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Sinking Of The Lusitania Essay

Decent Essays

The source is valuable for understanding how the sinking of the Lusitania caused violence within Liverpool. The source suggests that one reason why the riots occurred was due to public outrage. O’Mara states that that the ‘names of the drowned’ were ‘appalling’. This is supported by the fact that Liverpool was ‘Lusitania’s home port’. This would have caused locals to feel personally attacked by the sinking of the Lusitania. To add, the majority of those who were lost in the sinking were from the Merseyside. Over 150 of those who died were from the city of Liverpool, this would have added to the rage of the riots as the tight-knit community would have known people affected by the sinking, O’Mara goes on to talk of the ‘cries of the women whose …show more content…

Clearly depicting a scene in which the police forces were not turning a ‘blind eye’ to the anti-German violence. The provenance of the source adds to its significance when discussing public outrage as a reason to why the anti-German riots occurred, the source is from Pat O’Mara, a man growing up in Liverpool during the riots, O’Mara would have a particular insight into the reaction of a soldier to the Lusitania, O’Mara was a ‘ordinary seaman’, O’Mara also states that he had connections with those who were killed in the sinking, meaning O’Mara’s anger toward the Germans also represents the other 2000 rioters during May 1915. However the source does not address all the elements of anti-German outrage, prior to 1915 there was already major anti-German propaganda, one example is ‘The Battle of Dorking’ which depicts Britain being invaded by German speakers, this may have been caused by the increasing number of German immigrants arriving in Britain. Overall, the source is significant when discussing public outrage as a reason for the anti-German riots because the author has a first-hand account of the riots, which he mentions the anger of the

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