Arthur Zimmermann (1854-1940) was responsible as German Foreign Secretary for the Zimmermann Telegram which helped to draw the United States into World War One against Germany in April 1917.
Zimmermann was appointed Germany's Foreign Secretary in November 1916 and owed his political eminence to his unwavering support for the Third Supreme Command, an effective military dictatorship led by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff. Towards the close of 1916 Zimmermann stated his full support for the military high command's decision to impose a highly controversial policy of unrestricted submarine warfare - the policy which eventually drew the U.S. into the war in April 1917.
However Zimmermann is best-known as the author of the infamous 'Zimmermann Telegram' sent to the German Embassy in Mexico on 19 January 1917. The encrypted telegram to von Eckhardt in Mexico effectively comprised an offer of German support for a Mexican invasion of the U.S. The thinking behind the telegram suggested that the U.S. would find itself too concerned with fighting a war with Mexico at home to direct its energies to the conflict in Europe.
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