Whenever I read about German's merchant submarines of the Great War I imagine an alternative world in which the Germans were more ambitious - instead of simply carrying cargo back and forth, they constructed undersea bases on the edge of the continental shelf and learned how to farm seaweed and extract fuel oil from kelp.
Inevitably the Royal Navy would step in, and by 1917 there would be pitched underwater battles between squads of soldiers dressed in brass diving suits. The German suits would of course have spikes on top of their helmets, which would have a practical use underwater for cutting the enemy's air hoses.
On a more serious note, and perhaps it's because I'm British, but I've always assumed that Germany's propaganda war was doomed from the start; despite our past disagreements with America viz taxation the simple fact that we shared a language with the American legislature made it impossible for Germany to win over America, and the best they could hope for was a grudging and reluctant neutrality. But I could be very wrong. I can't feel the sentiment of the typical American circa the 1910s.
Inevitably the Royal Navy would step in, and by 1917 there would be pitched underwater battles between squads of soldiers dressed in brass diving suits. The German suits would of course have spikes on top of their helmets, which would have a practical use underwater for cutting the enemy's air hoses.
On a more serious note, and perhaps it's because I'm British, but I've always assumed that Germany's propaganda war was doomed from the start; despite our past disagreements with America viz taxation the simple fact that we shared a language with the American legislature made it impossible for Germany to win over America, and the best they could hope for was a grudging and reluctant neutrality. But I could be very wrong. I can't feel the sentiment of the typical American circa the 1910s.