How desperate was Germany ?

How delusional/desperate was the German High Command when they sent the telegram to Mexico ? Did they expect Mexico (that was in civil war) to accept the offer ? And why didn't Arthur Zimmerman deny the telegram as the "British deceiving the American people" ?
 
Not particularly delusional: at the time the US had fully mobilised it entire army on the Mexican border and was engaged in an invasion of Mexico, the second invasion in 3 years. Mexican resistance to the invasion was firming at the time, much more than when it began 7 months earlier.

Nor was the German assessment of American military capability wrong, they believed it would take a year for the US to be a major player on the European battlefield. In fact it was 15 months when the first US offensive occurred.

What the silent dictatorship got wrong was the assessment of their own capacity to defeat the Entente and economic aspects.
 
Not all that delusional, but certainly desperate.

They had made heavy weather of 1916, and to all appearances 1917 would be even worse. The French army mutinies and the Russian Revolution were still in the future, and Britain's financial straits were not fully appreciated.

Hence when Von Holtzendorff insisted that Unrestricted U-boat warfare could knock Britain out by Summer 1917, they did not inspect his figures too closely, and the opponents of USW had no obvious counter-argument. They adopted USW in rather the same spirit that Britain adopted convoying, ie not so much because they really believed in it as because they were desperate enough to try anything.
 
Not to mechen it looked farly likely that there only need a slite push in order to get the Mexicans into a war whith the US whether they could win it or not gust because of how angry Mexicans where at the US at the time, the Mexican president had to work agenst both popular option and a good part of the northern military in order to keep his government from an unwinnable war.
 

JAG88

Banned
How delusional/desperate was the German High Command when they sent the telegram to Mexico ? Did they expect Mexico (that was in civil war) to accept the offer ? And why didn't Arthur Zimmerman deny the telegram as the "British deceiving the American people" ?

Yes, they were delusional, they expected a country that had lost 11% of its population to several years of civil war be a threat to a country far larger and richer which, btw, had no qualms about invading Mexico TWICE at the slightest provocation during that period due to the obscene disparity of strength... the Germans promised money (whose?) and supplies (how?) in exchange for declaring war IF the US declared war on Germany.

Lets use ASB and say Mexico beats the US army somehow and INVADES!!!

Texas...

...so what? It is not an industrial center, there is oil, but what posible use would that be to Mexico, they already had oil.

In the end they would be beaten back or worse, the US would land in Mexico with the Mexican army stranded in Texas.

...and that is the best case scenario, the moment Mexico is in a foreign war their civil war would reignite as well with the rebels supplied by the US and the govt unable to import a single bullet.

This had only one possible use, lure the Mexicans to commit suicide against the US in order to distract them long enough to win the war in Europe... but that entails so much ignorance of the situation in Mexico that is laughable, and begins by assuming the Mexicans are both stupid and suicidal.

So at this point anyone can be forgiven for wondering the GERMANS were stupid and, of course, those suspicions would be immediately confirmed when Zimmerman gleefully admitted the telegram was his when NO ONE believed the Germans to be that DUMB!

So... yeah... delusional is kind of mild.
 
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BooNZ

Banned
How delusional/desperate was the German High Command when they sent the telegram to Mexico ? Did they expect Mexico (that was in civil war) to accept the offer ? And why didn't Arthur Zimmerman deny the telegram as the "British deceiving the American people" ?
The diplomacy of Wilhelmine Germany following the departure of Bismarck was routinely inept. Even with an extensive back catalogue of diplomatic disasters, the Zimmerman telegram stands out as special.

What the silent dictatorship got wrong was the assessment of their own capacity to defeat the Entente and economic aspects.
Agreed. The silent dictatorship had no idea both Britain and France were already on the verge of economic defeat, with each facing a potentially war ending liquidity crisis (among other crises) prior to the US entry into the war.
 
The Oberste Heeres Leitung was certainly desperate.

But not so Insane like Arthur Zimmerman
he went without consultation of his superior Minister, neither the Oberste Heeres Leitung.
and worked arbitrary on that idea and send that Telegram without authorization

His idea was That Mexico Government contacted government of Japan and together declare War on USA
Japan was on side of the Entente, they would have given that Information to British and they to USA !
Mexican was in 1917 under Civil war, were several fraction were raiding the USA, but that was not the Government who Zimmerman was addressing to.
in fact the raiders were the Enemy of current Mexican Government !
Zimmerman Initiative has violated the Monroe Doctrine, on USA not interfering in Europans affairs, so long European not interfering in US.
This was main reason for declaration of War by USA in WW1.

And to top this madness, Zimmerman confirm the Plan to US journalist who interview him after publication his Telegram in US and British newspapers...

What for disservice for your country herr Zimmerman...
 
The Oberste Heeres Leitung was certainly desperate.

But not so Insane like Arthur Zimmerman
he went without consultation of his superior Minister, neither the Oberste Heeres Leitung.
and worked arbitrary on that idea and send that Telegram without authorization

His idea was That Mexico Government contacted government of Japan and together declare War on USA
Japan was on side of the Entente, they would have given that Information to British and they to USA !
Mexican was in 1917 under Civil war, were several fraction were raiding the USA, but that was not the Government who Zimmerman was addressing to.
in fact the raiders were the Enemy of current Mexican Government !
Zimmerman Initiative has violated the Monroe Doctrine, on USA not interfering in Europans affairs, so long European not interfering in US.
This was main reason for declaration of War by USA in WW1.

And to top this madness, Zimmerman confirm the Plan to US journalist who interview him after publication his Telegram in US and British newspapers...

What for disservice for your country herr Zimmerman...


It reminds me of an old episode of The Phil Silvers Show.

There is a great flurry of excitement at Fort Baxter when an old medal is discovered, apparently awarded to one of Bilko's ancestors for service in he ARW. Research, however, shows this ancestor to have been a walking disaster, and even having recommended Benedict Arnold for promotion. They take a closer look at the medal, and discover that it was presented by King George III.
 
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