What was proposed in the zimmerman note

The Zimmermann Telegram on DocsTeach asks students to analyze the telegram to determine if the United States should have entered World War I based on the telegram's information and implications. In this Decoding a Message exercise, students decode a fictitious message using a simple substitution code. Between and the spring of , the European nations engaged in a conflict that became known as World War I.

While armies moved across the face of Europe, the United States remained neutral. In Woodrow Wilson was reelected President for a second term, largely because of the slogan "He kept us out of war. Events in early would change that hope. In frustration over the effective British naval blockade, Germany broke its pledge to limit submarine warfare on February 1, The telegram was then leaked to the American press and published to general amazement on 1 March with credit attached to the American Secret Service rather than the British to avoid awkward questions of British manipulation.

Whatever scepticism was left was dispelled when Zimmermann himself took the odd move of confirming he had sent it. A month later, America was in the War. It would be too much to claim the Zimmermann Telegram single-handedly brought America into the War. Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare can take more credit for that. But the telegram was useful for convincing the American public that it should be sending its men over to Europe to fight. The telegram had proved the perfect justification for a change of policy and to convince some of the sceptics.

It was, many believed, the single greatest intelligence triumph for Britain in World War One. It was also an early sign of the potential impact of intercepting communications, a lesson which the few British and American officials in on the real story were determined to learn from as they set about building their capability.

Early in World War Two, before America had formally entered the War, it would send a team of its best code-breakers on a clandestine mission to Britain to establish a relationship with their counterparts.

The Road to Bletchley Park exhibition at the former wartime site features a copy of the Zimmermann Telegram and details of its role. They also have a pact which means that - on the whole - they are not supposed to spy on each other.

The BBC World Service Witness programme recently told the story of how the British managed to intercept the telegram, and heard from some of the code-breakers involved. Listen to the programme online or download the programme podcast. Six unexpected WW1 battlegrounds. WW1: The Zimmermann Telegram.

The Road to Bletchley Park. Image source, Alamy. Image source, The de grey family. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. The Secret History of the Zimmermann Telegram. What is a broken arrow?