USA HISTORY

Which attack provoked the U.S. to go to war?

(A) Attack on Belgium

(B) ** Attack on the Lusitania

(C) Attack on Russia

(D) Attack on Luxemburg

Concept note-1: -A German U-boat torpedoed the British-owned steamship Lusitania, killing 1, 195 people including 128 Americans, on May 7, 1915. The disaster set off a chain of events that led to the U.S. entering World War I.

Concept note-2: -The sinking of the Lusitania was the most notorious and deadly of several German submarine attacks in early 1917–attacks that were a key factor in the United States’ decision to abandon a policy of neutrality and enter the war.

Concept note-3: -On May 7, 1915, the German submarine (U-boat) U-20 torpedoed and sank the Lusitania, a swift-moving British cruise liner traveling from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the 1, 959 men, women, and children on board, 1, 195 perished, including 123 Americans.

Concept note-4: -The Lusitania was carrying a cargo of rifle ammunition and shells (together about 173 tons), and the Germans, who had circulated warnings that the ship would be sunk, felt themselves fully justified in attacking a vessel that was furthering the war aims of their enemy.