Bussard-class cruiser was present in the Caribbean during the Spanish–American War in 1898, though she took no active role in the conflict. Between 1898 and 1900, "Bussard" and "Seeadler" were modernized in Germany. In 1900, "Seeadler" participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China, including a blockade of the Chinese coast. In December 1902, "Falke" and the protected cruiser joined British forces in the Venezuela Crisis of 1902–03 after Venezuelan forces seized a British merchant ship. The two cruisers helped British warships bombard Venezuelan coastal fortifications and blockade the coast. "Cormoran" and "Geier" were modernized between 1907 and 1909; only
The Sinking of the Lusitania that had begun circulating in the years before the film's release. Scholar Ulrich Merkl suggests that as a newspaperman, McCay was likely aware of Freud's widely reported work, though McCay never publicly acknowledged such an influence. "The Sinking of the Lusitania" was noted as a work of war propaganda, and is often called the longest work of animation of its time. The film is likely the earliest animated documentary. McCay's biographer, animator John Canemaker, called "The Sinking of the Lusitania" "a monumental work in the history of the animated film". Though it was admired by his animation contemporaries, Canemaker wrote