may 7, 1915 - Submarine Warfare: Lusitania crisis; Sussex pledge

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Because Germany had no chance of matching Britain’s navy in terms of traditional ships, they resorted instead to the use of submarines and, in February 1915, they threatened to sink any ships in the waters near the British Isles in response to a blockade by the British Navy. On May 7 of that same year, the Lusitania – a British passenger liner carrying American passengers – sunk after being torpedoed by a German submarine causing most people on board to drown, including 128 Americans. In response to the Lusitania crisis, President Wilson warned Germany to stop attacking unarmed ships or else they would be held strictly accountable. In the year following the crisis, 2 more ships carrying American passengers were sunk: the Arabic (August 1915) and the Sussex (March 1916). But when Wilson then threatened to cut off all political relations with Germany (a step that usually heralds a declaration of war) the Germans issued the Sussex pledge stating that they would not sink merchant or passenger ships without warning – and they actually heeded the pledge throughout the rest of the year.

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