Lusitania Warning -- May 1, 2015

New York Sun, 01-May-1915

After a year of war, Germany was not in a good position.  The British had established a fairly tight blockade of imports, and the army had failed to take Paris and had settled into static positions on the Western Front.  In order to disrupt vital shipping to Britain, Germany had decided to adopt a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.  U-Boats would no longer warn civilian vessels before sinking them.  The Imperial German Embassy in Washington DC posted a notice in several American newspapers, often above or below the ad for Cunard's service to Europe on fast, modern ships like RMS Lusitania.  Click on the image to see a larger version. 

Notice!

Travellers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travellers sailing in the war zone on the ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.

Imperial German Embassy
Washington, D.C., April 22, 1915.
 

===================================================

News of the Week for 01-May-1915 will appear tomorrow.