![]() ![]() The Zimmermann telegram contributed to changing public opinion in the U.S. When Zimmermann himself, however, confirmed its authenticity, Americans were outraged. ![]() A majority believed it was yet another forgery of Allied propaganda. In the United States, the publication of the telegram at first caused disbelief. Thus, Mexico became an important hub for Germany’s global strategy during the war. There were Mexican-Japanese talks about cooperation, too. much like Mexico, albeit for different reasons. In addition, in 1916, the German Empire had already looked for closer ties to Japan, which stood in antagonism to the U.S. Zimmermann implicitly built upon these negotiations in his telegram. At some point the Mexican side suggested an action against the United States. ![]() The negotiations were continued in 1916 and a military joint action remained on the agenda. Already in 1915, Carranza himself had confidentially explored the possibility of cooperation with Germany in an initiative against neighboring Guatemala and British Honduras. A closer look at the German-Mexican secret rapprochement in 1915–1916 is necessary to understand it. Carranza, however, tried not to be harsh with the German representative because he wanted to keep the possibility for further cooperation alive.Ĭontemporaries and historians have, since the moment of its publication, wondered about the motives for Zimmermann’s incredible blunder, which he admitted publicly on 3 March 1917. Mexican President Venustiano Carranza (1859–1920) rejected the offer, which would have meant leading a suicidal war against the overpowering United States. Japan was to be invited to join the alliance as well. In that case, Germany wanted to generously support the Mexicans and offer them Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona as war booty. The British Secret Service deciphered it and found that it contained alarming news: Germany, after returning to unrestricted submarine warfare that February, was willing to join forces with Mexico should the United States decide to enter the war on the side of the Allies. Arthur Zimmermann (1864–1940), the German minister of foreign affairs, authored the note and forwarded it to Mexico via the embassy in Washington. On 2 April, President Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany.Press outlets around the world published the diplomatic correspondence between the German foreign office and its representative in Mexico on 1 March 1917, causing a major earthquake in public opinion worldwide. On 3 March, however, in an astonishing move, just when even the US press was getting behind the forgery idea, Zimmermann confessed that the telegram was genuine. It seemed more probable that the British had invented the story to drag them into the war. The proposed Mexican-German alliance was so unlikely that many in the US simply refused to believe it. The German High Command would consider this far more likely than their codes being broken.Įven at this late stage Zimmermann could have salvaged his plan. This was shown to the Americans who put out a cover story that it had been stolen from the German Embassy in Mexico. An agent, known as ‘Mr H’, bribed a telegraph office worker in Mexico City for a copy, which he knew they would have. Here was the evidence needed to get the US into the war, but if they went public the Americans would know that the British were tapping their diplomatic traffic and the Germans would know that their code had been cracked. The telegram was intercepted and decoded, but it left British intelligence in a tricky situation. What neither Zimmermann, nor indeed the Americans, knew was that the British were tapping the line. On 19 January, Zimmermann sent a coded telegram to the Mexican president, via the German ambassadors in the US and Mexico, outlining the plan. This would keep the US occupied – and out of Europe. He decided to offer Mexico financial and military support should it agree to attack the US and attempt to regain the territories lost in the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. His plan was as ingenious as it was unlikely. Arthur Zimmermann, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the German Empire, was tasked with keeping the US out of the First World War. ![]()
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