Discussion post! The Sinking of the cruise liner, RMS Lucitania, nearly 100 years ago during the first half of the First World War, has always been a controversial event. The German Navy had upped its game in an attempt to exploit the British reliance on imported food, utlising U-boat (Submarines, unterseeboot in German), to raid shipping routes importing supplies to Britain. Over the course of the war, over 11 million tons of Allied shipping was lost to the U-boats, however the sinking of the Lucitania is a particularly sensitive issue. On the 7th May, 1915 the ocean cruise liner, RMS Lucitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat, U-20, sinking in 18 minutes just 11 miles off the Irish coast, resulting in 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard dying. International opinion immediately soured against Germany, even amongst their allies, with the sinking of this civilian vessel which would eventually lead to the American involvement in WW1. However, the initial events were not as it seems, the German government argued that it was a legitimate target of war due it carrying 4.2 million rifle cartridges for the British war effort, that was officially denied by the Americans. As well as this, it has been considered that the ship was also carrying a large amount of undeclared high explosives, which could be attributed to why it sank so quickly. The vessel and passengers was also warned a number a times by the German embassy not to sale, as there was a chance the the vessel could be intercepted. However, the passengers were civilians almost to a man, and nearly 2/3rds were killed in the attack. Was this action justifiable as a legitimate act of war? Or was it a warcrime, that crossed the line?
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 22:26:24 +0000
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