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General SummaryIn sending this telegram to the German envoy, Herr von Eckhardt, in Mexico, Dr. Alfred Zimmermann, the German Secretary for Foreign Affairs, displayed such diplomatic obtuseness as characterized Teuton statesmanship throughout the war. Secretary Zimmermann admitted the authenticity of the amazing, if not amusing, cipher dispatch, and Japan indignantly repudiated it. The American Government obtained a copy of it in a Washington telegraph office and it was decoded by the British Admiralty by means of a German code in possession of its Intelligence Service. As a result of the expose Zimmermann was removed from office. On January 31—twelve days after this historic episode—Germany proclaimed her resolve to wage ruthless submarine warfare, regardless of consequences. Ambassador von Bernstorff was given his passports, and our Ambassador, James W. Gerard, was recalled from Berlin. War was a foregone conclusion.
The Zimmermann Telegram
Dr. Alfred Zimmermann
ON February 1st we intend to begin submarine warfare unrestricted. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavor to keep neutral the United States of America. If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on the following basis with Mexico: That we shall make war together and together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. The details are left to you for settlement.
You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that there shall be an outbreak of war with the United States, and suggest that the President of Mexico, on his own initiative, should communicate with Japan suggesting adherence at once to this plan. At the same time, offer to mediate between Germany and Japan.
Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England to make peace in a few months.
Berlin, January 19, 1917.
ZIMMERMANN
Chicago: Alfred Zimmermann, The Zimmermann Telegram in America—Great Crises in Our History Told by Its Makers: A Library of Original Sources (Chicago: Americanization Department of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, 1925), 23–24. Original Sources, accessed April 25, 2024, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ET9IAZWIJHHYY72.
MLA: Zimmermann, Alfred. The Zimmermann Telegram, in America—Great Crises in Our History Told by Its Makers: A Library of Original Sources, Vol. 12, Chicago, Americanization Department of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, 1925, pp. 23–24. Original Sources. 25 Apr. 2024. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ET9IAZWIJHHYY72.
Harvard: Zimmermann, A, The Zimmermann Telegram. cited in 1925, America—Great Crises in Our History Told by Its Makers: A Library of Original Sources, Americanization Department of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Chicago, pp.23–24. Original Sources, retrieved 25 April 2024, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ET9IAZWIJHHYY72.
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