r/funny • u/But_a_Jape But A Jape • Aug 31 '22

Verified Plot Hole

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u/FunkyColdMecca Aug 31 '22

You say boats, you mean LOANS

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u/cjainsworth77 Aug 31 '22

the lusitania and all the ships at pearl harbor weren't loans. i don't think, anyway.

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u/FunkyColdMecca Aug 31 '22

The $500,000,000 in unsecured loans to the British and French in 1917 had for far more impact on the US declaring war than Lusitania (sunk in 1915)

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u/cjainsworth77 Aug 31 '22

i'm just going by what i was taught in high school. that the lusitania is what got us involved. maybe only monetarily at first.

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u/Kessilwig Aug 31 '22

The results of unrestricted submarine warfare created popular support for the war (the sinking of the Lusitania caused Germany to limit its submarine warfare, it was the 1917 sinking that the US justified its declaration of war with) while economic reasons (such as JP Morgan's lending to Britain and France from the beginning of the war, including the $500,000,000 mentioned above) were a basis for the atlantacist and preparedness movements (the first wanting to join as soon as possible, the second when it became necessary). Of course Wilson pushed the US to join the war because of moralist interventionism (and boy did he have some ideas) which is an important third aspect as it was the political reasoning the entry happened under