Sabotage 1914-1918

1. Sabotage1914-1918 German Covert Action in WWI Brittney Ross Drew Gaskin Jake Ramey

2. Definition of Sabotage • a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction.

3. Assault on All Supply Lines • World War 1- Europe, July 1914 • German operatives carried out many countless acts of sabotage on American soil. The attacks targets parts of the supply lines, from factories that made munitions, to depots where they were stored, to boats carrying the supplies to Europe. • When a supply boat caught fire, was it an accident or sabotage?

4. Sabotage on the Sea • German saboteurs first targeted ships carrying American war supplies. • Later on, the Germans built a Cigar bomb factory and hired agents to plant the devices on American vessels. • In July 1918, an explosion tore through the USS San Diego off New York harbor, sinking the ship and killing six soldiers

5. Sabotage on Land • Between 1915 and 1917, mysterious fires and explosions occurred at over forty factories. • Some people said they were accidents, but others believed it was acts of sabotage. • In Kingsland, New Jersey a fire took place. Pencil bombs may have been the start of this.

6. Black Tom Explosion • June 30, 1916 • In Jersey City, New Jersey • It was an act of sabotage on American ammunition supplies by German agents to prevent the materials from being used by the Allies in WWI. • Authorities initially ruled this an accident caused by improper munitions storage. • Local police searched deeper and determined that it was actually an act of German Sabotage. • Berlin finally accepted responsibility for the explosion, Kingsland Fire, and other acts of Sabotage.

7. Response to well Coordinated Attacks • By the time the U.S entered WWI in April 1917, saboteurs had caused over $1 Billion (in today’s dollars) worth of damage to the American munitions and shipping industry. • Federal and local enforcements were completely unprepared to deal with such a wide-spread and well coordinated campaign. • When congress passed the 1917 Espionage Act and 1918 Sabotage Act, the Bureau of Investigation(forerunner of the FBI) gained broad authority to investigate spies, saboteurs, and other threats to national security.

8. Public Patriotism Gone Away • From 1917 – 1919, a volunteer organization called the American Protective League(APL) operated a surveillance network that claimed to have 250,000 badge carrying members nation-wide. APL labeled those who opposed WWI to be unpatriotic. • Rampant anti-German sentiment found its way into many American communities. They closed bi-lingual schools,raided German language newspapers offices, and even the German food was targeted by the “patriotic” people.

9. Ambassadors of Sabotage • The Headquarters for the German’s sabotage campaign was located right under the government's noses. • Several German diplomats secretly passed instructions and money from Berlin agents to the united states. After the war, the united states demanded money.

10. Sabotage1914-1918German Covert Action in WWI Brittney Ross Drew Gaskin Jake Ramey