Zimmerman Telegram


During the first World War, Britain and France were obviously keen that the US join the fight alongside the Allies. Germany obviously did not want the Americans to enter the war. Woodrow Wilson, never keen to get Americans killed in a European conflict, intended to stay away from the conflict.

In 1917, writes Simon Singh in his awesome book on encryption, The Code Book, Germany decided (secretly) to launch an all-out offense with their U-boats. Cut off Britain’s supply lines from the US, and they would be forced to capitulate. But what if the Americans joined the war the next time their civilians got killed in this all-out U-boat war, say when a civilian ship was sunk accidentally? Sure, it was possible that by the time the US decided to join, it would be too late and Germany would have already won Europe. But if not? Would America’s entry turn the tide of the war against Germany? A tough choice indeed.

And so Germany’s Foreign Minister, Arthur Zimmerman, came up with his plan. Form an alliance with Mexico, he said. If the US decided to join the war, then Mexico, supported by German military and financial aid, would attack the US and reclaim Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. A two-front war would might persuade it to stay away from the European front altogether. Further, Germany would have the Mexicans invite Japan to attack America at the same time. Surely, a three-front war would be too much for America, went Zimmerman’s reasoning.

The plan had to be communicated to the German ambassador in the US. And that’s where things fell apart. Any trans-Atlantic communication went through cables controlled by the Allies. The Germans sent the (encrypted) plan via the cable, now known as the (in)famous Zimmerman telegram. They didn’t know that the British had already cracked their codes. So now Britain knew the plan.

The British were in a dilemma. If they didn’t warn the Americans, a three-front war might limit US involvement in Europe. But if they warned the Americans, the outcome was unpredictable. The Americans might decide to not join the Allies at all! Worse, the Germans would know the codes had been cracked. As they agonized over the problem, they came up with a solution.

British agents got a copy of the Zimmerman telegram that was relayed by the German ambassador in the US to the German ambassador in Mexico. They shared this copy from Mexico with the Americans. Faced with evidence of plans of a German planned attack on the US, the Americans had no choice but to enter the war. And since the Germans thought that the leak had happened in Mexico, they never realized their codes had been compromised and kept using them.

As Singh writes, cracking a code is only half the game. The other half is deciding whether and how to use that newly available information…

Comments

  1. Ramiah KumarApril 16, 2018 at 10:01 AM

    Though I had read the Simon Singh book on codes, this detail I completely forgot as having read. My knowledge of World War I is very poor, while I am more knowledgeable about World War II. If the Americans joined the war somewhere in 1917, they were pretty later joiners in the war process. In World War II, again they were later joiners, but they joined relatively early then.

    In this life, I would never understand the way of politics, and, I keep telling myself "do not look at politics as all black"! I am certainly far less cynical than earlier times, I am happy to note. :-) See this: Having decoded the Zimmerman telegram, the British had to work out a contrived way to deal with it, in order to warn USA of their impending trouble. Because just informing may not ensure US would plunge into war siding the Allies, even after saving themselves of the vexing calamity! In politics, the basic truth may remain the same, but political maneuvering is the way way to tilt matters decisively!

    I continue to believe that since politics is a game played with contrived ways of working out many things, and, often having decisions slanted much by "what if my gain" viewpoint of the netas, the wisecracks and sarcasm and expressions of distrust about politics would forever be floating around us! They are fun to read of course, except when one's favorite neta or party is facing the brunt of the dig. :-)

    While sciences are struggle towards truthful alignment with nature's ways, politics is a domain where people have to keep on meticulously addressing any issue having potential for misuse and exploitation. See, everyone knows that it is the power and the huge money in the coffers that tempt netas to take personal advantage. Naturally we need safeguards against the establishment all the time.

    On the surface, of course, politics' goal is to provide what people badly need - safety, freedom, and meeting the essential needs of people etc.

    ReplyDelete

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