| On This Day in American History |
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On February 24, 1917, British officials give U.S. officials the Zimmerman Telegram. The intercepted telegram from the German Foreign Office to the Mexican government proposed an alliance between Mexico and Germany should the U.S. enter World War I. Specifically, Germany offered to give Mexico Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, territory Mexico lost to the U.S. after the Mexican-American War in 1848. While the German sinking of several U.S. ships had been shifting public opinion toward entering the war, the Zimmerman Telegram was the final straw. The U.S. declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. |
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