AMERICAN IMPERIALISM 1890 1919
THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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Germany was targeting civilians
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Germany accidentally attacked
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Germany thought it was a warship
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Germany knew the ship was smuggling weapons
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Detailed explanation-1: -The Germans claimed that sinking the Lusitania was justified in a war zone because its cargo included ammunition and shell casings to be used in the war. Of the 159 Americans on board the ship, only 31 survived. Several children who were on board died as well.
Detailed explanation-2: -According to the German government, the Lusitania was a legitimate military target. The Lusitania’s cargo included 4, 200, 000 rounds of rifle cartridges, 1, 250 empty shell cases, and eighteen cases of non-explosive fuses. Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) did not want the American government to overreact to the situation.
Detailed explanation-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.
Detailed explanation-4: -The ship’s manifest made no secret that it carried weapons in its hold, including 4, 200 cases of Remington rifle cartridges and 1, 250 cases of shrapnel shells and fuses. But they would not have caused the kind of volcanic one-two punch that doomed the ship, she said.