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The Zimmermann Telegram outraged the American public and incited the United States to enter World War I against Germany.  This was an intercepted telegram sent by German For­eign Minister Arnold Zimmermann to the German ambassador to Mexico, which sought to induce Mexico to declare war on the United States.   

The Zimmermann Telegram outraged the American public and incited the United States to enter World War I against Germany.  This was an telegram sent by German For­eign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German ambassador to Mexico, which sought to induce Mexico to declare war on the United States.  The British intelligence intercepted the telegram and gave it to the United States to help the British cause.  President Woodrow Wilson made the contents of the telegram public.

The telegram promised that Germany would help Mexico regain land it had previously lost to the United States in the Mexican War (in the 1840s) if Mexico would declare war against the United States during World War I.

The telegram promised that Germany would help Mexico regain land it had previously lost to the United States in the Mexican War (in the 1840s) if Mexico would declare war against the United States during World War I.  Americans were outraged, and some newspapers doubted that the British version.  But then Zimmermann himself was foolish enough to confirm the promise (pledge) to Mexico in a public speech.