_ On May 1, 1915 the Americans boarding the Lusitania at the Cunard Pier in New York knew Britain was at war, but thought that since they were neutrals they were perfectly safe. The Imperial German Embassy had issued a warning to anyone sailing on a British ship. It was even printed in the New York Times: “travellers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk”. But Americans traveling first class such as Alfred Vanderbilt, Charles Sumner, Rita Jolivet, Charles Klein, Charles Frohman, Charles Lauriat, and Elbert Hubbard took it only half seriously. Elbert Hubbard wrote an essay entitled, “Who Lifted The Lid Off Hell” showing that the Kaiser was crazy and would do anything. He made jokes about the Kaiser hiding on the ship with his torpedo. But when the ship was sinking on Friday, May 7 and he was climbing around on the listing deck, the last thing he was heard to say with a haunted look in his eyes was, “I didn’t really think they’d do it.”
The Lusitania was America’s first 9/11. It led to a sea change in the way people thought. My husband’s great aunt always used to say after the Great War, “Things became much nastier.”
The Lusitania was America’s first 9/11. It led to a sea change in the way people thought. My husband’s great aunt always used to say after the Great War, “Things became much nastier.”