This week in diplomatic and military history: May 4

Chase Boone | May 04, 2015

A hundred years ago this week, the First World War was halfway through its second year and was showing no signs of abatement. At this point, the United States, under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson, was reluctant to entrench itself into the global conflict between the Allied Powers of Great Britain, France and Russia and the Central Powers of Imperial Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. However, a major development at the end of that week would shake U.S. neutrality and ultimately facilitate America’s entrance into the war.

At the turn of the twentieth century, transatlantic trade and passenger transportation had become extremely competitive, with British and German companies controlling most of the market. Two Scottish companies, John Brown & Co. Ltd and Clydebank, financed by J.P. Morgan, set out to construct a faster, more comfortable ocean liner that could compete with German ships. On June 9th, 1904 they began production on the RMS Lusitania and completed construction almost two years later on June 6th, 1906.

The RMS Lusitania’s construction and operating costs were subsidized by the British government so that she could be transformed into an Armed Merchant Cruiser if necessary. The onset of war brought about its conversion and the Lusitania was placed on the official list of AMC’s. During this period, naval warfare was governed by Cruiser Rules, which were accompanied by other international agreements like the Declaration of Paris and The Hague Conventions. These agreements were intended to govern the relationship between neutral and belligerent ships and protect neutral ships from belligerent coercion. However, in 1915, in response to the British declaration that the North Sea was a war zone, Germany intensified its submarine campaign. On February 18th, 1915, Germany declared the seas near the British Isles a war zone and pledged to sink Allied ships in the area without warning.

April 17th, 1915 marked the Lusitania’s 201st transatlantic voyage as the ship departed from Liverpool and arrived in New York on the 24th. Prior to the ship’s voyage back to Liverpool, the Imperial German Embassy placed advertisements in fifty U.S. newspapers warning passengers of the potential harm they faced while traveling through the waters surrounding Britain. Despite this warning, the ship departed from New York on May 1st, 1915.

Carrying 1,962 people, including passengers and crew, the Lusitania was just off the south coast of Ireland when at 14:10 British Summer Time the ship encountered the German U-boat, U-20. The U-boat commander Walther Schwieger ordered the release of a torpedo that hit the starboard bow, the portion of the ship that curves inward. Almost immediately after the initial contact there was a second, larger explosion in the hull. This second explosion was caused by the reaction of the torpedo with the immense amount of munitions that the ship was transporting. 1,191 people aboard perished, including 128 Americans.

Since the Lusitania was categorized as an AMC and was transporting munitions and 4.2 million rounds of rifle cartridges, Germany claimed that they had a legitimate cause to attack. However, the British were outraged and, pulling on their cultural ties with America, urged the U.S. to declare war against Germany. Cooler heads would prevail, and, for the time being, Wilson avoided entrance. Wilson did, however, demand that Germany issue a formal apology and abstain from similar submarine activity in the future. Thus two years later when Germany committed to unrestricted submarine warfare the U.S. was compelled to enter the Great War. The sinking of the Lusitania served to agitate relations between the U.S. and Germany. Along with other factors like U.S. loan investment in Britain and the Zimmerman Telegram, the sinking is an integral part of the rationale behind U.S. entrance into World War I.

 

Photo courtesy of The New York Times. 

Butler, Daniel Allen. “The Glory Years & The Great War.” The Age of Cunard: A Transatlantic History 1839-2003. Annapolis, MD: Lighthouse Publication, 2003. 173 – 203. Print.

Danver, Steven Laurence. Popular Controversies in World History Investigating History’s Intriguing Questions. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2011. 101 – 119. Print.

Hoehling, A. A., and Mary Duprey Hoehling. The Last Voyage of the Lusitania. New York: Holt, 1956. Print.