A few years ago a British reporter complained about the assignment of Heligoland to Germany. He wondered why the Germans put so much effort into obtaining the island and against whom Germany braced itself. Now the British nation knew why Germany switched Zanzibar for Heligoland in 1890 because it was using it in the First World War as an observation point.
(„Das Gibraltar der Nordsee“, Berliner Journal, 28 April 1915)
While this article does not give graphic details of the war, it does give a glimpse into how quickly battles could cost lives. Ottawa released the numbers of dead, wounded, and missing for the Battle of Ypres from April 22 to 30: 705 dead, 2,162 wounded, and 2,530 missing.
“Official Statement Given Out at Ottawa says Canadian Casualties from April 22 to 30 are nearly 6,000,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, May 5, 1915.
The first time the Cunard vessel Royal Mail Ship Lusitania, a British passenger ship, made the news in 1915 was on February 11. The sh
ip had crossed the Atlantic flying an American flag rather than the Union Jack. The Captain made the decision to protect his neutral passengers after receiving word that German submarines were active near Ireland. According to the British Foreign Office, this act was not sanctioned by the British government. After this incident the Lusitania flew the Union Jack.
Sadly, the ship made headlines again when it was torpedoed by the Germans on May 7, 1915 off the coast of Ireland. The sinking dominated newspapers during May and into June 1915. At first, it was reported that the ship took about twelve hours to sink and crew and passengers had been rescued. The RMS Mauretania, owned by the same company, was set to sail on May 29 but its voyage was quickly cancelled.
The sinking turned out to be a larger disaster than originally expected as by May 13, it was known the Lusitania was fired upon with no warning, sunk within thirty-five minutes, and over thirteen hundred people had lost their lives.
Interestingly, during this period, travelers had been warned via newspapers that a war was being fought and any ship in the Atlantic Ocean under a British flag was liable to be fired upon and sunk; therefore passengers were traveling at their own risk. But there was also reason to believe the ship would not be in any danger: the Lusitania carried many neutral American citizens, and no soldiers, masked guns, gunners, or special ammunition were being transported other than a few cases of cartridges. (Germany justified the sinking by claiming the ship carried military personnel and.) Finally, the ship held the transatlantic Blue Riband award for speed, leading some to believe that even if the ship was fired upon, it could outrun the torpedoes. As Maritime Law states that in times of war, merchant ships are to be given a warning before being fired upon, it might have theoretically been able to outrun the torpedoes. The Lusitania was given no such warning.
This devastation would be reported on throughout May and into June, and was used to demonize the Germans. A good example of this was seen on June 2, 1915, when the Berlin Daily Telegraph reprinted a story from the Toronto Globe about how the “baby killers” must have been disappointed that their recent zeppelin bombings in London had only killed one infant. It was also learned by June 4, that the Lusitania had been carrying eighty-two bags of mail, all now lost at sea. At the Roma, a local theatre, the planned program for June 3, included showing pictures of the Lusitania up to her sinking.
“At the Grave of the Lusitania Dead,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, June 2, 1915.
“At the Roma,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, June 3, 1915.
Bruno S. Frey, et al,., “Interactions of Natural Survival Instincts and Internalized Social Norms Exploring the Titanic and Lusitania Disasters,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America 107, no. 11 (2010): 4862-4865.
“Hoisted American Flag,” Ayr News, February 11, 1915.
Image of the Lusitania, Ayr News, May 13, 1915.
“Only One Infant killed,: Berlin Daily Telegraph, June 2, 1915.
“Sailing of the Mauretania is cancelled,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, May 11, 1915.
“The “Lusitania” Mails,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, June 4, 1915.
As it was believed the First World War would not last very long, it is not surprising to see articles claiming the war would soon be over and the Germans were showing signs of defeat. Such an article appeared on May 8, 1915. On May 7, 1915, General Sam Hughes claimed that the radical actions of the Germans – the use of poisonous gas, rushing their newly trained troops to the front, and their submarine warfare on merchant ships, the Lusitania only being the latest casualty – combined with the British and all her armies holding their ground, indicated that the German army was close to collapse. These radical claims were mainly about influencing Italy, which was on the brink of joining the war, but Hughes believed these actions 
also meant that Germany was on the brink of collapse. Similar claims re-appeared on May 31, when a short article claimed the Germans had used all their strength during the second battle of Ypres, but failed to win the battle. Therefore, the Germans knew the Entente was stronger. The strength of the Entente would be a recurring theme that could sometimes be summed up by a single image in the newspaper.
“Heroic Stand at Ypres has Shortened the War,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, May 31, 1915.
“Indicates that the Germans are in the First Stages of Collapse,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, May 8, 1915.
Image – “Plowing the Sands; or, Hate’s Labour Lost,” Ayr News, May 31, 1915.
During war, the diet of civilians and soldiers changed based on the availability of food. This article claimed that for Germans, bread was starting to become a controversial topic. German soldiers were able to eat wheat bread as they were living on the food stuffs of France and Belgium. This was not the case for German civilians, who had to eat “K” bread, or potato bread. “K” bread, “K” meaning kavtoffeln, German for potato, was even being eaten by the Kaiser and the kings of Saxony and Bavaria. This bread’s nutritional value was sub-par compared to wheaten bread as potatoes are pure starch. All this extra starch would create a strain on the stomachs of German citizens. An article printed in the Berlin Daily Telegraph stated the hatred German citizens now had for Britain came from this bread as it caused irritation, depression, moodiness, and despondency.
“German War Bread A Cause of Hatred,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, May 8, 1915.
Prisoners of war were common in the First and Second World Wars, and their treatment varied. However, if they wrote home or escaped, their experience could shape how the home front viewed prisoner camps and could either ease or increase their fears for a loved one if they were captured. Major C.B. Vandaleur was a British officer who had escaped from a prisoner camp at Crefeld. He claimed he was cursed at, pushed around, and he and fifty-two other prisoners had been confined to a wagon and starved on the three day journey from Douai to Cologne.
“German Brutality to British Prisoners of War,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, May 11, 1915.
Around noon on May 10, Arthur Kimpel was at the Car and Coach Company plant expressing his pro-German views, including praising the sinking of the Lusitania, a passenger ship torpedoed by the Germans on May 7. Cassel, a British man, was listening and a fight ensued. Kimpel and his father went to Magistrate Webster after dinner, wanting Cassel to be arrested. While at the Magistrate’s office, father and son spoke highly of the German army, prompting the Magistrate to write up an arrest warrant for the two men and they were arrested by Chief Crawford twenty minutes later and were held in the local police cells until they could be transported to London.
“Pro-Germans Rejoiced over the Murder,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, May 11, 1915.
Throughout May it became clear that Italy would soon be joining the war. Until late May 1915, Italy had been neutral, but it gradually became clear that Italy could not avoid the war. By early May, the citizens in Rome knew it was only a matter of days until they either declared war or had war declared against them.
“Italy on the Brink of War,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, May 11, 1915.
Theodore Hotacker was a young German man who had come to Canada to learn farming techniques and was also working as a clerk at the Merchant Bank. Unfortunately, his new farm clothes caused him to receive suspicious looks on King Street as the cut of the suit was similar to that of a German soldier and was tucked into black boots. He caught the attention of Chief of Police O’Neill, who asked to speak with him privately. After learning that Hotacker wanted to become a Canadian citizen and had not realized the similarities between the suit he had made for farm work and a German soldier’s uniform, O’Neill advised Hotacker to only wear the suit on the farm, to which Hotacker agreed. This incident, despite the tensions between those of German heritage and non-German heritage, was depicted as a simple misunderstanding and is favourable towards Hotacker’s character.
“Outfit was too German,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, May 12, 1915.
Prisoners of war were able to receive mail parcels not exceeding eleven pounds and to the knowledge of the Post Office Department in Ottawa, there was no restrictions on parcel content and tobacco could be sent duty-free. Instructions on how to communicate with a Canadian prisoner were given to Canadian citizens from the Post Office Department through newspapers. These instructions claimed that content within letters should only contain local and family news and business information if needed. There would be no paid postage, letters were to be left open, and any mention of military, naval, or political information would cause the package not to be delivered. Letters were also to never be placed within a parcel and no newspapers, under any circumstances, were to be sent. While it was preferable to send postcards, if a letter was being sent, it should not exceed two sides of a piece of note paper. Money could be sent as well; while sending actual bills was not recommended, an arrangement could be made with the post master for a remittance. Finally, there was no guarantee of delivery to or from a Canadian prisoner of war.
Letters were to be addressed as:
Rank, initials, name
Regiment or Unit
Canadian Prisoner of War
Place of Internment
Germany
“May write to War Prisoners,” Berlin Daily Telegraph, May 19, 1915.
“Re Correspondence for Prisoners of War in Germany,” Elmira Signet, June 3, 1915.
