Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare By: Jessie Carroll Kevin Russell

Maps indicating updated war zones: Shaded region represents Germany ’ s warzone in 1917 .

Arrows indicate major sinking before 1915

What does unrestricted submarine warfare mean? o Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships without warning. This meant even neutral ships, which caused an uproar among uninvolved nations. This tactic was announced on February 1st , 1917.

America Joins the War When Germany had announced unrestricted

submarine warfare they feared that it would provoke the Americans. It had a large impact on WWI as it was one of America’s main reasons for joining. After sinking the Lusitania, the Germans made a list of conditions they would follow pertaining to the sinking of neutral ships. Following the announcement of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare, the US broke relations with Germany. The Zimmerman telegram finally pushed the Americans over the line, and declared war on

Significant People o Erich Lundendorff was the Chief if Staff of the German army and along with Paul Von Hindenburg they were both strong supporters of unrestricted submarine warfare. Lundendorff was convinced that war could not be won on land only. He was ultimately responsible for bringing the USA into the war. o Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg on the other hand was strongly against the idea of unrestricted submarine warfare. He pointed out that it would do unrepairable damage to neutral shipping in enemy

Lundendorff

Bethman-Hollweg

Significant People Continued  Alfred von Tirpitz was the

State Secretary during the war for Nazi Germany. He was responsible for developing the German navy fleet to a position in which it could challenge the British Navy. He was a strong advocate for Unrestricted Submarine Warfare.  Prince Max von Baden was an imperial chancellor from Germany and was firmly opposed to unrestricted submarine warfare. He “Instigated in any event the policy ultimately proved disastrous, eventually

Why Unrestricted Submarine Warfare? It was to achieve the purely military objective of

increasing of the security and efficiency of submarines. Before it was initiated, experts believed 600 000 tons of English shipping would be sunk monthly. With this amount of supplies being lost, the idea was that England’s economy would be crippled within six months, English government would be forced to surrender. Submarines were the ultimate way to starve your opposition economically. They cut off their suppliers vastly.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare Facts In the quarter of April to June 1917, over two

million tons of Allied Shipping were lost. Germany believed that of the two naval aspects of the war, underneath the water was most important. They believed they could win the war with submarines alone. This was a delusion thought. 180 of 360 subs were sunk, which broke the moral of the submarine crews. Geographically, Britain had the advantage on Germany, since the naval routes had to pass by Britain. 1 in 4 boats from Britain were sunk due to

Combating Unrestricted Submarine Warfare 

A way of defending allied ships from unrestricted submarine warfare was the convoy system. The convoy system was when they would send merchant ships with war ships to protect uninvolved parties in the battles. 80% of ships in the war used the convoy system.

Bibliography  "unrestricted submarine warfare." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009.  Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 17 Apr. 2009 <

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http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/618408/unrestricted-submarine-warfare >. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/unrestricted_submarine_warfare.htm Dill, Marshall Jr. Germany. (USA: University of Michigan, 1961), 226. Vogt, Hannah. The Burden of Guilt; A Short History of Germany 1914-1945. (USA. University of Oxford Press, 1976), 21. Passant, E.J. A Short History of Germany 1815-1945 (Great Britain: Cambridge University Press, 1960), 141

  http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/ludendorff.htm