Lusitania

A detailed Summary of Lusitania

World War One was well underway in 1915. France, Russia and Britain, also known as the allies were fighting Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. The United States was staying neutral at this time. The war was at a turning point because both sides were even on land, so sea warfare was becoming more and more popular. U-boats were introduced during this time. On February 15, 1915 Germany said that any boat entering the war zone would be immediately torpedoed and sunk by their U-boats.

The Lusitania was built because of a strong rivalry between Germany and Britain about who could create the fastest and most luxurious ocean liner. The building of the Lusitania started in September of 1904 and was completed on June 7, 1906. About 200,000 people came to see her first departure on September 7, 1907. The Lusitania was 785 feet long and weighed 31,550 metric tons. The Lusitania was the largest ship on the seas. It was created as a luxurious ocean liner that carried people and goods between the United States and England. The Lusitania was very popular because of her speed and luxurious accommodations. It had seven decks. Her passengers called her a "floating palace". It was considered the finest ship on the seas. A one-way trip

on the Lusitania costs about $4,000. The Lusitania was given the "Blue Ribbon" for crossing the Atlantic in the least amount of time.

Captain Turner wanted to preserve coal on this trip so only four of the ten boilers were on and he also reduced the speed. The ship had very advanced water safety systems but the crew was very inexperienced and did not know how to properly use them. The passengers were all assigned lifeboats and had life vests in their rooms but were never shown how to use either.

In January of 1915 Captain William Turner was taking the Lusitania to Queenstown when a German Sub stopped them and was going to bomb them. The captain raised the American flag and because the United States was still neutral, the Germans refused to torpedo the ship. Soon after German policy changed, they were told to take down any ship in their war zone.

This huge tragedy made front-page news all over the world. The United States was neutral during this time. Most of the crew of the Lusitania was from Liverpool. There were huge riots on the streets in protest of the Germans and people even tried to kill others with German sounding names. President Woodrow Wilson did not want to go to war so he reprimanded Germany and asked them to pay reparation. Germany insisted that there were weapons aboard the Lusitania and that is why they shot it. U.S. President Wilson sent three letters to Germany saying that if the Germans did not stop killing innocent Americans than the United States would declare war on Germany and join the Allies.

The reason for the conspiracy is that the government of Britain financed the Lusitania's building. They had an agreement with Cunard Lines that in a time of war the Lusitania could be used to help their cause. In the documentation taken before the Lusitania left New York, its contents were listed as meat, medical supplies, bacon, oysters, cars, copper, cheese, oil products, equipment, chickens, machinery, and bicycles. These materials were

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Approximate Word count = 1344
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History