America at war: hidden intentions?

RMS Lusitania was a British luxury ocean liner torpedoed by a German U-boat in May 1915. At that time it was the fastest commercial passenger liner in the North Atlantic. The sinking of the Lusitania is considered to have been decisive for the United States declaration of war against Germany and thus the involvement of the country in World War I later in 1917. The attack caused more than 1.000 casualties – more than 100 of them were US nationals -, therefore making the sinking of the Lusitania comparable to that of the Titanic in terms of loss of life.

The RMS Lusitania (click to enlarge)

Despite knowledge that the seas around the British Isles had been declared war zone by Imperial Germany some months before, and also the fact that the German embassy in the United States had emitted a warning to potential passengers of the Lusitania in major American newspapers, the ship nevertheless departed New York the 1st of May of 1915. The 7th of May the ship was sunk near the coast of Ireland by the German submarine U-20, hit by at least one torpedo.

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