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By the end of 1915, Wilson initiated a policy of preparedness, expanding both the army and the navy. The American public was outraged, and many people believed the nation needed to prepare for possible war. Wilson sent a series of forceful diplomatic letters to Germany. Nearly 1,200 people died in the incident, including 128 Americans. On May 7, 1915, a German submarine sank the British passenger liner Lusitania off the coast of Ireland. This public notice warned travelers about voyaging on the Lusitania. Submarines, therefore, were not able to follow the rules of warfare at sea. These requirements were unrealistic for submarines, which relied on the element of surprise in order to be effective. Under traditional naval warfare rules, warships were supposed to stop commercial ships, board them, search them, and evacuate passengers and crew before destroying them. The Germans wanted to utilize their submarine fleet to destroy British commerce in an attempt to force Great Britain to surrender. Soon Germany violated these neutral rights as well. The United States protested, told the British that damages would have to be paid, but allowed the British to continue seizing materials and engaging in boycotts. The British violated this right first, confiscating cargo and boycotting companies that traded with the Central Powers. protested, there was little the country could do unless it was willing to declare war. Both the Central and Allied powers violated the United States’s rights until this law. In times of war, neutral countries have rights under international law, including the right to trade non-military goods with any warring country. Neutrality also proved profitable for the United States because belligerents in the conflict desperately needed American resources and American loans. Both sides utilized new technologies in the war, including machine guns, poison gas, and airplanes, contributing to the sheer numbers of deaths and destruction of the land. Americans had no interest in entering the bloody and horrific slaughter that the war quickly became. In spite of favoring one side over the other, most Americans believed that the conflict did not concern the United States and the majority of the population hoped to remain out of the war. This was difficult to do, and most Americans leaned toward one side or the other, with the majority favoring Great Britain. President Woodrow Wilson declared neutrality and asked the American people to be “impartial in thought” as well as in action. The United States initially took a neutral stance on the war. To find out more about World War I, visit Trenches on the Web: An Internet History of The Great War.
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