The Sussex Pledge was a promise made by Germany to the United States in 1916, during World War I before
the latter entered World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Early in 1915, Germany had instituted a policy of
unrestricted submarine warfare
Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules (also known as "cruiser rules") that call for warships to sea ...
, allowing armed merchant ships but not passenger ships to be torpedoed without warning.
Despite that avowed restriction, a French cross-channel passenger ferry, the , was
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
ed without warning on March 24, 1916. The ship was severely damaged and about 80 people died,
[Bridgeland p. 86.] including the famous Spanish pianist and composer
Enrique Granados
Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados y Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enric Granados in Catalan or Enrique Granados in Spanish, was a composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Catalonia, Spain. ...
.
Although no US citizen was killed in this attack, it prompted
US President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
to declare that if Germany continued the practice, the United States would break diplomatic relations with Germany.
Fearing the American entry into the war, Germany tried to appease the United States by issuing on May 4, 1916 the Sussex pledge, which promised a change in Germany's naval warfare policy. These were the primary elements of the pledge:
*Passenger ships would not be targeted.
*Merchant ships would not be sunk until the presence of weapons had been established, if necessary by a search of the ship
*Merchant ships would not be sunk without provision for the safety of passengers and crew.
In 1917, Germany became convinced that it could defeat the Allied Forces by instituting unrestricted submarine warfare before the United States could enter the war. The Sussex pledge was, therefore, rescinded in January 1917, which started the decisive stage of the so-called
First Battle of the Atlantic
The Atlantic U-boat campaign of World War I (sometimes called the "First Battle of the Atlantic", in reference to the World War II campaign of that name) was the prolonged naval conflict between German submarines and the Allied navies in Atla ...
. The resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare and the
Zimmermann Telegram caused the United States to declare war on Germany on April 6, 1917.
References
The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page, by Burton J. Hendrick* ''American History: A Survey'' Eleventh Edition by Alan Brinkley, © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies
*Tony Bridgeland. ''Outrage at Sea: Naval Atrocities in the First World War''. Pen and Sword Books, 2002.
*Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921'' (Conway Maritime Press, 1985)
Footnotes
Atlantic operations of World War I
Naval warfare
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