Diogenes
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Actually, there is a little more to the story. This was first related to me by my high school history teacher, and his story was confirmed when the Lusitania was rediscovered.nefarious_plot said:It [the Lusitania] was a British Ship taken on Americna supplies.. There was no threat from one U boat
The Lusitania was a British passenger liner. The rules of war in effect at that time (1915) said that passenger liners were strictly off limits but they were also forbidden from hauling any sort of military personnel, equipment or supplies. The Germans claimed that the Lusitania was carrying military gear, and went so far as to advertise the fact in the New York newspapers, saying in effect "US citizens! Don't take this ship! It's carrying military supplies and we're going to sink it!"
The German claim was pooh-poohed by the Woodrow Wilson administration in the US, and by the British government, so American citizens boarded the ship anyway. When the ship came around the south end of Ireland and into the English Channel, it was met by an escort of British warships. Then there was a reported submarine sighting in the area, and the Brit warships ran to port (and safety), leaving the liner alone on the ocean where the German sub nailed it.
Some 1100 passengers died in that incident, which was used by the US yellow press to demonize the Germans. Wilson ignored the uproar, declined to take any action, and even ran for re-election in 1916 on the slogan "He kept us out of war." The German claims were never mentioned in any US history book I read in school.
When the ship was finally recovered (circa 1970), it was discovered that the Germans were right: the hold was filled with tanks, trucks, guns and other military hardware.
It is inconceivable that the ship manifests out of New York could be falsified without the knowledge of the government, so the conclusion is inescapable: Woodrow Wilson was a war criminal responsible for all those deaths. (With the connivance of Winston Churchill, then the equivalent of secretary of the British navy.)