On the morning of May 7, 1915, the RMS Lusitania sliced through the cold waters off the coast of Ireland, just hours from its destination. She was a marvel of modern engineering—a symbol of speed, luxury, and the confidence of the early 20th century. But beneath the surface of the Atlantic, war was already waiting.
When a German U-boat fired a single torpedo into the liner’s side, the world changed in just eighteen minutes. Nearly 1,200 passengers and crew were killed, including 128 Americans. But this was more than a maritime disaster. It was a collision of civilian life and industrialized warfare, of neutrality and global conflict. Was the Lusitania an innocent passenger ship—or a legitimate military target? What cargo was she really carrying? And how did this single event reshape public perception, propaganda, and the course of World War I?
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