User talk:Bently Polius

Mexico during 1917



The message came in the form of a coded telegram dispatched by Arthur Zimmermann, a Staatssekretär (i.e. a top level civil servant) in the Foreign Office of the German Empire on 19 January 1917. The message was sent to the German ambassador to Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt. Zimmermann sent the telegram in anticipation of the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany on 1 February, an act the German government presumed would almost certainly lead to war with the United States. The telegram instructed Ambassador Eckardt that if the United States appeared certain to enter the war, he was to approach the Mexican Government with a proposal for military alliance with funding from Germany.

The decoded telegram is as follows:

We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The settlement in detail is left to you. You will inform the President of the above most secretly as soon as the outbreak of war with the United States of America is certain and add the suggestion that he should, on his own initiative, invite Japan to immediate adherence and at the same time mediate between Japan and ourselves. Please call the President's attention to the fact that the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace. Signed, ZIMMERMANN

Mexican response The Zimmermann Telegram was part of an effort carried out by the Germans to postpone the transportation of supplies and other war materials from the United States to the Allies of World War I that were at war with Germany. The main purpose of the telegram was to make the Mexican government declare war on the United States in hopes of tying down American forces and slowing the export of American arms.

The German High Command believed they would be able to defeat the British and French on the Western Front and strangle Britain with unrestricted submarine warfare before American forces could be trained and shipped to Europe in sufficient numbers to aid the Allies. The Germans were encouraged by their successes on the Eastern Front into believing that they would be able to divert large numbers of troops to the Western Front in support of their goals. Also, this created a big turing point.

Mexican President Venustiano Carranza assigned a military commission to assess the feasibility of the Mexican takeover of their former territories contemplated by Germany.

The generals concluded that it would be neither possible nor even desirable to attempt such an enterprise for the following reasons:

The United States was far stronger militarily than Mexico was. No serious scenarios existed under which Mexico could win a war against the United States. Germany's promises of "generous financial support" were very unreliable. The German government had already informed Carranza in June 1916 that they were unable to provide the necessary gold needed to stock a completely independent Mexican national bank. Even if Mexico received financial support, the arms, ammunition, and other needed war supplies would presumably have to be purchased from the ABC nations (Argentina, Brazil, and Chile), which would strain relations with them, as explained below. Even if by some chance Mexico had the military means to win a conflict against the United States and reclaim the territories in question, Mexico would have severe difficulty accommodating a large English-speaking population that was better supplied with arms than most populations. Other foreign relations were at stake. The ABC nations organized the Niagara Falls peace conference in 1914 to avoid a full-scale war between the United States and Mexico over the United States occupation of Veracruz. If Mexico were to enter war against the United States, it would strain relations with those nations. The Carranza government was recognized de jure by the United States on 31 August 1917 as a direct consequence of the Zimmermann telegram, since recognition was necessary to ensure Mexican neutrality in World War I. After the military invasion of Veracruz in 1914, Mexico would not participate in any military excursions with the United States in World War I, thus ensuring Mexican neutrality was the best outcome that the United States could hope for, even if Mexican neutrality would allow German companies to keep their operations in Mexico open.

Mexico in World War I

Mexico was a neutral country in the Great War (World War I) that lasted from 1914 to 1918. The Great War broke out in Europe in August 1914 as the Mexican Revolution was in the midst of full-scale civil war between factions that had helped oust General Victoriano Huerta from the presidency earlier that year. The Constitutionalist Army of Venustiano Carranza under the generalship of Alvaro Obregón defeated the army of Pancho Villa in the Battle of Celaya in April 1915. Extent of involvement in the war

These facts marked the participation of Mexico in the Great War. The Carranza government was de jure recognized by Germany at the beginning of 1917 and by the U.S. on August 31, 1917, the latter as a direct consequence of the Zimmermann telegram in an effort to ensure Mexican Neutrality in the Great War. After the United States occupation of Veracruz in 1914, Mexico would not participate with the U.S. in its military participation in the Great War, so ensuring Mexican neutrality was the best deal the U.S. could hope for. Carranza granted guarantees to German companies for keeping their operations open, specifically in Mexico City, but he was at the same time selling oil to the British fleet. In fact, 75 percent of the fuel used by the British fleet came from Mexico. Carranza rejected the proposal of a military alliance with Germany, made via the Zimmermann Telegram, and he was at the same time able to prevent a permanent military invasion from the U.S., which wanted to take control of Tehuantepec Isthmus and Tampico oil fields. Mexico was producing 55 million barrels of petroleum by 1917.Because 75 percent of the fuel used by the British fleet came from Mexico, Carranza gave the order to set fire to the oil fields in case of a U.S. invasion.

Germany-Mexico relations in World War 1 During World War I (1914-1918) Mexico remained neutral. During this time, Mexico was preoccupied with its revolution (1910-1920) which took place the same time as World War I. In January 1917, British agents intercepted a telegram sent to German Ambassador to Mexico Heinrich von Eckardt by Arthur Zimmermann, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the German Empire. In the telegram, Germany proposed to Mexico that if the United States were to join the war, Mexico should join and side with the Central Powers. In appreciation, and if the Central Powers were to win, Mexico would recuperate the territory of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona that Mexico lost in its war with the United States during the Mexican–American War in 1848. The telegram, known as the Zimmermann Telegram was intercepted when the telegram was being wired to the German embassy in Washington, DC to be re-routed to Mexico City. Mexico eventually rejected the telegram and continued to remain neutral during the war. It reveals a contact between Germany and Mexico that aims to give Mexican states of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas if they (Central Powers) win.

Germany inciting Japan and Mexico against the United States.

Zimmermann Telegram (January 19,1917). A coded message from the German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann (1864-1940), to the German envoy in Mexico was intercepted by British naval intelligence. the telegram suggested a possible German-Mexican alliance so that, if the United States of America entered the war against Germany, Mexico would march Northwards and at peace settlement, would recover "lost territories in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas". There were further indications in Zimmermann's message that Germany was seeking to induce Japan change sides in the war and to attack American bases in the Pacific. The Americans were informed and news of the telegram released to the press in Washington DC on March 2,1917. Anti- German feeling was already considerable because of the resumpted of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare four weeks previously, and the telegram provoked widespread protests. Additional resentment sprang from the revelation that the Germans had used a privileged wire, put at their disposal by the state development for transmitting a peace proposals. Indignation over Zimmermann's Telegram played a considerable part in reconciling congress to a declaration of war o Germany (April 6,1917). Neither Japan nor Mexico collaborated with Germany.

January 1917

19th January

German Government send instructions to German Minister in Mexico (von Eckhardt) to negotiate alliance with Mexico and Japan against the United States (see February 28th).

31st January

German Government announce forthcoming "unrestricted" submarine warfare and threaten to sink hospital ships (see February 1st).

February 1917

1st February

German "unrestricted submarine warfare" begins (see January 31st). Norwegian Government forbid all foreign submarines to use Norwegian territorial waters (see October 13th, 1916).

3rd February

United States of America sever diplomatic relations with Germany (see April 6th).

26th February

President Wilson in address to Congress asks for power to arm merchant ships (see February 21st, 1916 and March 12th, 1917).

28th February

German proposals to Mexico for alliance against the United States published in the American Press (see January 19th).

March 1917

12th March

United States Government announce arming of all merchant vessels in the war zone (see February 26th)

April 1917

2nd April

The U.S president Woodrow Wilson come before congress ask for a declaration of war (see April 6).

6th April

United States of America declare war on Germany (see February 3rd). 7th April

Cuba and Panama declare war on Germany. 8th April

Austria-Hungary severs diplomatic relations with United States of America, (see December 7th).