Read the excerpt from The Dark Game Why did Zimmermann choose to send the message
through the US State Department?
On January 16, 1917, in a clear attempt to convince
the Mexican government to help Germany in the war,
Arthur Zimmermann, the German foreign secretary,
sent a telegram to Count von Bemstorff, the German
ambassador in Washington. The foreign secretary
wanted to be certain that this message reached von
Bemstorff, so he made arrangements for it to be
carried aboard a U-boat to Sweden and from there to
Washington through diplomatic channels
As luck would have it the departure of the sub was
delayed. Impatient Zimmermann turned to his second
option: sending the message to his ambassador
through the U. S. State Department. Although Wilson
considered the United States to be neutral, he allowed
messages to be sent to von Bernstorff via the State
Department as a courtesy. The telegram sent,
Zimmermann waited for a reply. What Zimmermann
O The German U-boat was grounded because it
needed repairs
O The Americans planned to enter the war and side
with the Germans
O The content of the message was extraordinarily
important
O The safest way of transmitting messages was by
telegram