On February 28th 2015, Dennis Cross published the latest instalment to his Centennial Countdown blog. Here’s his email summary of the posting:
“In February 1915 Germany makes a crucial decision, adopting a strategy of submarine warfare against commercial shipping that will eventually bring the United States into the war. The Lusitania, on its way from New York to Liverpool, flies the American flag as she transits the Irish Sea; this time she completes her voyage safely. As diplomatic notes are exchanged on the subjects of submarines, flags, contraband, and the rights of belligerents and neutrals in wartime, it becomes clear that the old rules regarding the blockade of ports and the interception and search of merchant ships at sea probably won’t work very well in the age of the submarine. French offensives on the Western Front and German and Austro-Hungarian offensives on the Eastern Front meet limited success. In the Mediterranean, a combined British and French fleet begins the bombardment of Turkish forts at the entrance to the Dardanelles. Japan, having driven the Germans out of the Shantung Peninsula, presents twenty-one demands to China, reflecting its low regard for that nation’s sovereignty. In the United States, President Wilson suffers an embarrassing political defeat as the Democratic Congress is unable to pass the administration’s Ship Purchase Bill. The Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco celebrates the newly opened Panama Canal, and another icon of the Old West passes from the scene as Jesse James’s brother dies in Missouri.”
Posted by CN Deputy Editor