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:''Main article:'' [[Zimmermann Telegram]]

:''Main article:'' [[Zimmermann Telegram]]

In the opening days of World War I, the British navy severed every German and Austrian telecommunications line leading through the Atlantic, thus forcing the Germans to send all messages destined for the states, including diplomatic communications, through American-owned cables.<ref name="briefhistory" /> This caused significant problems for the German high command later in the war, because without their own dedicated cables, their messages were subjected to American interception and cryptanalysis.

In the opening days of World War I, the British navy severed every German and Austrian telecommunications line leading through the Atlantic, thus forcing the Germans to send all messages destined for the states, including diplomatic communications, through American-owned cables.<ref name="briefhistory" /> This caused significant problems for the German high command later in the war, because without their own dedicated cables, their messages were subjected to American interception and cryptanalysis.

In January, 1917, two cryptanalysis working for Room 40, the American equivalent of the European "black chambers," successfully deciphered the majority of a telegram from the German State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Arthur Zimmermann, asking the Mexican president to intervene in the war on the German side, as well as request the same from the Japanese military.<ref name="zimmermann">[http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/zimmermann Teaching with Documents: The Zimmermann Telegram]</ref> The decipherment of this message convinced the United States to enter into the war against the Germans, dramatically shifting the odds against Germany. According to [[David Kahn]], the foremost American historian of classical and early modern cryptography,<ref name="kahn">[http://david-kahn.com/david-kahn-biography.htm Biography of David Kahn]</ref><ref name="kahn2">[http://hnn.us/roundup/comments/7460.html David Kahn: Historian of Secret Codes]</ref>  

In January, 1917, two cryptanalysis working for Room 40, the American equivalent of the European "black chambers," successfully deciphered the majority of a telegram from the German State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Arthur Zimmermann, asking the Mexican president to intervene in the war on the German side, as well as request the same from the Japanese military.<ref name="zimmermann">[https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/zimmermann Teaching with Documents: The Zimmermann Telegram]</ref> The decipherment of this message convinced the United States to enter into the war against the Germans, dramatically shifting the odds against Germany. According to [[David Kahn]], the foremost American historian of classical and early modern cryptography,<ref name="kahn">[http://david-kahn.com/david-kahn-biography.htm Biography of David Kahn]</ref><ref name="kahn2">[http://hnn.us/roundup/comments/7460.html David Kahn: Historian of Secret Codes]</ref>  

<blockquote>''"No other single cryptanalysis has had such enormous consequences. ... Never before or since has so much turned upon the solution of a secret message".''<ref name="zimmermann" /></blockquote>

<blockquote>''"No other single cryptanalysis has had such enormous consequences. ... Never before or since has so much turned upon the solution of a secret message".''<ref name="zimmermann" /></blockquote>

====The One Time Pad and Perfect Cryptography====

====The One Time Pad and Perfect Cryptography====

==External links==

==External links==

* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3411/03.html Kryptos]

* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3411/03.html Kryptos]

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