The US will soon run out of allies if it keeps acting like this

[Ned]

If the Brit battleships deliberately shelled US flag vessels on the high seas, we would have been just as mad at them. I don't recall any such incident, though.

[Roland]

Ned:

"but the bottom line is that the Germans killed US citizens - a lot of them - in 1915.... allegedly gave them the "legal" right to kill US citizens."

Bollocks. Germany just said "stay out of the warzone". That's like *****ing about Americans getting killed while taking a walk in the Flanders countryside in 1917.

[Roland]

Chris:

"Britain's blockade also extended to neutral shipping (in violation of international law) on the grounds that they might be helping the Central powers."

IIRC they justified it at least partly by Germany's violation of Belgium's neutrality. And the US was a lot less outraged because there was less trade with Germany (and less german foreign assets to pay for it, compared with the UK and France) anyway...

[Chris 62]

Originally posted by Ned
Chris, I don't believe England sank any US ships or killed any US citizens. Did they?

They had no intention of p1ssing off the USA, who possed it's own Dreadnaught fleet, larger and more modern then the German fleet, and growing at the time.
If a US flagged ship wanted to go to Germany, they would have reluctantly looked the other way, having already learned that the US would fight if it's shipping was harrased.

One can talk legalities all one wants, but the bottom line is that the Germans killed US citizens - a lot of them - in 1915. This put us on edge. Two years later, after promising not to harras US ships, it declared unlimited submarine warfare which allegedly gave them the "legal" right to kill US citizens.

The bottom line is US nationals have no right to use themselves as human shields aboard British vessals in times of war.

We were outraged, and justifiably so.

Not at all, certain newspapers played up this incident, earlier in the year a German transport sub had left the US carrying valuble cargo and was the toast of the US.
The Brits knew of it's coming and going, and took a stern warning from the US about interferring with it.

IIRC they justified it at least partly by Germany's violation of Belgium's neutrality. And the US was a lot less outraged because there was less trade with Germany (and less german foreign assets to pay for it, compared with the UK and France) anyway...

Your leaving out a VITAL factor, the USA's highest immigrant total was....GERMAN.
A war against Imperial Germany was FAR from popular, so incidents like the Lusitania were played up to incite the US populence against Germany.

As for Britain's blockade, they can't use Belgium as an excuse for stopping Dutch shipping, yet they did just that.
Totally illeagal by international treaty.

Unlike the second world war, where Germany was completely in the wrong and evil, Imperial Germany was no better or worse then the other great powers, so "right and wrong" are not so clear.
People should bare that in mind when discussing this war, it's circumstances are totally different from the vile Nazis.

[Ned]

Chris, I suspect the use of US citizens as shield was a British idea, not American.

[Chris 62]

If your fool enough to board an unarmed merchant ship belonging to a combatant sailing into a war zone, you deserve what you get.

To carry on as if the Germans committed some crime is nonsense, if the British had respected the treaty they had signed, the U-Boats would have allowed the ship to be evacuated and NOBODY would have died.

[Imran Siddiqui]

But that would have required to the Brits to keep a treaty .

[Roland]

"Your leaving out a VITAL factor, the USA's highest immigrant total was....GERMAN.
A war against Imperial Germany was FAR from popular, so incidents like the Lusitania were played up to incite the US populence against Germany."

Sure, but that's a slightly different angle. Although the german share of US population was maybe 15 % or so at a maximum.

Btw, there was a fascinating (british?) TV documentary about Hollywood and WWI, from anti-german propaganda (with Willy II the born slapstick comedian) to "Nothing new at the western front". Seen that by any chance ?

"As for Britain's blockade, they can't use Belgium as an excuse for stopping Dutch shipping, yet they did just that.
Totally illeagal by international treaty."

It was. I only said "they justified it...."