On March 1st, 1917, the text of the Zimmerman Telegram was published in newspapers across America. The telegram, a message from the German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann to the German ambassador in Mexico, proposed a Mexican-German alliance if the United States entered World War I against Germany, specifically German financial aid to Mexico and also the “lost” territories of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona – if Germany proved victorious in the war.
The telegram had been intercepted and deciphered by British intelligence in January 1917 and surreptitiously passed along to the U.S. Government. President Woodrow Wilson learned of its contents on February 26th, and the following day requested that Congress allow U.S. ships to arm themselves against German naval attacks. German U-Boats, i.e. submarines, had been harassing – and sinking – ships traveling the Atlantic between the U.S. and Great Britain since the beginning of the war. Most infamously the RMS Lusitania – a British ocean liner - had been torpedoed in May of 1915 killing almost 1200 of the 2000 passengers aboard including 128 Americans. Germany claimed the Lusitania was carrying armaments, which was true, but that didn’t stem the outrage in both America and Great Britain.The release of the Zimmerman Telegram – authorized by Wilson - was the last straw ending America’s neutrality. When Zimmerman confirmed he had in fact sent the message, U.S. public opinion turned and on April 6th the U.S. declared war on Germany joining the Allies in World War I.
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