As we enter into 1917,
the United States has been able to maintain
its neutrality in World War I. In fact, President Wilson
has just won a re-election based on the platform that
he kept us out of war. And to large degree, he was
able to keep the US out of war because the German
Empire had pulled back from its unrestricted
submarine warfare. After the sinking
of the Lusitania and how angered
America had gotten, they said, OK, we're
not going to attack passenger vessels anymore. We're only going to attack
things that are definitely British, non-passenger vessels. But as we go into January
1917, the British blockade on the Central Powers
was having its effect. And the Central Powers
were getting desperate, in particular Germany. And so they are eager
to essentially do the same to the British. Once again, go with the
unrestricted submarine warfare. But the Germans
knew that if they were to go back to this, that
it's likely that the US would enter the war on the
side of the Allies. So knowing that was
likely to happen. They said, well, how
could we slow the US down. And the thinking was, well,
maybe we could somehow enlisted the help of
Mexico which at the time was not the best terms
with the United States. And so Arthur Zimmerman who was
the German Foreign Secretary, the equivalent of the United
States Secretary of State. The Foreign Minister,
Arthur Zimmerman sends an encoded a
telegram to the Mexicans. And it's encoded,
especially because it has to go over lines that are
controlled by the Americans. And in it, he actually
proposes an alliance to slow the Americans down. So this is what he wrote. So this is a coded telegram. And then, it was
actually intercepted by British intelligence
and decoded and then shared with the Americans,
and then that was also then made public
to the American public. And so this is why it's
fascinating to actually read this stuff. This is January 1917. This is the Germans
talking to the Mexicans. "We intend to begin on
the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor
in spite of this to keep the United States
of America neutral. In the event of
this not succeeding, we make Mexico a
proposal alliance on the following basis--
make war together, make peace together, generous financial
support, and an understanding on our part that Mexico
is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New
Mexico, and Arizona. The settlement in
detail is left to you. You will inform the
President--" they're talking about the
president of Mexico. "--of the above most secretly
as soon as the outbreak of war with the United States of
America is certain and add the suggestion that he
should, on his own initiative, invite Japan to immediate
adherence and at the same time mediate between
Japan and ourselves. Please call the President's
attention to the fact that the ruthless
employment of our submarines now offers the prospect
of compelling England in a few months to make peace. Signed Zimmerman." Now, the Mexicans,
when they read this, they really didn't
take it too seriously. They didn't think that
they could seriously engage the US in a war. They couldn't
seriously take back or occupy these territories. So they didn't really
think much of it. The real effect of
this telegram was to make the American
public angry. They were going to go back
into the unrestricted submarine warfare. And the Germans, themselves,
talk about ruthless-- "ruthless employment of our
the submarines." So when people talk about,
what were the causes. What brought the US into war? The ones that are
typically cited are the unrestricted
submarine warfare. The sinking of the Lusitania. The Zimmerman telegram
that was trying to get Mexico to somehow
get into a war with the US and reclaim these territories. And as we'll see, a
few months after this, the US actually does
declare war on Germany and enter into World War I.