---
title: 21. The “Lusitania”
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/23-the-lusitania/
description: 21. The “Lusitania”, from Falsehood in War-Time by Arthur Ponsonby.
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: an interwar radio-and-newsreel intelligence collage with a 1930s map of Europe and propaganda poster proofs.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/detail/hero-interwar.jpg)

[Library](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/) · Book · [Falsehood in War-Time](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/)

# 21. The “Lusitania”

This text

- **Work:** [Falsehood in War-Time](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/)
- **Author:** Arthur Ponsonby
- **Published:** 1928

Full details

- **Rights:** Published in the United Kingdom in 1928, more than 95 years ago, so in the public domain in the United States. Ponsonby died in 1946, so the text is also in the public domain in countries that count the author's life plus 70 years.

Chapters

1. [Preface](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/01-preface/)
2. [Introduction](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/02-introduction/)
3. [1. The Commitment to France](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/03-the-commitment-to-france/)
4. [2. Serbia and the Murder of the Archduke](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/04-serbia-and-the-murder-of-the-archduke/)
5. [3. Invasion of Belgium as Cause of War](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/05-invasion-of-belgium-as-cause-of-war/)
6. [4. Germany’s Sole Responsibility for the War](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/06-germany-s-sole-responsibility-for-the-war/)
7. [5. Passage of Russian Troops through Great Britain](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/07-passage-of-russian-troops-through-great-britain/)
8. [6. The Mutilated Nurse](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/08-the-mutilated-nurse/)
9. [7. The Criminal Kaiser](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/09-the-criminal-kaiser/)
10. [8. The Belgian Baby without Hands](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/10-the-belgian-baby-without-hands/)
11. [9. The Louvain Altar-Piece](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/11-the-louvain-altar-piece/)
12. [10. The Contemptible Little Army](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/12-the-contemptible-little-army/)
13. [11. Deutschland über Alles](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/13-deutschland-ber-alles/)
14. [12. The Baby of Courbeck Loo](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/14-the-baby-of-courbeck-loo/)
15. [13. The Crucified Canadian](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/15-the-crucified-canadian/)
16. [14. The Shooting of the Franzosling](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/16-the-shooting-of-the-franzosling/)
17. [15. Little Alf’s Stamp Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/17-little-alf-s-stamp-collection/)
18. [16. The Tattooed Man](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/18-the-tattooed-man/)
19. [17. The Corpse Factory](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/19-the-corpse-factory/)
20. [18. The Bishop of Zanzibar’s Letter](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/20-the-bishop-of-zanzibar-s-letter/)
21. [19. The German U-Boat Outrage](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/21-the-german-u-boat-outrage/)
22. [20. Constantinople](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/22-constantinople/)
23. [21. The “Lusitania”](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/23-the-lusitania/)
24. [22. Report of a Broken-up Meeting](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/24-report-of-a-broken-up-meeting/)
25. [23. Atrocity Stories](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/25-atrocity-stories/)
26. [24. Faked Photographs](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/26-faked-photographs/)
27. [25. The Doctoring of Official Papers](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/27-the-doctoring-of-official-papers/)
28. [26. Hypocritical Indignation](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/28-hypocritical-indignation/)
29. [27. Other Lies](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/29-other-lies/)
30. [28. The Manufacture of News](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/30-the-manufacture-of-news/)
31. [29. War Aims](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/31-war-aims/)
32. [30. Foreign Lies](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/32-foreign-lies/)

[← 20. Constantinople](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/22-constantinople/) [22. Report of a Broken-up Meeting →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/24-report-of-a-broken-up-meeting/)

**Content note:** Repeats First World War atrocity stories, including invented ones, and their wording. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

The sinking of the Lusifania was a hideous tragedy and one of the most terrible examples of the barbarity of modern warfare, but, from the point of view of suffering and loss of life, was not to be compared with many other episodes in the war. The very crucial political significance of the catastrophe, however, gave it special propaganda value in inflaming popular indignation, specially in America. Here obviously was the necessary lever at last to bring America into the war. That Germany should not have recognized that this would be the result of such action on her part was one of the many illustrations of her total inability to grasp the psychology of other peoples.

From the point of view of propaganda it was necessary to show that the Germans had blown up a defenceless passenger ship flying the American flag and bearing only civilian passengers and an ordinary cargo. This was represented as a breach of international law and an act of piracy. The unsuccessful attempt to suppress certain facts which emerged leads naturally to the conclusion that other attempts were successful. No inquiry, such as the Mersey inquiry, conducted in war-time with regard to the action of the enemy, can in such circumstances be regarded as conclusive.

The whole truth with regard to the sinking of the Lusitania will probably never be cleared up. Four points may be considered here :

(a) Whether she was armed.

(/>) Whether she was carrying Canadian troops.

(<■) Whether she had munitions on board.

(J) Whether a medal was issued in Germany to commemorate the sinking of the Lusifania.

(a) On this point there was a conflict of evidence.

The Lusitania was registered as an auxiliary cruiser.

The Germans declared she was carrying concealed guns. This was categorically denied by the captain in the inquiry. “ She had no weapons of offence or defence and no masked guns.” Lord Mersey therefore found this charge to be untrue.

(b) The same may be said about the charge made by the Germans that she was transporting Canadian troops.

(r) These two denials would be readily acceptable, were it not for the fact that at first a denial and then a suppression of the fact that she was carrying munitions was attempted.

It is equally untrue that the Lusitania was carrying ammunition on its final voyage.

“Daily Express,” May ii, 1915.

In America there was a threat to expel Senator La Follette from the Senate because he had stated that the Lusitania carried munitions. But Mr. Dudley Field Malone, collector at the port of New York, confirmed this charge as true.

D. F. Malone revealed that the Lusitania carried large quantities of ammunition consigned to the British Government, including 4,200 cases of Springfield cartridges. The Wilson administration refused to permit the publication of the fact. One of the principal charges upon which the attempt to expel R. M. La Follette from the Senate was based was that he had falsely declared that the Lusitania carried ammunition, and the prosecution of the Senator was dropped when Mr. Malone ofered to testify on his behalf.

“ The Nation” (New York), November 10, 1920.

It was eventually admitted that the LMsitania carried 5,400 cases of ammunition. The captain at the inquest at Kinsale said : “ There was a second report, but that might possibly have been an internal explosion.” The foreman of the Queenstown jury protested that all the victims were not drowned. " I have seen many of the bodies, and the people were killed ; they were blown to pieces.”

The ship sank in eighteen minutes, which accounted for the loss of so many lives. The Germans, in their reply to the American note, referred to this point and stated:

It is impossible to decide, for instance, the question whether the necessary opportunity was given to the passengers and crew to escape, until it has been determined whether or not the Lusitania provided bulkheads and boats as ordered by the Titanic Conference for corresponding emergencies in peace-time, and whether or not ammunition or explosives carried in defiance of the American laws accelerated the sinking of the ship, which might otherwise have been expected either to get out the boats safely or reach the coast.

Included in her cargo was a small consignment of rifle ammunition and shrapnel shells weighing about 173 tons. Warnings that the vessel would be sunk, afterwards traced to the German Government, were circulated in New York before she sailed.

“ The World Crisis” by the Right Hon. Winston Churchill, M.P.

{d) The event having been condemned as a barbarous act of piracy, it became necessary to show that the Germans gloried in it.

The first rumour was that a special medal had been bestowed on the crew of the U-boat which sunk the Lusitania as a reward for gallantry. This was dropped when the medal turned out to be a commemoration medal, not a decoration.

It was then stated that the German Government had had a medal struck in commemoration of the event, but after the armistice had it withdrawn from circulation. In 1919 it was found in a shop in Berlin. In 1920 a traveller in Berlin, Frankfurt, and other parts of Germany could find no one who had ever heard of it or seen it, whereas in England the medals were well known and very easily obtained. It turned out that the medal was originally designed in Munich by a man of the name of Goetz and represents the Lusitania as carrying arms. Goetz may be described as a cartoonist in metal; his work was not official, and his Lusitania medal had a very limited circulation. Few Germans appear to have heard of its existence. The large number of casts of the medal, which gave the impression here that they must be as common as pence in Germany, was explained by Lord Newton, who was in charge of propaganda at the Foreign Office in 1916.

I asked a West End store if they could undertake the reproduction of it for propaganda purposes. They agreed to do so, and the medals were sold all over the world in neutral countries, especially in America and South America. After some initial difficulty a great success was achieved. I believe it to have been one of the best pieces of propaganda.

“ Evening Standard," November i, 1926.

The Honorary Secretary of the Lusitania Medal Committee stated that 250,000 of the medals were sold, and the proceeds were given to the Red Cross and St. Dunstan’s. Each medal was enclosed in a box on I2J which it was stated that the medals were replicas of the medal distributed in Germany “ to commemorate the sinking of the husitania." But many of them in England could be purchased without any box.

In addition to the medal, leaflets were circulated with pictures of the medal. In one case in Sweden a sentence was printed from the Kdinische Vdlks^eitung: “ We regard with joyous pride this newest exploit of our fleet.” This sentence had been torn from its context, and had been originally used in quite another connection.

It therefore became clear that:

(1) No medal was given to the crew of the German U-boat.

(2) No medal was struck in commemoration of the event by the German Government.

(3) The German Government could not have withdrawn a medal it never issued.

(4) A metal-worker in Munich designed the medal, which was always rare in Germany.

(5) The large number of medals in circulation was due to the reproduction of Goetz’s medal in Great Britain.

The propaganda value of the medal was great, as Lord Newton admitted. The impression it created was absolutely and intentionally false.

[← 20. Constantinople](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/22-constantinople/) [22. Report of a Broken-up Meeting →](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/24-report-of-a-broken-up-meeting/)

Falsehood in War-Time, Arthur Ponsonby. Published in the United Kingdom in 1928, more than 95 years ago, so in the public domain in the United States. Ponsonby died in 1946, so the text is also in the public domain in countries that count the author's life plus 70 years. [Provenance and rights](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/ponsonby-falsehood-in-war-time/).