Public outrage in the US against the Germans swept the nation following the sinking of the British ocean liner, <em>Lusitania,</em> which had happened in May, 1915. When a German U-boat (submarine) sank the <em>Lusitania</em>, over 1,000 persons were killed, including more than 100 Americans. The passenger liner was targeted by the Germans because they suspected weapons were being shipped to Britain in the cargo hold of the ship. After the <em>Sussex, </em>a French passenger ferry, was sunk in 1916, the US demanded and got a promise from Germany to stop their unrestricted submarine attacks. Germany managed to stave off American entry into the war at that time by the Sussex Pledge. But two years, later, beginning February 1, 1917, the Germans resumed such attacks. This poised America to go to war.
The first Russians were from Kievan Rus, and they were called Rus. Later, the Vikings invaded/conquered Kievan Rus's European area, but it remained in far Asia until the Mongols invaded from Asia.
