Today -100: February 2, 1917: We have been challenged to fight to the end

Woodrow Wilson has evidently given Germany 24 hours to rescind its unrestricted submarine warfare decree.

German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg tells the Reichstag Ways and Means Committee, “We have been challenged to fight to the end. We accept the challenge, we stake everything, and we shall be victorious.” He says Germany is ready to accept the consequences of sub warfare.

The NYT says the federal government is drawing up names of German-Americans and sympathizers with Germany, just in case.

War is hell: the Paris police ban the sale of pastries on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Ethel Byrne accepts NY Gov. Charles Whitman’s offer to pardon her for distributing birth control literature if she promises not to do it again. Actually, her sister Margaret Sanger made the promise on her behalf, Byrne being too sick from the hunger-striking and force-feeding.

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