Term paper on Sinking of the Lusitania

Sinking of the Lusitania(1915)

In early 1915, Germany announced that ships sailing in what it decreed the war zone around the British Isles would be sunk. On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat sank the British passenger liner Lusitania , which it claimed (correctly) was carrying arms, with the loss of 1,198 lives, 128 of them Americans. While declaring that ‘‘there is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight,” President Woodrow Wilson promised to hold Germany to ‘‘strict accountability” and demanded an end to its unrestricted submarine warfare. Fearful that war might ensue, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigned. Several months later, after a similar incident, Germany accepted the Arabic pledge, which provided for the safety of passengers on unarmed vessels.

Suggestions for Term Papers

1. Discuss the controversy concerning whether the Lusitania carried arms.

2. Compare American reaction to the sinking of the Lusitania with the sinking of the Maine before the Spanish-American War.

3. Should Americans have been allowed to travel on the Lusitania ?

4. Should the United States have declared war on Germany after the sinking of the Lusitania ?

5. Was the sinking of the Lusitania an important factor in the United States ‘ eventual declaration of war against Germany ?

Suggested Sources : See entries, 1, 11, 14, and 17 for related items.

REFERENCE SOURCES

Shipwrecks: An Encyclopedia of the World’s Worst Disasters at Sea . David Ritchie. New York : Facts on File, 1996. Provides background on and descriptions of 400 significant shipwrecks; includes charts and illustrations. Includes the Lusitania and Titanic .

GENERAL SOURCES

Birnbaum, Karl E. Peace Moves and U-Boat Warfare: A Study of Imperial Germany ‘s Policy toward the United States , April 18, 1916–January 9, 1917 . Hamden , CT : Archon Books, 1970. Examines German policy developed one year after the Lusitania incident.

Gilbert, Martin. The First World War: A Complete History . New York : Holt, 1994. Nearly encyclopedic view of war.

Grant, Robert M. U-Boat Intelligence, 1914–1918 . Hamden , CT : Archon Books, 1969. Brief account of intelligence gathering with respect to naval operations during the war.

Gray, Edwyn. The Killing Time: The U-Boat War, 1914–1918 . New York : Scribner’s, 1972. Revealing account of U-boat operations during the war; more detailed than the Grant effort above.

Rossler, Eberhard. The U-Boat: The Evolution and Technical History of German Submarines . Annapolis , MD : Naval Institute, 1981. Detailed, authoritative history of the development of U-boats. Translated from the German.

Terraine, John. The U-Boat Wars, 1916–1945 . (1989). Reprint. New York : Holt, 1990. Detailed study of U-boat operations in World Wars I and II.

SPECIALIZED SOURCES

Bailey, Thomas A., and Paul B. Ryan. The Lusitania Disaster: An Episode in Modern Warfare and Diplomacy . New York : Free Press, 1975. Detailed and revealing study of the Lusitania and its implications for modern warfare.

Ballard, Robert D., and Spencer Dunmore. Exploring the Lusitania : Probing the Mysteries of the Sinking That Changed History . New York : Warner Books, 1995. Recent examination of the conditions attending the incident. Good bibliography.

Droste, Christian L., comp., and W. H. Tantum IV, ed. The Lusitania Case . (1915). Reprint. Riverside , CT : 7 C’s Press, 1972. Originally published as volume 2 of Documents on the War of the Nations from Neutral and Anti-German Sources , shortly after the event. Good array of source material.

Hickey, Des, and Gus Smith. Seven Days to Disaster: The Sinking of the Lusitania . New York : Putnam, 1982. Indispensable basic study of the fateful voyage.

Hoehling, A. A., and Mary D. Hoehling. The Last Voyage of the Lusitania . (1956). Reprint. Lanham , MD : Madison Books, 1996. A standard popular history of the tragic voyage.

Simpson, Colin. Lusitania . (1972). Reprint. New York : Penguin Books, 1983. A standard history with a good bibliography.

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Ashby, LeRoy. William Jennings Bryan : Champion of Democracy . Boston : Twayne, 1987. Provides insight into Bryan ‘s growing disenchantment with Wilson ‘s anti-German policies and his resignation over the Lusitania notes. Helpful bibliography.

Link, Arthur S. Woodrow Wilson and a Revolutionary World, 1913–1921 . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1982. Focuses on Wilson and European affairs.

AUDIOVISUAL SOURCES

The Lusitania . Orland Park , IL : MPI Home Video, 1989. Videocassette. 30 minutes. Part of the Secrets of the Unknown series. Host Edward Mulhare presents the intriguing story.

WORLD WIDE WEB

‘‘Interviews—Winter: The Lusitania .” The Great War and the Shaping of the Twentieth Century . September 1997. http://www3.pbs.org/greatwar/ A multimedia project produced by PBS in association with the Imperial War Museum of London. Contains many pictures, a chronology, and interviews with historians. Click on the interview with Jay M. Winter, who briefly describes the conditions leading to the Lusitania incident.