How the sinking of lusitania changed world war is featured photo

The Sinking of the Lusitania

By justinhovan12

  • Overarching Lesson

    Overarching Lesson
    Overarching Lesson: The effects of the sinking of the Lusitania caused the United States’ involvement in World War I.

  • The Lusitania Set Sail

    The Lusitania Set Sail
    The Lusitania sets sail for its final voyage before the disaster. Many passengers of prominent figures were urged not to continue with the voyage, warning them through telegrams. Moreover, many had increased warning signs from published newspapers urging against the travel on Allied ships.

  • The Lusitania Enters Forbidden Territory

    The Lusitania Enters Forbidden Territory
    The Lusitania enters a war zone prone to torpedoes and fighting. Germany was the main antagonist against the British and Allied powers and their ships as they had one goal in mind: to destroy merchant ships and their cargoes more quickly than they could be replaced in order to starve Britain into submission.

  • The Lusitania Is Hit

    The Lusitania Is Hit
    Germany’s U-20 submarine torpedoes struck the Lusitania without warning. The boat sank within 20 minutes, killing 1,195 people consisting including 123 Americans. There is still a divided debate on whether Germany is justified in their actions. Some perceived it as a flagrant act of evil and a violation of the rules of war.

  • Newspapers Paper Reports the Incident

    Newspapers Paper Reports the Incident
    Seattle Star released its issue of the events regarding the sinking of the Lusitania, containing events and accounts from those who survived and witnessed the events. Many realized that since the Lusitania was a British ship and an "enemy ship,". Germany had previously made clear warnings to all neutral passengers of Atlantic vessels about the possibility of submarine attacks on British ships. Germany agreed not to sink passenger ships without warning with previous events with the United States.

  • German Hatred Spreads Worldwide

    German Hatred Spreads Worldwide
    From May 8th to May 15th, Germans were mobbed by people worldwide. Due to the sinking, anti-German riots start to spread over the world and lasted for days. Mobs attack Germans in Manchester, Liverpool, and London. With the widespread attacks, Germans had to seek government assistance to be protected. This sparked outrage that angered everyone worldwide, which sparked a further push to declare war on Germany.

  • Primary Source: Germany's Response to the Sinking

    Primary Source: Germany's Response to the Sinking
    Germany essentially defended their actions based on the letter produced. They noted that it had issued warnings of its intent to attack all ships, neutral or otherwise, that entered the war zone around Britain. In other words, it was the United States' fault for bringing ships into the war zone.

  • Primary Source: The Zimmerman Telegram

    Primary Source: The Zimmerman Telegram
    The Zimmerman Telegram was created and sent to Mexico. It was decoded by the British who found that Germany wanted to resume unrestricted submarine warfare and destroy all ships in the conflict area, even those carrying American civilians. The message suggested a partnership between Germany and Mexico. The US didn’t want to enter the war even enraged. The Germans followed their plans, disregarding the United States' requests from the sinking of the Lusitania, and resumed submarine warfare.

  • The United States Declares War on Germany

    The United States Declares War on Germany
    The United States declares war against Germany. This is the first time the United States has declared war on a European power since Woodrow Wilson’s Peace Plan and the United States’ isolationism policy. The sinking of the Lusitania started the notion of what Germany is: a rebel against all countries. Their lack of effort to actually try and follow the orders by the United States truly exemplified the US’ involvement to enter the war.

  • Works Cited 2

    “Lusitania Is Sunk By German Submarine; 1,400 Folk Aboard.” The Library of Congress. The Seattle Star, May 7, 1915. https://www.loc.gov/collections/world-war-i-rotogravures/articles-and-essays/the-lusitania-disaster/.
    McDermott, Annette. “How the Sinking of Lusitania Changed World War I - History.” How the Sinking of Lusitania Changed World War I, November 21, 2022. https://www.history.com/news/how-the-sinking-of-lusitania-changed-wwi.

  • Works Cited 1

    Calder, Anna. “German Response to the Sinking of the Lusitania.” The Lusitania Resource, March 26, 2011. https://www.rmslusitania.info/primary-docs/german-response/.
    Humanities, National Endowment for the. “The Seattle Star. [Volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, May 07, 1915, Image 1.” News about Chronicling America RSS. E.H. Wells & Co., 1915. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87093407/1915-05-07/ed-1/seq-1/.

  • Works Cited 3

    Roe, Sean, Admin, Sherell Moshos, Austin Mcgarry, Alan John Hutchins, James Bixler, and Duane Lysne. “Lusitania Timeline.” The Lusitania Resource, June 4, 2011. https://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania/timeline/.
    “Telegram with a Translation of the Zimmermann Telegram.” DocsTeach, February 24, 1917. https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/translation-zimmermann-telegram.