Waking a sleeping giant
Why the US entered WWI
U Boat and the sinking of US ships
Unterseeboot
The 4 models of U Boats that the Germans used in WWI
The sinking
The Luitania (top left) being fired at by a U boat (bottom right)
HMS Lusitania
The Lusitania fully functioning before being sunk
The HMS Lusitania was a passenger boat that left from New York and was heading for Liverpool. Before it left harbor the German embassy published an ad saying that the Lusitania would be going through waters with U Boats in them and it may be fired upon. The Germans thought that the Lusitania had munitions, or contraband in its hull, which later was discovered to be true. Since Americans were on this ship and died it outraged Americans prompting President Woodrow Wilson to "slap Germany on the wrist and tell them not to do it again, or else.
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare:
As Germany began to lose the war they decided to open up unrestricted submarine warfare, or USW for short. This meant all of the boats in the open seas were in danger of being shot and sunk. Another ship the Sussex was sunk killing more Americans , causing the citizens to demand war. German had committed a blunder and made the people of America turn against them but It was still not enough to convince President Wilson to go to war. HE was very much against the war and had just won reelection in the election of 1916 on his platform of peace and keeping us out of war.
The Zimmerman Note:
The Zimmerman note was an encrypted telegram sent out of Germany to Mexico.
In Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gedy8LwQTaw&edufilter=0NsmCsBD3UGorqyU6yfFOg