The Lusitania
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Europe was composed of a complex system of alliances of different ideas, attitudes and fears. The flimsy stability of the European status quo shifted one way or the other with the slightest breath of wind. The cement holding this fragile structure together was the threat of the military power that armed each nation. The assination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, on June 28, 1914 was the ground shaking event that caused this fragile alliance to come toppling down. Once the alliance started to fall, it rapidly became the bloody horror that was World War I. The United States tried to walk the tightrope of neutrality as the world began to explode around them. President Woodrow Wilson had a deep abhorrence of war and the vast majority of the American public was not interested in getting involved in a conflict so far from home. If the United States were to enter the war, there would have to be a st!rong reason or act to overcome the general apathy. The sinking of the Lusitania, proved to be such an act. This unprovoked, unjustifiable act of war, so enraged the American public, that they would forever be galvanized in their bitter resentment towar
But it proved to be the direct cause of their ruin. In vain, Captain Turner tried to head his great ship for the shore hoping to beach her. Specific wireless messages were transmitted from the Admiralty to the Lusitania. 11 This crowning outrage of the U-boat war resounded through the world. Despite these warnings, the Lusitania proceeded along the usual trade route, without zigzagging, and at little more than three-quarter speed. Isolationism and pacifism had many determined - and sometimes very influential - supporters in the Congress of the United States. The opposing group, the Triple Alliance, was composed of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. Moreover, rumor at the time had it that some 6 million dollars in gold bars lay locked in strongholds on the lower decks. Almost two years would pass before the United States would enter the war on the side of the Allies. Indeed, the sinking of the Lusitania became the flashpoint to war from which there was no turning back. After the two torpedoes hit, an internal explosion occurred that caused massive damage to the bow.
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