The Zimmerman Telegram

Break the German code!

Name: _____________________
Date: ______________________
Period: ____________________

ATTENTION: The following number code was intercepted by the

British recently. It was being sent from Germany to Mexico.
is a matter of urgent national security that we immediately
decode this Zimmerman Telegram!

It

TOP SECRET!
17214215601024711518236771360534941496398092590510371030
25161212901126918276396951750418101021702281769444732158
91945267893121374725445823638210016789317388364775870175
5367893587054541610215217228014725
Use the attached page from a TOP SECRET German code
book below to decode the Zimmerman Telegram.

Break the Code Here:

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What is your advice to the President of the United States?
should the nation respond?

How

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Read the following and answer the questions.

Was the Zimmerman Telegram a fake?

1. Germany 1917 in order to possibly win WWI, Germany needed the United States
to stay OUT OF the war!
2. Three years into the war, England was a mess! It had more children in their
country than soldiers! England in order to win the war needed the United States to
enter on the allied side. How could England convince the United States to enter
the war?
3. The United States disliked Mexico in 1917. Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa
crossed into the United States, killed a few people, and burned a few buildings.
The United States retaliated and sent troops into Mexico. Anti-US sentiment
toward Mexico was growing. Germany began taking advantage of this and began
selling arms and ammunition to Mexico to use against the United States.
4. The British had broken the German code in 1915. They knew very early on in the
war the locations of the German U-Boats. When the British intercepted the
Zimmerman Telegram in 1917, they were able to easily translate it.
5. President Wilson did not question the authenticity of the telegram and was willing
to change his mind and go to war with Germany based on what was in the
telegram.
6. The following were very peculiar regarding the telegram: The TOP SECRET
telegram was sent via a regular Western Union Telegram from the German
Ambassador in Washington D.C. to the German Ambassador in Mexico City. Why
was it sent so openly?
7. Most German codes were in double enciphered code meaning one secret code
on top of another to make it harder to decipher. The Zimmerman Telegram was
not in double enciphered code.
8. There is no evidence of the Zimmerman Telegram in the German Archives today.
What was the Zimmerman Telegram and do you think it was a fake?
not?

Why / Why

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German Code BOOK

17694
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18101

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5870

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neutral

21560

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15217

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18276

keep

12137

alliance

21290

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10247 intend

98092

submarine

23677

first

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13605

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11269

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war

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3494

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17388

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36477

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