The Sinking Of The Lusitania

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Recommended: Impacts of the First World War

In the First Word War, military submarines made a significant impact for the first time. The German U-Boats enjoyed a great deal of success and were responsible for destroying around half of all the food and supplies transported by the British Merchant Navy. As much as the United States wanted to stay neutral during World War I, they could only tolerate so much. America thought there was no reason to join either side, and they did not have a clue on who would win. By setting an example of peace to the world, America stuck with their choice of staying neutral. Little by little, the Germans pushed America to their limit, causing them to go to war. Incidents such as the sinking of the Lusitania caused America to push towards entering the war.
Larson talks in detail about both ship's journey and how they meet up. In the book, there were many signs that foreshadowed the demise of the Lusitania. One example, is the newspaper article that warns all ships passing through the war zone will be sunk. An article in a newspaper ad warns people to not go in the war zone. The ad was not taken seriously and a passenger later said that many people did not take any notice of it because it was such a daring idea ("How the Sinking"). If this warning was put in papers, how could this not be seen as an accident when Germany is basically telling people to not enter this spot. Nobody can prove that U-20 was on a hunt for the Lusitania, but there were many warnings given to the Lusitania by Germans. On the Lusitania, there was a room built to seek U-boats to keep the ship from getting sunk. In the book, it talks about the room, Room 40. It was said to know that a U-boat was heading the same direction they are going. They also knew that the boat was supposed to sink any ship they could (Larson 169). The Lusitania knew that a U-boat was heading directly towards them and yet did not change their course. Captain Turner must have been sure his ship could beat out a U-boat and nobody would dare to sink him. In the book, many points are made in why the Lusitania should sail the sea's got caught in the crossfire resulting in the sinking of the Lusitania. World War I was in full swing and America had remained neutral, even though many people were getting killed and nobody was winning. The sinking of the Lusitania, many believe is irrelevant and do not really know anything about it, but it impacted history. When interviewing Jake Wakey, our World Studies teacher he answered why is the sinking so overlooked in history. He says “Because, like many other things in life, we tend to focus on what happens vs. why things happen and the Lusitania is part of the why for U.S. entry into WWI” (Wakey). Mr. Wakey shows that even though the sinking of the Lusitania did not affect how we live our life, but it tells why we live the way we do and how we ended up in World War I. Although some people may say the sinking of the Lusitania is irrelevant, many people lost their lives because of this and it impacted history in a way not

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