Why Did The United States Use Unrestricted Submarine Warfare?

In 1914, militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism began a war in Europe between the Allies (Britain, Russia, Italy, and France) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria). This war would later be known as the First World War and only lasted four years, yet it destroyed Europe’s economy and ravished its terrain. While the war was going on America claimed a neutral stance. Mostly for the fact that many Americas were isolationist and did not care what was going on in the other side of the world. The United States also had a large number of immigrants from Europe which made it difficult to pick a side because many had cultural ties to countries that were either part of the Allies or the Central
Unrestricted submarine warfare happens when merchant ships are attack by submarines without warning (Hickman, 2015). In February 1915, the German government announced its use of unrestricted submarine warfare (“U-Boat attack 1916,” n.d). The Germans wanted to weaken Great Britain and used unrestricted submarine warfare in an attempt to accomplish their goal. They declared a warzone around the British Isles in which they would sink any and all allied merchant vessel on sight (“U-Boat attack 1916,” n.d). In May 1915, a British merchant ship called the Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat, killing 1,198, including 129 Americans (“The War that Launched the American Century”, 2014). This angered many Americans because the ship was, supposable, a passenger ship. However, the Germans believed that the Lusitanian was carrying weapons that were being smuggled to the Allies and used this to justify their attack. Some Americas saw this as an act of war and put pressure on President Wilson to deal with the situation. Although, like most Americas in that time, President Wilson did not want to get involved in a war on the other side of the world. Therefore, President Wilson sent a message to Germany saying that if they were to continue their usage of unrestricted submarine warfare America would join the war on the Allies’ side. The Germans did not want America to enter the war if it was not on the Central Powers side so they stopped with the usage of unrestricted submarine warfare. The attack on the Lusitanian and many like it changed the way many Americans viewed Germany. Now, many Americans were starting to see them as the enemy. So, in 1917, when Germany restarted the usage of unrestricted submarine warfare, it only added more fuel to the rage and the United States severed all diplomatic relations with Germany. However, it was not enough to complete push the United States over the edge. The final