The Zimmerman Telegram: The Battle Of The Lusitania

In May 1915, German U-boats destroyed the Lusitania, a British ocean liner, so that along with other atrocities committed in Belgium painted Germany as a villain to the American people. In early 1917, Germany decided to declare all out submarine warfare and attack every commercial ship headed to Britain. Germany, knowing that this would ultimately pull America into the fray, chose to reach out to Mexico making the promise that if Mexico were to ally with Germany they would return the land that was lost during the Mexican-American War. That message, now known as the Zimmerman Telegram, was intercepted by British intelligence and shared with United States. When this made news headlines, the American people were outraged as Germany started to