It raised the possibility of war spreading to the Americas.
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In January of 1917, British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Minister to Mexico, von Eckhardt, offering United States territory to Mexico in return for joining the German cause.
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The Zimmermann Note contained a serious offer for German aid in a Mexican military invasion of the United States. That's a little unsettling.
to help Mexico regain U.S. territory
The US, Germany, and Mexico were the three countries involved in the Zimmermann Telegram. It was sent by Germany to Mexico in 1917.
United States, Mexico, Germany The Zimmerman Telegram (1917) was sent by the foreign minister of Germany to the German consul in Mexico, suggesting that Germany would support Mexico in a war with the US.
The Zimmerman Note was a telegram sent on 16 January 1917 by the Foreign Secretary of the German Empire to the German Ambassador in Washington, DC, with instructions that it be forwarded to the German Ambassador in Mexico. The coded text was intercepted and decoded by the British who provided it to the US government. The contents of the note, published in US newspapers on 1 March 1917, caused public outrage. The Note proposed that, in the event of the US entering the European War opposed to Germany, the German Ambassador should seek Mexican help in brokering an alliance between Germany and Japan. The German Ambassador to Mexico should then also propose a military alliance between Germany and Mexico in which Mexico would receive aid in reclaiming Texas, New Mexico and Arizona from the US.
It affected public opinion, and helped convince US leaders to send American troops to fight in Europe.