What was the impact of the sinking of the USS Maine? The Lusitania?

1) What was the impact of the sinking of the USS Maine?

The impact was the beginning of the Spanish-American War in April 25, 1898.

The sinking of the USS Maine occurred on 15 February 1898 in Havana harbor (Cuba), killing 260 officers and men on board. The ship had suddenly blown up. The U. S. battleship was there in support of Cubans revolution against Spanish.

Though no one really knew for sure that the battle was exploded by Spanish, many blamed the European country to do so. Such belief was also widely spread by the yellow press led by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, proprietors of the New York Journal and the New York World.

2) What was the impact of the sinking of the Lusitania?

The event started to turn American public opinion against Germany, which contributed to the U. S. enter in WWI two years later, on the side of the Allies.

The sinking of Lusitania, a 32,000-ton ship that was carrying about 173 tons of war munitions for Britain, was hit by a torpedo sent by Germans on May 7, 1915. It resulted in the death of more than 1000 people. Though afterward, Germany apologized, it later continued to cause the sinking of several ships more, and in April 1917 the U. S. entered the war.