Zimmermann note

Zimmermann note secret telegram sent on Jan. 16, 1917, by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann to Count Johann von Bernstorff, the German ambassador to the United States. In it Zimmermann said that in the event of war with the United States, Mexico should be asked to enter the war as a German ally. In return, Germany promised to restore to Mexico the lost territories of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. British intelligence intercepted and deciphered the telegram and sent it to President Woodrow Wilson, who released it on Mar. 1, 1917, to the press. The Zimmermann note helped turn U.S. public opinion against Germany during World War I and strengthened the advocates of U.S. entry into the war.

Bibliography: See B. W. Tuchman, The Zimmermann Telegram (1966).

Zimmermann note (19 January 1917) A German secret telegram, containing a coded message from the German Foreign Secretary, Alfred Zimmermann, to the German minister in Mexico City. This instructed the minister to propose an alliance with Mexico, offering Mexico the territories lost in 1848 to the USA. The British intercepted the message and gave a copy to the US ambassador. The US State Department released the text on 1 March 1917, even as US-German relationships were deteriorating fast over submarine warfare. With the possibility of a German-supported attack by Mexico, the ISOLATIONISTS lost ground and on 6 April 1917 Congress entered WORLD WAR I against Germany.

Zimmermann Note (19 Jan. 1917) A secret telegram containing a coded message from the German Foreign Secretary Alfred Zimmermann, to the German minister in Mexico City. It instructed the minister to propose an alliance with Mexico if war broke out between the USA and Germany, Mexico being offered the territories lost in 1848 to the USA. The British intercepted and decoded the message, and passed it to the US State Department. It was released on 1 March 1917 as German-US relationships were deteriorating over unrestricted submarine warfare. It was regarded as an overt act of German aggression, in blatant disregard of the Monroe Doctrine (1823) which rejected European interference in matters concerning the American hemisphere. After years of debate, it was the final catalyst to propel the USA into World War I, with war being declared on Germany on 6 April 1917.