British Propaganda Medal

Only 18 minutes elapsed from the moment the Lusitania was struck by a torpedo fired from the German U-20 submarine until it disappeared beneath the waves. Despite being within sight of the shore, the loss of life was immense. In the court of international opinion, there was uproar. To many, the loss of civilian life was an outrage and proof of German barbarism. To others, the fact that Germany had warned against travel on the ship by placing adverts in newspapers in New York, the ship’s point of departure, and that the Lusitania had flown under a neutral American flag, while allegedly running weapons for Britain, made it a ‘legitimate’ target. Karl Goetz, the designer of this medal, certainly intended for the piece to satirically highlight British duplicity. However, a typographical error made by Goetz misdated the sinking of the ship as 5 May rather than 7 May. This mistake was capitalised upon by the British propaganda machine, which presented this earlier date as the date on which the medal was struck, thereby ‘showing’ that the attack was premeditated. Britain then oversaw the production and circulation of 300 000 replicas of the medal in presentation boxes, as proof of what it saw as German barbarism. There are some small differences between the British and German versions, most notably the spelling of the month of May in its English rather than German form (Mai). Overall, this piece is an example of how a tragic and deliberate loss of civilian life was weaponised in an international propaganda war.

Inscription Position: Obverse “KEINE BANN WARE!” & “DER GROSSDAMPFER...LUSITANIA DURCH EIN DEUTSCHES TAUCHBOOT VERSENKT. 5 MAY 1915” Translation: "No Contraband Goods!" & "The liner Lusitania sunk by a German submarine. 5 May 1915"

Inscription Position: Reverse "GESCHÄFT ÜBER ALLES" Translation: "Profit above all"