Arabic pledge

The "Arabic" pledge resulted from the German Empire's unrestricted submarine warfare during World War I.

On May 7, 1915, a Kaiserliche Marine U-boat sank the RMS "Lusitania" off the coast of Ireland. The Germans attacked the Lusitania without warning off the coast of Ireland by the German submarine U-20. The ship went down within 18 minutes and carried 1198 people on board. [ Citation | last = Kelley
first = Martha
last2 = Boorstin
first2 = Frankel
title = A History of the United States
place = United States
publisher = Prentice Hall
year = 1992
doi = 2008-03-18
isbn = 0133888517 | ISBN status = May be invalid - please double check | doi_brokendate = 2008-09-27] The passenger liner had departed from the port of New York City with many American citizens on board, some of whom were killed when the ship sank (including a member of the famous Vanderbilt family). The U.S. government condemned the German action and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson protested this violation of the United States' neutral rights and threatened to sever diplomatic relations with Germany. Nevertheless, in August the British passenger liner "Arabic" was torpedoed by a German U-boat. Approximately 40 passengers and crew were lost, including two Americans.

With the threat from the United States that they might join the war, the German government issued what became known as the "Arabic" pledge," which stated that Germany would warn non-military ships 30 minutes before they sank them to make sure the passengers and crew got out safely. They broke this pledge on March 24, 1916, when a German U-boat torpedoed the French ship "Sussex". This led to the "Sussex" pledge.

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