Total War Total war is when a government devotes all of its resources to war. The warring Europeans nations started to follow this policy.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

In February, 1915, the German government announced an unrestricted warfare campaign. This meant that any ship taking goods to Allied countries was in danger of being attacked. This broke international agreements that stated commanders who suspected that a non-military vessel was carrying war materials, had to stop and search it, rather than do anything that would endanger the lives of the occupants.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare The USA was already involved with the war as it was supplying Britain and France with supplies and ammunition, and lending money to help them fight the war. Neutrality was the stance taken by the majority of Americans towards the war. They felt that Europe was too far away and that its conflicts were not trustworthy. President Wilson also believed that all Americans needed to "act and speak in a spirit of neutrality." Germany wanted to stop supplies reaching Europe so followed a policy of unrestricted warfare. U-boats sunk merchant ships bringing in supplies even if they were flying a neutral American flag.

USA economy gained from the war The war in Europe led to a business boom in America. Private banks lent huge sums of money to the Allies at high rates of interest. Britain and France used this money to buy war materials from the United States. American industries quickly expanded, taking on even more workers. In 1915, 1/3 of British shells fired on the Western Front were made in the USA.

What happened to the Lusitaina? 7th May 1915 during the First World War, the British luxury passenger liner was torpedoed off the south coast of Ireland The ship was carrying over 2000 passengers together with a cargo of food and brass rods 18 minutes later the ship lay at the bottom of the ocean and 1198 people were dead Why!

Lusitania

Captain Schwieger of U20 Captain Turner – recalled to duty

At 1.20pm on 7th May 1915, the U-20, only ten miles from the coast of Ireland, surfaced to recharge her batteries. Soon afterwards Captain Schwieger, the commander of the German U- Boat, observed the Lusitania in the distance. Schwieger gave the order to advance on the liner. The U20 had been at sea for seven days and had already sunk two liners and only had two torpedoes left. He fired the first one from a distance of 700 metres. Watching through his periscope it soon became clear that the Lusitania was going down and so he decided against using his second torpedo. After a second, larger explosion, the Lusitania rolled over and sank in eighteen minutes. A total of 1,198 people died (785 passengers and 413 crew). Those killed included 128 US citizens.

Key Questions to think about… Who sank the Lusitania? Why was an innocent passenger liner attacked? Why did it sink so quickly? How many Americans were killed? Did the sinking lead to America joining the war? Could the sinking have been avoided?

Source 1 On 6th May U-boat 20 sank two ships, the Candidate and the Centurion. No new orders were given to the Lusitania asking it to change course or warning it against attack.

Source 2 Written by the German Ambassador in Washington in a letter to President Wilson “The waters surrounding Great Britain and Ireland, including the whole English channel are a war zone. Every enemy merchant ship found in the war zone will be destroyed. Even neutral ships are in danger.”

Source 3 “Have it on definite authority the Lusitania is to be torpedoed. You had better cancel passage immediately.” This was a German warning which appeared in US newspapers before the ship sailed. Not one of the 218 American passengers cancelled their passage because of the threats. 139 Americans died in the sinking.

Source 4 13 out of 289 sworn statements from survivors from the ships crew (the other 276 were not made public) “At the time of sailing the ship was in good order. She was unarmed, possessing no weapons and she has never carried such equipment.”

Evidence

Ammunition

Underwater investigators who have examined the wreck of the Lusitania found a huge hole in the ship’s hull. They believe that the first torpedo hit the ship and ignited the coal dust in the empty coal bunker. This caused a massive second explosion which sank the ship.

The fate of U20 – on a Danish shore

In 1915, a German submarine sank the Lusitania. Passenger liner carrying 1900 people.

The sinking of the Lusitania (1915) encouraged more Americans to support the war

Winston Churchill was in charge of the British navy Winston Churchill was in charge of the British navy. Some believe he was ruthless and would do anything to win the war. In 1914 he wrote in a letter, “We must get neutral ships caught up with German submarines, especially the Americans,” The American people were encouraged to support the war effort. For the first time American Industries were brought under close control of the US Government. To pay for the war, government bonds were issued and taxes on the rich increased.

Conscription was introduced All men aged between 21 and 30 had to register for the armed forces Over 3 million soldier were trained In March 1918 the American troops tipped the balance against Germany. The German war effort began to collapse. By the time war ended in November 1918, 110,000 American soldiers, sailors and airmen had been killed

What impact did World War One have on America? The US Army ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Why did the USA join the war? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How did the US economy benefit? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________