thing that could accomplish that was proper even the coldly calculated sacrifice of one of her great ships with E n g l i s h m e n aboard. Butthe trick was to have Americans on board also in order to create theproper emotional climate in the United States. As the Lusitaniamoved into hostile waters, where a German U-boat was known tobe operating, First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchillordered her destroyer protection to abandon her. This, plus the factthat she had been ordered to travel at reduced speed, made her aneasy target. After the impact of one well placed torpedo, a mightysecond explosion from within ripped her apart, and the ship thatmany believed could not be sunk, gurgled to the bottom m less thanThe deed had been done, and it set in motion great waves ofrevulsion against the Germans. These waves eventually floodedthrough Washington and swept the United States into war. Withindays of the decoration, Congress voted $1 billion in credit forEngland and France. $200 million was sent to England immediatelyand was applied to the Morgan account. The vast quantity of moneyneeded to finance the war was created by the Federal ReserveSystem, which means it was collected from Americans through thathidden tax called inflation. Within just five years, fully one-half ofall they had saved. The infinitely higher cost in American blood wasadded to the bill. Thus it was that the separate motives of suchdiverse personalties as Winston Churchill, J.P. Morgan, ColonelHouse, and Woodrow Wilson all found common cause in bringingAmerica into World War I. Churchill maneuvered for militaryadvantage, Morgan sought the profits of war, House schemed forpower, and Wilson dreamed of a chance to dominate a post warLeague of Nations.
The German
Embassy attempted
to place ads in 50
newspapers warning
that the Lusitania was
a target of war, but
the U.S. government
prevented them from
being printed except
for this one which
was run in the
Des Moines Register.
When the ship was
sunk off the coast of
Ireland with 195
Americans aboard, it
became the center of
a national campaign
to generate emotional
support for coming
into the war.
Chapter Thirteen
MASQUERADE
IN MOSCOW
The secret society founded by Cecil Rhodes for the
purpose of world dominion; the establishment in
America of a branch of that group called the
Council on Foreign Relations; the role played by
financiers representing both of these groups in
financing the Russian revolution; the use of the
Red Cross mission in Moscow as a cover for that
maneuver.
