Chapter 7
The
Neutral nations attempting trade with
The Germans could not claim this record. They
had not taken the same precautions for the safety of captured crews.
Indeed, they completely ignored the possibility of neutral citizens being
aboard any British vessels their submarines might torpedo. Yet they
carried on their submarine campaign. Not surprisingly, this led to a
major problem later.
On March 28, 1915 German submarine, U-28 sank
the small British Elder Dempster liner Falaba, in the Irish Sea.
The ship was outward bound from Liverpool to West Africa through Saint George's
Channel. An American citizen, Leon Chester Thrasher, was aboard the
Falaba when she went down. Thrasher, returning to his post as a mining
engineer in the Gold Coast, drowned before he could reach the life boats.
Accounts of the sinking differed, but all were clear on one point. The U-28's
commander fired his torpedo knowing that it would cause loss of life among the
crew and passengers of the Falaba.1
The Wilson Administration's reaction was
immediate. While Secretary of State Bryan believed Thrasher's death was a
mere symptom of the destruction of the Falaba, Wilson insisted this was
a flagrant violation of international law. He was so adamant on the issue
that he wanted the United States Government to ask the Germans to disavow the
crime, punish the U-28's commander, and pay reparations.2 If the reaction to this incident
was any indication, a larger sinking with greater loss of American life would
be more than sufficient to put the U.S. on a war footing.
Bryan first received word of the sinking on March 31
through a cable message from Ambassador Page in London. The report stated
that Thrasher, the only known American aboard the Falaba, was missing.3
Two days later Bryan wrote to President Wilson asking
him to consider the situation carefully. He wanted to know if the United
States really had a case against the Germans. Bryan referred to the
doctrine of contributory negligence and its bearing on the Thrasher
case. Bryan held that an American who took passage aboard a British vessel
knowing about the German war zone was clearly different than a person who
suffered by no fault of his own.
Bryan asked the President what sort of demands should
be made of the Germans, if indeed any were to be made at all. He believed
the United States could hardly insist that an American aboard a British vessel
should prevent an attack. The only demand Bryan proposed was for an
indemnity for loss of life. He professed confusion on the matter and
asked Wilson for his input.4
Wilson wrote back on the same day. He said if
the destruction of the Falaba had resulted from an attempt of the vessel
to resist or escape when ordered to lay to by the German submarine crew, then
the Americans would not have a case. But these circumstances were different;
the crew of the Falaba had not attempted to resist or escape.
Wilson said that Washington ought to hold Berlin responsible for the death of
an American through an action by the German Navy. He felt the Germans had
operated outside the rules of naval warfare.
He went on to say that an American taking passage on a
merchant ship had every right to rely on the enemy crew's adherence to the
rules of visit and search as well as those of non-combatant safety. He
was, however, cautious about registering complaints to the German
government. If the United States accused Germany of acting outside the
rules of international law, it would amount to a denunciation of the war zone
plan altogether. And he did not feel the United States was quite ready to
make these allegations.5
Wilson sent yet another letter to Bryan on April
3. Clearly he had been pondering the Falaba case throughout the
day. He wrote, "I do not like this case. It is full of
disturbing possibilities." Wilson went on to argue his position.
Wilson said it was clear that Thrasher had died as a
result of conscious acts by German naval officers. Their behavior
violated international law concerning unarmed vessels. He believed that
it was the duty of the U.S. government to make it clear to the German
Government that American lives could not be put in danger by acts without
sanction in the accepted law of nations.6
In compliance with Wilson's letter to Bryan, Counselor
to the State Department Robert Lansing drafted a memorandum of instruction for
Gerard and on April 5 sent it to Bryan with a letter. In this he admitted
the memorandum's tone would border on harshness because he felt this was not
the time to be conciliatory.
Lansing began by saying if the U.S. was going to
denounce the Falaba sinking, the government would have to do it
directly. There would be no method in calling German attention to its
legal and moral indefensibility while at the same time stating this in a
pleasant manner. He called the event a tragedy and said that the U.S.
Government needed to assert its rights, condemn the violation, and state the
expected remedy. The United States would have to show its determination
or the Germans would not take Washington seriously. He also believed the
American public would not stand for timidity in dealing with this crime.
Lansing closed by stating that the consequences of harsh diplomatic language
might be momentous, but he did not see any other alternative. The U.S.
could not afford to let the matter pass without protest.7
The following is the memorandum of instruction to the U.S. ambassador in Berlin:
THRASHER CASE.
The Government of the United States has received a report, confirmed by
substantial evidence,
that Leon C. Thrasher, a native born American citizen, came
to his death by reason of the act of the German naval
authorities in sinking the British passenger steamer Falaba
on the high seas on the 28th of March, 1915, outward bound
from Liverpool, and the failure of the commander of the
German submarine U-28 to give ample time for the crew and
passengers of the Falaba to leave the vessel before
sinking her by means of torpedoes. It is further reported that, at the
time
when the Falaba was torpedoed and sunk, she was lying
to, making no attempt to escape and offering no resistance.
The circumstances of the
sinking of the Falaba, by which Thrasher with scores of other
non-combatants, irrespective of
age and sex, met their death, indicate a wantonness and
indifference to the rules of civilized warfare by the German naval
officer responsible for the deed, which are without
palliation or excuse. This is aggravated by the fact that the vessel was
departing from and not approaching British territory.
So flagrant a violation of international law and international morality
requires from a neutral government, whose citizen has been a
victim of the outrage, an unequivocal expression of its views as
to such conduct and as to the duty of the belligerent
government, whose officers are guilty of the violation.
The Government of the
United States considers that a United States citizen is entitled to rely upon
the practice,
heretofore universally observed by belligerent warships, of
visiting and searching merchant vessels of enemy as well as of
neutral nationality and of protecting the lives of their
crews and passengers whatever disposition may be made of the vessels
and their cargoes. No notice by a belligerent government
that it intends to depart from this practice within a certain area of
the high seas can deprive justly a neutral of his rights or
relieve the government disregarding those rights from full
responsibility for the acts of its naval authorities
performed in accordance with such notice.
The Government of the
United States is loth to believe that the German Imperial Government
authorized, much less
directed, the officers of the Imperial Navy to perpetrate
acts as ruthless and brutal as the sinking of the Falaba before her
helpless crew and passengers had been removed, or that that
Government will pass over the offense without condemnation
and permit the offenders to remain unpunished.
The Government of the United
States, in view of the death of a United States citizen through the wanton act
of an officer
of the German Imperial Navy, which was in direct violation
of the principles of humanity as well as of the law of nations,
appeals earnestly to the Imperial Government to disavow the
act, to punish the perpetrator, and to make just reparation for
the death of Leon C. Thrasher.
It is with extreme
reluctance and with a full appreciation of the exceptional conditions, in which
present war, that the Government of the
and humanity of the Imperial Government. The
Government owes a duty to itself, to its citizens, and to civilization, which
is
imperative and which it cannot as a sovereign power
ignore. No other course, consonant with its dignity, is open to it.
Were the rights at stake those which relate to property, it
might continue to show that patience and forbearance which it has
so often during the progress of this deplorable conflict,
but when a United States citizen is killed through an act of
lawlessness and cruelty, committed under the orders of a
commissioned officer of the German Imperial Navy, and other
citizens are threatened with a like fate if they continue to
exercise their just rights, this Government can not remain silent. It
sincerely hopes that the Imperial Government, recognizing
the justice of these representations, will promptly disavow the act
complained of and take the steps necessary to prevent its
repetition.
Robert Lansing8
At Bryan's request,
This was a delicate situation, for as
The facts about the Falaba incident began to reach
Skinner cabled
Gerard cabled
The submarine
signaled to the steamer Falaba, "Lay to immediately or I will
shoot." Without heeding this, the steamer
ran away and even made rocket signals calling for help and
could not be rejoined until after a chase lasting a quarter of an
hour. Although the submarine was in danger of being
shot at by the steamer or attacked by approaching vessels, it
nevertheless did not shoot immediately but when it had come
within five-hundred meters of the steamer megaphoned the
order to leave the ship within ten minutes. This order
was likewise signaled. The lowering of the boats had already begun
on the steamer. While this took place in an
unseamanlike manner in part so that several boats were damaged in the attempt,
some of the crew of the vessel quickly saved themselves in
boats and remained in the neighborhood without, however,
lending assistance of any kind to the passengers struggling
in the water although it would have been possible for them to do
so. From the time of the command to leave the ship to
the firing of the torpedo twenty-three minutes elapsed, not ten as first
allowed, and preceding this the chase had taken place which
could have been utilized to clear the boats. The assertion that
the time allowed was only five or even three minutes is
untrue.
The torpedo was not discharged
until the approach of suspicious vessels from which attacks had to be expected
forced the commander to act more quickly . . . .
During the whole occurrence the submarine displayed as much
consideration as was at all compatible with its
safety. It is regrettable that human lives were lost but the
responsibility falls
on England who arms her merchant vessels and makes them
participate in operations of war and attacks on submarines.
Gerard13
Bryan's beliefs on this matter were not as clear as
those of Lansing. He was not sure if Great Britain was acting with any
more decency than Germany. While he did agree that German submarine
policy was inhuman, he wondered if London was any less guilty in stopping
foodstuffs from reaching women and children or in using the American flag to
protect her shipping. After all, were not the policies of both
belligerents bringing death to non-combatants?
In a letter to President Wilson dated April 19 Bryan
asked, "Why do Americans continue to take the risk?" Berlin had
warned Washington about allowing American citizens to travel aboard British
ships. Furthermore, he wondered why so many professed shock at the
drowning of American passengers if there was no objection to the starving of a
nation. He felt one dead American who could have avoided his fate was
nothing in comparison with the tens of thousands of Germans who were
"dying daily" in that "causeless war." He asked if it
was not better to try to bring peace than to risk provoking war on account of
one man.14
Bryan's memoirs contain another letter to President
Wilson, dated April 23. In it Bryan said he had been unable to reach the
same conclusion in this case as had Wilson. He feared Lansing's note
would inflame the hostile attitude against the United States already existing
in Germany. He said it would be a protest against Berlin's policy that would
contrast with Washington's attitude toward the Allied powers. Protesting
the German submarine campaign would amount to laying down laws for Germany as
well as for the United States. It would embarrass the United States as it
had not created similar laws regarding British blockade policy.15
On April 27 Wilson admitted to Bryan that he was
unsure that Lansing's protest was the right course of action. He said
Bryan's letters had made a deep impression on him and he even mentioned the
possibility that no formal protests would be necessary. As a result of
Bryan's influence, Washington did not send any communication to Berlin in the
matter of the Falaba. But Wilson never embraced Bryan's suggestion
that Washington issue a public call to the belligerents to end the war.16
ENDNOTES
1. Arthur S. Link, ed. The Papers of Woodrow Wilson,
Volume 32 (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1979),
p. 464.
2. Robert Leckie, The Wars of America, Volume 2 (New
York: Harper Perennial, 1992), p. 615.
3. Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United
States, 1915 Supplement (Washington D.C.: U.S. Government
Printing Office), File No. 763112T41/2, p.
358.
4. Link, Papers of Woodrow Wilson Volume 32, p. 464.
5. Ibid., p. 465.
6. Ibid., pp. 468-69.
7. Ibid., pp. 483-84.
8. Ibid., pp. 484-86.
9. Robert Lansing, War Memoirs of Robert Lansing (New
York: Bobbs-Merill Company, 1935), p. 18.
10. Foreign Relations Papers, 1915 Supplement, File No.
763112T41/2, pp. 488-89.
11. Ibid., File No. 362.112T41/7, p. 362.
12. Ibid., File No. F.W. 462.11T41, p. 364.
13. Ibid., p. 370.
14. Merle Eugene Curti, Bryan and World Peace (New York: Octagon
Books, 1969), pp. 198-99.
15. William Jennings Bryan and Mary Baird, Memoirs of William Jennings
Bryan (Chicago, Illinois: John C. Winston Co.,
1925), pp. 395-96.
16. Curti, Bryan and World Peace, p. 199.