Zimmermann telegram
1917 World War I telegram from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance
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The Zimmermann telegram as it was sent from Washington, D.C., to Ambassador Heinrich von Eckardt, the German ambassador to Mexico. Mexico in 1916 (in dark green); territory promised to Mexico in the Zimmermann telegram (in light green); and the pre-1836 Mexican territory (red line)
The Zimmermann telegram (or Zimmermann note or Zimmermann cable) was a secret diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office on January 17, 1917, that proposed a military contract between the German Empire and Mexico if the United States entered World War I against Germany. With Germany's aid, Mexico would recover Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The telegram was intercepted by British intelligence.