Please shut up.

Otherwise, I thought the article was pretty damn interesting.

GDSquire, we respect your viewpoint and appreciate you sharing it with us – it’s much more helpful to know what our readers think than to be kept in the dark.

Silverhill and WXNerd, thanks for jumping to our defense. We appreciate that, too.

Now, play nice. This really isn’t the place for an argument. Let’s stick to discussing the article, ok?

(You’ll notice that I did not call you a bitch, or the like; that would be ungentlemanly as well as unnecessary. Behave yourself.)

Damn Interesting is looking forward to your upcoming article submission, since you can obvz do a much better job than the current staff. Also, please submit it within two weeks because otherwise someone would have to be all, “take long enough?””[/quote]

It’s interesting how people think that if someone doesn’t like content that someone must be put up against the “Prove yourself more worthy, you aren’t capable of proving yourself worthy” wall. Shut the fuck up, and you post something on here. We’ll see how that works out, since by my deductive reasoning I believe you must be a lot better at writing that I am. Pun intended bitch

Pfft! Never mind all that back snitchin hoo-har about previous articles not being up to par. If they think they can do better, then please let them submit themselves!

Well done DI, and well done Kiona!

The isolationist movement often claimed during the interbellum that the Zimmerman telegram had been a lie. The telegram was embarrasing for their cause as it proved that while the USA didn’t want to get involved, it couldn’t afford to ignore world politics without failing to protect American interests.

The German minister, Mr. Zimmerman, actually admitted directly after it was published, that he had sent the telegram. And there really was no reason why he shouldn’t, as it contained nothing that was either treacherous or with bad intentions.

The telegram clearly stated that Germany did not want the USA to get involved in the war and would make every effort it could afford to keep them neutral. Only in the event that war proved to be unavoidable, was the German ambassador to seek an alliance with Mexico. The telegram clearly states that no such proposition was to be made before war had actually been declared between the USA and Germany. The telegram was therefore merely a precaution.

There is nothing wrong with a nation seeking allies in time of war. and to beseech them to attack a common enemy.

The reason why the telegram caused such an uproar was that it was presented in the press as a stab in the American back by the Germans. The real problem the United States government had with the telegram was that it announced the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, which had been suspended by Germany due to huge diplomatic pressure by the USA after the sinking of the Lusitania.

Meanwhile American merchant vessels were actively suplying Britain and France, not just with food but with weapons, munition and other military supplies also. The one thing Germany could no longer afford was to let it’s most powerful weapon, the U-boats, remain impotent while it’s own economy was smothered by the blockade by the British surface fleet.

The German economy was simply not capable of keeping up the war effort for more than another year and the only way to force Britain to negotiate peace within that time period was by strangling their island with U-boats. If that meant war with the USA, so be it.. The Germans hoped they would be able to force peace with Britain and France, as they had with Russia, before the USA could bring it’s troops to bear. Without a European base their threat would be much lessened and their resolve lowered.

As a sidenote: It may very well be that the publication of the telegram in the American press and it’s mispresentation therein was a carefully managed propaganda affair to get the American public war-ready after the United states government had decided it could not, and would not, accept the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare. But the telegram itself was authentic.