Category: Diplomatic Forgery Claims

• The Zimmerman Telegram "Hoax"

  This theory held that the Zimmermann Telegram published in 1917 was not an authentic German diplomatic message but a British forgery released to push the United States into the First World War. The suspicion emerged immediately because the message reached the American public through British intelligence at a moment of high tension, and because many Americans wished to remain out of the European war. Although early forgery claims circulated widely, the message was quickly reinforced by diplomatic evidence and by Arthur Zimmermann’s own public confirmation that the telegram was genuine.