--- title: Zimmermann Telegram (decoded text), 16 January 1917 url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/zimmermann-telegram-1917/ description: Zimmermann Telegram (decoded text), 16 January 1917 by Arthur Zimmermann (1917-01-16), full text with provenance and rights. section: FRAME --- ![Illustration: a First World War field-intelligence collage of trench maps, wireless transmission logs and aerial reconnaissance photographs.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/detail/hero-wwi.jpg) [Library](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/) · Report # Zimmermann Telegram (decoded text), 16 January 1917 At a glance The telegram in which Germany proposed an alliance with Mexico if the United States entered the war, as decoded. - **Author:** Arthur Zimmermann - **Published:** January 16, 1917 - **Origin:** Germany - **Length:** 177 words Full details - **Edition:** Decoded message text of the telegram of 16 January 1917 from the German Foreign Secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, as held in Decimal File 862.20212, General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59, transcribed on the National Archives milestone-documents page - **Language:** English (the decoded text as held in United States State Department records) - **Text source:** [U.S. National Archives, milestone documents](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/zimmermann-telegram) - **Text basis:** National Archives transcript of the decoded English text, not of the German cipher original. The page names no translator. - **Rights:** A record in the General Records of the Department of State, held and transcribed by the National Archives, a United States federal record (17 U.S.C. 105). The text is also a diplomatic dispatch of 1917, public domain by age. - **Rights checked:** October 2, 2026 On this page - [The text](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/zimmermann-telegram-1917/#read) - [Provenance and rights](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/zimmermann-telegram-1917/#provenance) - [Related](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/zimmermann-telegram-1917/#related) The telegram sent on 16 January 1917 by Arthur Zimmermann, the German Foreign Secretary, proposing that Mexico join Germany in a war against the United States if the United States entered the war, in return for "generous financial support" and the recovery of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. British naval intelligence intercepted and decoded it, and the US Government released the text to the press in early March 1917. The archive's pages on the Wilson administration and the German Empire cite it. This is the decoded English text as the National Archives transcribes it; the German original is not reproduced. ## The text [Download as plain text](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/zimmermann-telegram-1917/zimmermann-telegram-1917.txt) 177 words, with the provenance header above the text (Decoded message text of the Zimmermann Telegram) FROM 2nd from London # 5747. "We intend to begin on the first of February unrestricted submarine warfare. We shall endeavor in spite of this to keep the United States of America neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal or alliance on the following basis: make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The settlement in detail is left to you. You will inform the President of the above most secretly as soon as the outbreak of war with the United States of America is certain and add the suggestion that he should, on his own initiative, invite Japan to immediate adherence and at the same time mediate between Japan and ourselves. Please call the President's attention to the fact that the ruthless employment of our submarines now offers the prospect of compelling England in a few months to make peace." Signed, ZIMMERMANN. ## Provenance and rights - **Edition:** Decoded message text of the telegram of 16 January 1917 from the German Foreign Secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, as held in Decimal File 862.20212, General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59, transcribed on the National Archives milestone-documents page - **Text source:** [U.S. National Archives, milestone documents](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/zimmermann-telegram) - **Text basis:** National Archives transcript of the decoded English text, not of the German cipher original. The page names no translator. - **Rights:** A record in the General Records of the Department of State, held and transcribed by the National Archives, a United States federal record (17 U.S.C. 105). The text is also a diplomatic dispatch of 1917, public domain by age. Checked October 2, 2026. - **Changes made:** The National Archives page's description, teaching notes, citation, navigation and footer removed. The page's own heading line and "From" line are kept. Wording and punctuation are the transcript's own. - **Source file checksum:** `fdf8fe46456df84d…` (SHA-256 of the download this text was made from) ## Related - [War Message to Congress, April 2, 1917](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/wilson-war-message-1917/)