania-British-ship