The Aftermath: How the Sinking of the Lusitania Affects the United States and WWI

The Immediate Aftermath

The Lusitania sank in only 18 minutes after being struck by a torpedo launched from a German U-boat.1 Because the ship tilted so severely after it was struck all the life boats on the port side of the ship grinded against the hull making for unclean launches and in multiple cases lifeboats landed on top of other lifeboats crushing the passengers.2 On the starboard side, the life boats were swinging up to 8ft away from the ship, causing passengers to have to leap to try and get in them.3 The severe tilting coupled with the fact that it sank so quickly, led to only 6 of the 48 life boats being successfully launched from the ship. There was 1,959 people aboard the ship when it was torpedoed and 1,198 died.4

German colorized postcard depicting a torpedo striking the Lusitania
Photo of life preserver from the Lusitania

How the Sinking lead to the United States involvement in WWI

Although it is commonly thought that the sinking of the Lusitania caused the United States to enter into WW1 immediately. In reality the US didn’t enter into the war until April of 1917 when the US officially declared war, 2 years after the sinking of the Lusitania.5 Although the sinking was a major turning point for the American government and its people. 

The Sinking Caused the End of “Strict Neutrality” 

Prior to 1915 and the sinking of the Lusitania president Woodrow Wilson was known for his ideas of keeping a strict neutrality on the war. 6 Wilson even won his second term with the his platform focusing on keeping America out of the war.7 Running under the slogan “he kept us out of war”.8 He feared that entering the war would derail his policies and his ideas for the country. In Wilson Proclamation of Neutrality that he gave to the senate on August 19, 1914 he mentions that the United States is a melting pot, there are many people that descend from many different European countries that are now at war with each other. But they are all still Americans and should unite under that title to stay impartial in both actions and in thought about the ongoing European war.9

But after the attack on the Lusitania that caused the death of 128 Americans, it made it a possibility that the US might enter the war, where it wasn’t before. Wilson couldn’t just ignore the fact that the American Citizens have lost their lives because of the Germans attack. Wilson wanted to still keep a leveled response to the sinking.

The example of America must be a special example. The example of America must be the example, not merely of peace because it will not fight, but of peace because peace is the healing and elevating influence of the world, and strife is not. There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight. There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right.

– Woodrow Wilson10

The sinking forced Wilson to end his ‘strict neutrality’ ideals that he was pushing for the entirety of his first term. He adapted to a stronger stance against Germany although he still wanted to stay out the war.11 He started a preparedness movement, passing the Naval Act of 1916, commissioning more ships to be built and fixed in the Boston Navy Yard.12 Throughout the preparedness movement old buildings got repurposed and new buildings were built.13

The Lusitania Notes

The Lusitania notes, or the Wilson notes as they are sometimes called, are three letters published by Woodrow Wilson on May 13th, June 9th, and July 8th 1915 sending them to Germany to voice his opinions on the Germans attack on the Lusitania.

In the First Lusitania Note Wilson declares that the United States citizens have an “indisputable right” to travel on the high seas on merchant ships without their lives being jeopardized.14 The note also argued that submarines cannot effectively “visit and search” merchant vessels which is a required practice under international law without violating basic principles of justice and humanity.15

First-Lusitania-NoteDownload

In the Second Lusitania Note Wilson refuse German’s claims that the Lusitania was an armed ship or carried any illegal cargo.16 Going onto say that even if the Lusitania was caring any illegal contraband it would be irrelevant due to the illegal measures Germany used to take down the ship.17

wilson-secondlusitanianoteDownload

The thirds and final Lusitania Note Wilson warned Germany that any future repetition of such acts against American citizens would be regarded by the U.S. government as “deliberately unfriendly”. 18 The note also pointed out that recent German naval operations demonstrated it was possible for Germany to conduct submarine warfare in accord with regulated, humane practices.19
.

wilson-thirdlusitanianoteDownload

The Shift in Public Opinion

Before the sinking, many Americans were keen to remain neutral in the war. Deeming it a ‘European war’ and decidedly not taking any side.20 The attack was also seen as an end to ‘civilized’ warfare, shifting public opinion against Germany. People called it “murder on the high seas”, seeing the sinking as a barbaric tactic by Germany.21

The sinking of the Lusitania was also used in pro-war propaganda. Depicting the event as a massacre of innocent Americans. The United States Navy would commonly use images of the Lusitania sinking, or would refer back to it in their posters. Using the sinking as a way to make people enlist in the military.

W. A. Rogers, When You Fire Remember This, 1917.22

The image is a 1917 United States Navy recruitment poster it illustrates a US sailor reaching out to rescue a young girl on a Lusitania life boat. It is considered a significant piece of propaganda art used to mobilize public sentiment against the Central Powers.

“The underlying feeling of such people that the United States ought really to be in the war found expression in demands for a strong American response to the Lusitania sinking. It is inconceivable that we can refrain from taking action in this matter for we owe it not only to humanity but to our own self-respect.”

– Theodore Roosevelt23

Roosevelt’s reaction to the sinking of the Lusitania shows just how this sinking changed the mindsets of the American people. Roosevelt had already voiced his thought that America should prepared for war, even if the country was not involved in the fight.24 But after the sinking, the American people started agree with Roosevelt, and start to call for action by the United States.25

The Sussex Pledge

To avoid drawing the US into the war in 1915 right after the sinking, Germany issued the Sussex Pledge, promising to not sink any passenger ships and merchant ships wouldn’t be attacked without conformation of weapons on board.26 But in January 1917, Germany broke the pledge citing that the United states broke the pledge first by supplying munition to the Allied Powers therefore they could no longer be considered a neutral party in the war. So on the 31st of January 1917 Germany told the United States that they will be starting unrestricted submarine warfare the next day.27

Throughout the following months German U-boats started to attack US ships, sinking many ships and killing many Americans that were aboard.28 On April 6 1917 the U.S. officially declared war on Germany, after the “Zimmermann Telegram” was intercepted by the U.S29.

President Wilson on April 2, 1917 addresses congress to call for a declaration of war against Germany.30

Footnotes

  1. Britannica Editors. “Lusitania.” Encyclopedia Britannica, January 17, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lusitania-British-ship. ↩︎
  2. “The Terrifying Sinking of Lusitania,” YouTube, accessed March 13, 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X0uxE2R_Uo. ↩︎
  3. “The Terrifying Sinking of Lusitania,” YouTube, accessed March 13, 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X0uxE2R_Uo. ↩︎
  4. “Research Guides: RMS Lusitania: A Resource Guide: Introduction,” Introduction – RMS Lusitania: A Resource Guide – Research Guides at Library of Congress, accessed March 13, 2026, https://guides.loc.gov/lusitania. ↩︎
  5. “U.S. Entry into World War I, 1917,” U.S. Department of State, accessed March 13, 2026, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi. ↩︎
  6. “1914–1920: World War One and Wilsonian Diplomacy,” U.S. Department of State, accessed March 13, 2026, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/foreword. ↩︎
  7. “America Enters the Great War,” National Archives and Records Administration, accessed March 14, 2026, https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2017/spring/wwi-america-enters. ↩︎
  8. “The United States and the First World War,” National Parks Service, accessed March 15, 2026, https://www.nps.gov/wwim/wwioverview.htm. ↩︎
  9. “An Appeal by the President of the United States to the Citizens of the Republic, Requesting Their Assistance in Maintaining a State of Neutrality during the Present European War; Presented in the Senate, August 19, 1914, and Ordered to Be Printed,” U.S. Department of State, accessed March 13, 2026, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1914Supp/d886. ↩︎
  10. John A. Thompson, Woodrow Wilson, of Profiles in Power (New York, New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2002). ↩︎
  11. “America Enters the Great War.” National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed March 14, 2026. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2017/spring/wwi-america-enters. ↩︎
  12. “Boston Navy Yard and the ‘Great War,’ 1914-1918 (U.S. National Park Service),” National Parks Service, accessed March 15, 2026, https://www.nps.gov/articles/bny_wwi.htm. ↩︎
  13. “Boston Navy Yard and the ‘Great War,’ 1914-1918 (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service. Accessed March 15, 2026. https://www.nps.gov/articles/bny_wwi.htm. ↩︎
  14. Americainclass, accessed March 16, 2026, http://americainclass.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/wilson-firstlusitanianote.pdf. ↩︎
  15. Americainclass, accessed March 16, 2026, http://americainclass.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/wilson-firstlusitanianote.pdf. ↩︎
  16. Americainclass, accessed March 16, 2026, http://americainclass.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/wilson-secondlusitanianote.pdf. ↩︎
  17. Americainclass, accessed March 16, 2026, http://americainclass.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/wilson-secondlusitanianote.pdf. ↩︎
  18. Americainclass, accessed March 16, 2026, http://americainclass.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/wilson-thirdlusitanianote.pdf.
    ↩︎
  19. Americainclass, accessed March 16, 2026, http://americainclass.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/wilson-thirdlusitanianote.pdf. ↩︎
  20. John A. Thompson, Woodrow Wilson, of Profiles in Power (New York, New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2002). ↩︎
  21. John A. Thompson, Woodrow Wilson, of Profiles in Power (New York, New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2002). ↩︎
  22. W. A. Rogers, When You Fire Remember This, 1917.
    ↩︎
  23. John A. Thompson, Woodrow Wilson, of Profiles in Power (New York, New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2002) ↩︎
  24. “The Bull Moose in Winter: Theodore Roosevelt and World War I (U.S. National Park Service),” National Parks Service, accessed March 15, 2026, https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-bull-moose-in-winter-theodore-roosevelt-and-world-war-i.htm#:~:text=Wilson%20was%20finally%20forced%20to,the%20outset%20of%20the%20war. ↩︎
  25. “The Bull Moose in Winter: Theodore Roosevelt and World War I (U.S. National Park Service),” National Parks Service, accessed March 15, 2026, https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-bull-moose-in-winter-theodore-roosevelt-and-world-war-i.htm#:~:text=Wilson%20was%20finally%20forced%20to,the%20outset%20of%20the%20war. ↩︎
  26. Chris Kempshall, “The Sussex Pledge,” WW1 East Sussex, January 18, 2016, http://www.eastsussexww1.org.uk/the-sussex-pledge/index.html. ↩︎
  27. “U.S. Entry into World War I, 1917,” U.S. Department of State, accessed March 13, 2026, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi. ↩︎
  28. “U.S. Entry into World War I, 1917,” U.S. Department of State, accessed March 13, 2026, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi. ↩︎
  29. “U.S. Entry into World War I, 1917,” U.S. Department of State, accessed March 13, 2026, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi. ↩︎
  30. “America Enters the Great War,” National Archives and Records Administration, accessed March 14, 2026, https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2017/spring/wwi-america-enters. ↩︎