CHAPTER VII

SUBMARINE WARFARE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

THE German pledges which have been described came simultaneously with a marked decrease of the activity of submarines in the waters around Great Britain; and the opinion has already been ventured that perhaps so many had been destroyed that it seemed to the Imperial Government the best plan to accede to the American demands pending the completion of the many and more powerful undersea boats which were contemplated. In the Mediterranean, however, a new campaign was inaugurated, apparently participated in by both German and Austrian submarines. American interests were vitally affected when the Italian liner Ancona, bound from Naples to New York, was sunk in the Mediterranean without warning (November 7th) and more than two hundred passengers lost their lives, among them Ameri

can citizens. After a month's delay in order to be sure of the facts, President Wilson addressed a note-in some respects the strongest of those published-to the Austro-Hungarian Government. He said:

"The Government of the United States considers that the commander violated the principles of international law and of humanity by shelling and torpedoing the Ancona before the persons on board had been put in a place of safety or even given sufficient time to leave the vessel. The conduct of the commander can only be characterized as wanton slaughter of defenseless noncombatants, since at the time when the vessel was shelled and torpedoed she was not, it appears, resisting or attempting to escape; and no other reason is sufficient to excuse such an attack, not even the possibility of rescue."

The United States, therefore, was forced to conclude either that the commander of the submarine failed to act in accordance with his instructions or that Austria-Hungary had not issued to its under-sea boats the same orders that had been announced by Germany "in accordance with the law of nations and the principles of humanity." This latter alternative the

United States was reluctant to believe for it would have

"to credit the Austro-Hungarian Government with an intention to permit its submarines to destroy the lives of helpless men, women, and children. It prefers to believe that the commander of the submarine committed this outrage without authority and contrary to the general or special instructions which he had received.

'As the good relations of the two countries must rest upon a common regard for law and humanity, the Government of the United States cannot be expected to do otherwise than to demand that the Imperial and Royal Government denounce the sinking of the Ancona as an illegal and indefensible act; that the officer who perpetrated the deed be punished; and that reparation by the payment of an indemnity be made for the citizens of the United States who were killed or injured by the attack on the vessel.

"The Government of the United States expects that the Austro-Hungarian Government, appreciating the gravity of the case, will accede to its demand promptly; and it rests this expectation on the belief that the Austro-Hungarian Government will not sanction or defend an act which is condemned by the world as inhumane and barbarous, which is abhorrent to all civilized nations, and which has caused the death of innocent American citizens,"

These were strong words and indicated that the United States was tired of temporizing; that the submarines must conduct their operations so as to safeguard the lives of noncombatants, with the alternative of having diplomatic relations severed.

Austria's reply, made on December 15th, was a very evasive and in some respects impertinent document. It said that the "sharpness with which the Government of the United States considers it necessary to blame the commanding officer of the submarine" was not justified by any specification of the exact circumstances of the sinking; that the number, names. and fate of the American citizens on board were not enumerated; that no juridical reasons for the demands were given but in lieu thereof the correspondence with Germany was referred to, and Austria-Hungary had no authentic knowledge of all the pertinent communications; and that the Dual Monarchy "must, in order to preclude possible misunderstandings, declare that as a matter of course it reserves to itself full freedom of maintaining its own legal views in the discussion of the case of the Ancona." Aus

tria-Hungary, the note concluded, "in no less degree than the American Government and under all circumstances sincerely deplores the fate of the innocent victims of the incident in question."

The American demands were repeated immediately. They quoted the Austro-Hungarian Chargé d'Affaires at Washington as communicating to the Department of State subsequent to the sinking, an admiralty report in which it was admitted that the vessel had been sunk while her engines were stopped and passengers were still on board.

"This admission alone is, in the view of the Government of the United States, sufficient to fix upon the commander of the submarine which fired the torpedo the responsibility for having willfully violated the recognized law of nations and entirely disregarded those humane principles which every belligerent should observe in the conduct of war at sea. view of these admitted circumstances the Government of the United States feels justified in holding that the details of the sinking of the Ancona, the weight and character of the additional testimony corroborating the Admiralty's report, and the number of Americans killed or injured are in no way essential mat

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