The German Foreign Minister [[Arthur Zimmermann]] sent an encrypted telegram to the German ambassador in Mexico which sought to induce Mexico to declare war on the United States. British intelligence intercepted and deciphered the telegram, however, and gave it to the United States to help the British cause. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] made the contents of the telgram public. The telegram promised that Germany would help Mexico regain land it had lost to the United States in the [[Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo]] which ended the [[Mexican War]] if it would declare was on the United States. At first, the Americans doubted if the telegram was real and thought it had been forged by the British to make America favor them. But then Zimmermann was foolish enough to promise the pledge to Mexico in a public speech. | The German Foreign Minister [[Arthur Zimmermann]] sent an encrypted telegram to the German ambassador in Mexico which sought to induce Mexico to declare war on the United States. British intelligence intercepted and deciphered the telegram, however, and gave it to the United States to help the British cause. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] made the contents of the telgram public. The telegram promised that Germany would help Mexico regain land it had lost to the United States in the [[Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo]] which ended the [[Mexican War]] if it would declare was on the United States. At first, the Americans doubted if the telegram was real and thought it had been forged by the British to make America favor them. But then Zimmermann was foolish enough to promise the pledge to Mexico in a public speech. |