Zimmermann Telegram | Facts, Text, & Outcome - Britannica

Zimmermann, relations with Mexico, and the end of American neutrality

A crucial turning point in both Wilson’s own thought and in American opinion occurred following the receipt and publication of the so-called Zimmermann Telegram. Arthur Zimmermann had succeeded Gottlieb von Jagow as Germany’s secretary of state for foreign affairs in November 1916. Jagow had resigned in protest over the proposed resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, and Zimmermann, who was seen as amenable to the policy, was selected to replace him.

On January 16, 1917, Zimmermann dispatched a secret message to the German minister in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckhardt. It instructed Eckhardt to propose a Mexican-German alliance should the United States enter the war

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on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support, and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer her lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Because the British had severed the direct undersea telegraph links between Germany and North America in the earliest days of the war, Germany was forced to route sensitive diplomatic traffic through neutral countries. Zimmermann’s coded message was thus transmitted through the American embassy in Berlin before passing though London and finally arriving at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. The telegram reached the German embassy in Washington on January 19, and it was transmitted to Eckhardt in Mexico later that day. Unbeknownst to Zimmermann, his message had been intercepted along the way and decoded by the British Admiralty Intelligence, and its contents were communicated to Wilson.

Zimmermann’s proposal seemed outrageous on its face, but Mexico had encouraged the German overture, as Mexican relations with the United States had deteriorated rapidly after Wilson’s grant of de facto recognition to Venustiano Carranza’s revolutionary government in October 1915. Carranza’s rival, Pancho Villa, raided Columbus, New Mexico, on March 9, 1916, in order to provoke a crisis between Mexico and the United States. Wilson sent a punitive expedition under Gen. John J. Pershing in pursuit of Villa, who then craftily drew Pershing some 350 miles (more than 560 km) into Mexican territory. Fighting broke out between U.S. soldiers and Carranza’s troops in April, and war was averted only by Carranza’s and Wilson’s decision to appoint a joint high commission to negotiate. While these negotiations were going badly, in November 1916, the Carranza government informed the Germans that it could “to the extent of its powers in certain circumstances” assist German submarines operating in the Gulf of Mexico. Wilson withdrew all U.S. troops from Mexico early in February 1917, thus blunting Zimmermann’s offer, but he did not extend de jure recognition to Carranza until March 13.

Receipt from London of the text of the Zimmermann telegram on February 24, 1917, did not prompt Wilson’s decision for armed neutrality, but it did cause him to lose all faith in the German government. Moreover, publication of the telegram in the press on March 1 set off the first nationwide demand for war with Germany.

Also called: Zimmermann Note (Show more) Context: World War I The Zimmermann Telegram (Show more) Key People: Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg Paul von Hindenburg Erich Ludendorff Woodrow Wilson Arthur Zimmermann (Show more) See all related content

These events pushed the United States inexorably along the road to war. A small group of pacifist senators led by Wisconsin’s Robert La Follette prevented passage of the armed ship bill by filibuster, but Wilson used his authority as commander in chief on March 9, 1917, to arm merchant ships. German submarines sank three U.S. merchant ships on March 18 with heavy loss of life. Supported by his cabinet, by most newspapers, and by a large segment of public opinion, Wilson made the decision for war on March 20, and the following day he called Congress to meet in special session on April 2. He delivered a ringing war message before that body on that date, saying that America would be privileged to give her blood and treasure to make the world safe for democracy. The Senate approved the war resolution on April 4, the House of Representatives on April 6. Later that day Wilson signed a resolution recognizing that a state of war existed between the United States and the German Empire.

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