![]() ![]() In addition to sanctioning super‒patriotic leagues like the National Security League and the American Defense Society, the Post Office Department suppressed anti‒war and pacifist publications and the Attorney prosecuted and jailed anti‒war activists such as socialist labour leader Eugene Debs. Wilson knew this and took extraordinary measures to excite war fever and crush anti‒war sentiment. Despite the Zimmermann provocation US public opinion remained sharply divided on the subject of belligerency. In fact, however, the telegram only served to further polarize factions of American pacifists and interventionists. Like Wilson’s diplomatic confidant and emissary Colonel House, he favoured American entry into the Great War on the side of Great Britain and saw Zimmermann’s rash and ill‒informed gambit as decisive in this regard. ![]() Thus, these abortive German efforts to get Japan (a British ally) and Mexico (then in the throes of a civil war) to attack the United States had no chance of success.įor his part, US Secretary of State Robert Lansing effectively covered up the true provenance of the Zimmerman decryption. Unlikely as it seems, Zimmermann, an experienced diplomat, and his staff were woefully ignorant of political forces at work in America, Mexico and Japan. Zimmerman preferred to scapegoat German ambassador Henrich von Bernstorrf and the German embassy staff in Washington rather than admit to a rather obvious breakdown in cryptographic security. Moreover the Foreign Ministry failed to investigate carefully the circumstances surrounding disclosure of the telegram. Zimmerman’s action was typical of the dysfunctional German federation which lacked a central policy‒making body or individual. The disastrous decision to dispatch the telegram was taken by Foreign Secretary Zimmerman without reference to the German Chancellor, the Kaiser or the German general staff. Of equal importance are his brief, but revealing character sketches of the principal actors in the drama: German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann, British naval intelligence chief, William ‘Blinker’ Hall, Wilson confidant Colonel Edward House and US Secretary of State Robert Lansing among many other major and minor characters who played key roles in the drama. Boghardt expertly dissects the political and military situation surrounding the decryption and dissemination of the notorious Zimmermann Telegram which triggered (but was not the cause) of America’s entry into The Great War. In a well‒documented and closely argued text, the author draws on documents not available at the time Barbara Tuchman’s classic work was written in 1957 and takes a fresh look at the Zimmermann fiasco. US Naval Institute Press, 2012, $36.95, xii pages,ģ19pp, illustrations, bibliography, index. ![]()
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