The Lusitania Sinklng and Secretary of State Bryan's Resignation
Dec 25, 2010 Michael Streich
William Jennings Bryan resigned as Secretary of State on June 8, 1915 after refusing to sign a diplomatic note prepared by President Woodrow Wilson to the Imperial German government over the May 7, 1915 sinking of the British passenger liner Lusitania. For Bryan, the resignation represented his final act after a lifetime of public service. Bryan fought to avoid U.S. entry in World War I.
Historian Colin Simpson states that, “He was desperately concerned with justice and he was a genuine committed pacifist.” In the matter of the Lusitania, Bryan wanted the government to review all relevant documentation before making assertions that had no basis in evidence or fact and could lead directly to war.
United States Foreign Policy at the Start of World War One
When World War One broke out in the summer of 1914, few could predict that over the next four years the United States would become the chief lender for the allies and the foremost supplier of war material. Simpson wrote that by late spring 1915, the “United States could not…afford to let Britain lose the war.” One theory cited for U.S. entry in the war in 1917 focuses on the huge debt owed by the Allies to American financial and industrial concerns.
Initially, President Wilson refused to allow loans to the belligerent nations, an action heartily approved by Secretary Bryan. Americans were cautioned to be impartial, “in thought as well as in action.” While American neutrality became the central policy, Bryan vigorously attempted to bring an end to the conflict through mediation.
Pro-British Elements within the Wilson Administration
Several members of the Wilson administration had strong sympathies for Britain, including Robert Lansing, who succeeded Bryan as Secretary of State, as well as Colonel Edward House, Joseph Tumulty, and Walter Hines Page, the U.S. ambassador in England. Some historians point to Wilson’s own predilections regarding Britain.
By the time a German U-Boat sank the British liner Falaba on March 28, 1915, Wilson’s ban on loans and munitions sales had been lifted. The Falaba cost the lives of 104 passengers but was carrying contraband. As such, it was a legitimate target for the Germans. Pro-British sentiment, however, wanted to use the sinking as a pretest for U.S. entry in the war.
The Sinking of the Lusitania
The May 7, 1915 sinking of the Lusitania was an entirely different matter. Over one hundred Americans lost their lives in what the U.S. government called an unprovoked attack. Bryan wanted to see proof that the liner was indeed ferrying contraband war material to Britain, as the Germans claimed. According to later records, Wilson had the original manifest detailing the cargo that included munitions, but did not make it public.
In Britain, feelings regarding U.S. entry in the war were mixed. British financiers wanted to see the U.S. enter the war, viewing America as the larder of war supplies, credits, and ultimately, men to fight in the trenches. British liberals, including members of the upper class, wanted to keep the U.S. out of the conflict, believing that entry would maximize U.S. post-war global influence at the expense of the British Empire.
Imperial German Response to the First Lusitania Note and Bryan’s Resignation
Secretary Bryan was correct in advising Wilson that the British were using American passengers as shields to disguise their shipments of contraband. This was also addressed in the response of the German government, delivered by Ambassador, Count Bernstorff on May 28, 1915. Although the Germans apologized for American loss of life and offered compensation, they justified the attack, attaching support documentation.
In the course of formulating a response, Lansing sought the advice of the federal legal department. Their response supported Bryan’s position and included findings that the Lusitania was considered a Royal Navy auxiliary ship, it was armed, it carried munitions considered contraband, and it was used as a troops transport for Canadian troops. Lansing buried the document.
When the Wilson administration decided to answer the Germans with a second Lusitania note, Bryan resigned after several days of agonizing. Bryan believed that the second note was sure to lead to a war declaration. But it would be another two years before Wilson asked for a war declaration, after his 1916 reelection in which the Democratic Party reminded voters, “he kept us out of war.”
Bryan as a Man of Principle and Justice
On June 9, 1915, the Austin Statesman commented that, “Mr. Bryan’s diplomacy has not been of the type that has inspired the confidence of the American people.” The Chicago Herald stated more strongly that, “…for the first time in his public career William Jennings Bryan will find the people of the United States practically unanimous in favor of something he has put forward – his resignation from the Cabinet.” The Chicago Herald editorial pointed to Bryan’s signature on the first Lusitania note. But the details of the German response were never made public.
As has been true frequently in American history, neither the press nor the public is given the full account of why governments take actions, even if those actions result in war and the deaths of Americans sent overseas. It was true in 1898 with the Spanish War and the sinking of the USS Maine and it was true with the resignation of Bryan.
Bryan, the high-minded westerner with Utopian ideals, may not have been prepared for the duplicity of insider Washington politics. But his notions of justice and his insistence on principle earned him a place in American history as an American true to the ideals of democracy.
Sources:
- Daniel Allen Butler, The Lusitania: The Life, Loss, and Legacy of an Ocean Legend (Stackpole, 2000)
- Lawrence W. Levine, Defender of the Faith: William Jennings Bryan, The Last Decade 1915-1925 (Harvard University Press, 1987)
- Diana Preston, Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy (Walker & Company, 2002)
- Colin Simpson, The Lusitania (Little, Brown and Company, 1972)
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