Woodrow Wilson and the Sinking of the Lusitania.

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World War I – Lusitania and Woodrow Wilson

World War 1 (1914-1918) is generally recognized as the one single event that clearly, and significantly, impacted the world for the next century.  There is no simple reason that justifies the war. War was no stranger to the European community in 1914.

Basic reasons for war

It could be argued that the rise of Germany as a military and economic power set a global war into play. Others historians suggest that some European nations wanted to expand their kingdoms. In pursuing that goal old alliances were broken which led to war. The assassination of the Archduke of Austria lit the fuse. and, for some it just provided a reason to start a war. Shortening a complicated answer, the war was a result of greed and lust for power. It was based on conflicting notions of nationalism, militarism, and kingdom expansion. Estimates vary, but between sixteen and twenty million civilians and soldiers died during the conflict, and another thirty-seven million were casualties.

Impact to world

World War I helped create the roots of  World War II. The war brought about the collapse of the Russian Empire and the birth of communism. The cost of the war helped push the world into a ruinous Great Depression, one that, along with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, nearly devastated Germany. Adolph Hitler, however,  offered his people a solution.

Isolationist and War agitators

Many in the world looked to America for leadership. Others, especially pacifists, religious leaders and others wanted the  nation to stay out of the fight.  Caught in the pressure cooker the physically fragile Woodrow Wilson was in the center of the storm.

RMS Lusitania

It only took eighteen minutes. The time was a little past 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 7, 1915.  Most passengers had just finished lunch. Thomas and Phyllis Richard of Meaderville, Montana were strolling along the deck with their three young children.  It was an exciting adventure for Percy, age seven, Cecil, age four, and little Dora who was nearly two. The weather was sunny and rather warm and many passengers  were enjoying the moment on the ship’s deck.

Torpedoed

With the Great War at full tilt, it was well known that German U-boats were operating in the North Atlantic. The German government  had even made threats about attacking passenger ships. The passengers, however, had been assured that they were safe by the Cunard Lines and Captain Turner personally.  They had been told that the Lusitania was much too fast for a submarine to catch them.

Death

The single torpedo struck the ship on its starboard side. The location was where many of the ship’s porters were working on passengers’ luggage items. They were killed instantly. Within a minute or two, a second blast. It was an internal explosion from within the boiler room. An enormous fire erupted instantly burning to death many in its path.

In less than a minute mass chaos erupted on the 800 foot liner. Of the ship’s 48 lifeboats, only six were lowered successfully. Passengers witnessed others being crushed by the stampede of frightened people racing to get off the vessel.  A number of the collapsible lifeboats washed completely off the decks along with bystanders. Several people were sucked into the ship’s massive four smoke stacks as it went down.

Some stayed with the ship, hoping it would stay afloat. The majority, however, simply jumped into the sea. It was 2:18 p.m. and the beautiful Lusitania, one of the fastest ships in the world,  had disappeared beneath the calm waters of the Irish Head of Kinsale.

Many bodies never recovered

The sinking of the Lusitania was a horrible and sad tragedy. The senseless loss of 1195 innocent individuals, included many women and children. Nine hundred  of their bodies were never found, including the bodies of the entire Richard family.

Germany

In Germany many citizens were starving due to the lack of food supplies caused by the British blockades of German ports. The British and French were not faced with that same challenge since they were enjoying a plentiful amount of  supplies from the United States.

German U-boats

Despite economic hardships at home, Germans were making progress in controlling the North Atlantic by U-boat attacks. The German military was relying heavily on the development and use of its fleet of submarines. Their numbers grew from 33 in 1914 to 150 by 1918.

Winston Churchill

The British hoped that the sinking of the Lusitania, which included Americans, would  pull the U.S. into the war. They were counting on it. The head of the British Admiralty, Sir Winston Churchill, was holding his breath, hoping that President Woodrow Wilson wanted revenge enough to engage in the conflict. The problem was that Wilson was a calm and rational thinker, and not prone to making decisions based on emotion, or impulse.

Enlist

In  June 1915, less than a month after the Lusitania disaster, a propaganda type poster made by Fred Spears of Boston entitled “Enlist” began circulating throughout the nation. The message was clear: Americans needed to enlist in the military and fight the Germans. President Woodrow Wilson was not so sure about going to war.

War Songs

To combat the growing interest the war movement, the anti-war advocates found inspiration through a song  which became a national favorite entitled ” I Didn’t Raise My Boy to be a Soldier”, song by Ed Morton. Soon Americans were taking sides regarding the war issue.

Wilson

President  Wilson, however, had already ignored a number of other U-boat assaults on American shipping.  The attacks had included the sinking of the Gulflight oil tanker, which killed three people. This had happened four days prior to the Lusitania incident.  There were four other commercial shipping attacks off the coast of the United States during April 1915.  Former President Theodore Roosevelt  was demanding that the U.S. enter the war.  Wilson refused, saying ” we are too proud to fight.” Roosevelt  implied that Wilson  was a coward when he referred to Wilson  as “a lily- livered skunk.”

Neutral

Although Wilson pushed back on the notion of war, he quickly called for a state of preparedness by initiating the draft. In the center of the angst of war and peace Wilson tried to continue to maintain some semblance of America’s neutrality during the conflict.

Pacifist

In an act of defiance against Wilson’s submarine policy with Germany, William Jennings Bryan,  a strict pacifist, and Wilson’s Secretary of State, abruptly quit his job. He felt that the President was not being anti-war enough. Wilson demanded that Germany cease attacking passenger liners. He could not satisfy either the pro-war or the anti-war people in his own nation.

Idealist

Woodrow Wilson was no coward, but more of a trusting idealist who accepted the German apology for the Lusitania incident. He believed the Germans when they agreed to cease attacking passenger ships.  Germany to not want the United States to enter the war, Wilson thought.

American support is split

The American public was split on whether  to go to war or continue to sit it out. The nation was thriving economically because of it.  War was good for America and factories were building anything from tanks, ships and airplanes, to flame throwers, firearms, and food and medical supplies.  These products were sold directly to France, Britain and Russia. Being neutral had its benefits, and American bankers were making a killing negotiating war loans to the same nations, which included Germany. 

America joins the war

America had moved on from the  horrors of the Lusitania tragedy, but then Germany reneged on its promise of not attacking passenger vessels.  Additionally, they tried to enlist Mexico as an ally to attack the United States. The U.S. intercepted what is now referred to as the Zimmerman telegram. In the telegram, Germany laid out the benefits to Mexico if they would invade America.  Frustrated, in April 1917 Wilson advised Congress that the U.S. had little choice but to engage in a war against Germany, and Congress agreed. 

Bitterness

Churchill bitterly wished that the United States had entered in 1915, stating this about President Woodrow Wilson, ” What he did in April 1917 could have been done in May 1915. And if done then … in how many millions of homes would an empty chair be occupied now?”

He firmly believed that a million or more people could have been spared death if the United States had entered the war earlier.

Lusitania sinking

 The Cunard liner was without a military escort, which was customary for large passenger ships traveling in dangerous waters.  The British Admiralty had received the U-boats’ encryption transmissions on a regular basis, so they were aware of the approximate location of the submarine. They never advised the Lusitania.  At the last minute the British Admiralty canceled sending out a fast rescue ship to aid the sinking Lusitania. Some historians suggest that the Lusitania tragedy was a “cock up”, a term used by the British to label something a mistake.

Conspiracy

Other historians argue a different conspiracy. Some believed that Wilson had conspired to have the United States engage in the war, and against public opinion. In this twisted belief, Woodrow Wilson wanted to spread his ideology of democracy. He believed the world needed to be saved from other types of governments, akin to his deep faith in Christianity.

Loss of Life

The horrendous carnage just needed to stop.  Millions of Europeans had already lost their lives, and even more faced the rest of their lives with horrible disfigurements and disabilities.  In France alone, half the men between the ages of  20 and 32 had already perished.  These arguments are compelling, but only complicate the tragedy of both the sinking of the Lusitania and the ongoing harsh realities of World War 1.

Unlikely conspiracy

Some historians argue that the British had set the entire Lusitania sinking up to pull the U.S. into the war. There is scant proof of this conspiracy, and the mistakes that led to the ship’s sinking were likely “cock ups” and not a set up to pull the United States into the war.  Wilson ignored the pressures to join the war. He was even re-elected in 1916 based on keeping America out of the war. There is also little proof to support the notion  that Wilson was conspiring to enter the war just to spread America’s doctrine of democracy throughout the world. These, and others are the “what if’s” of history which keep historians busy chasing all the dark scenarios of the past.

Summary

National Geographic, 2015

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania , Erik Larson

Personal letter June 15, 1915, Theodore Roosevelt

“The Lusitania and the Secrets of War Revealed” Saul David, The Guardian

The Lusitania Disaster, Thomas A. Bailey and Paul B. Ryan