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~~~\~::::-~.:~~!:.t.:t~~4c~ keau on th±e point-. .~a A:meA:cift 11f enbr;,y -4fRO"~'i-be ,_;;K~~~ ga.Ye 

tae 4•J11o• .. -~~t. a. .. partial c.aw .ot .. ~be ~~ . .c.ode .. e.aewn,aa~.aa1.e 

~¥!l:'t-~ar:t1J·rtE''!ts·"tm\f';-"'·'fheee. dil!'-ec--t!oD&-.-conta.in -the-~e 

.,-tate eiWa that German mease.aes sent by Svedish officials were in enciphered 

Germa.u code, Le., the arfainal code groups vere subjected to a proceas of 

•ystenatic alteration and that tho trans:f'er 1 ar retrana:t'er 1 :f'rom Swedish 

to Gernn.n bands waa made at Buenos Aires. The method of encipherment elllJ?loyed 

to disguise the messa&es upon their tranaf'er was or such nature as not 

eam.pletely to remove certain resemblanccaR~~ Code l.3'54e. T.heae 

resetn'blances aroused the suspicions of the~.fift...~nphm:a, and detailed 

istud.y followed. Once the nature of too disguise ve.a :Learned, its usefulness 

we.a lost~ .-- the GerillKlJ.lB might have spired thelll3elves the trouble of di•~ 

auieing the code vhen they gave their meas age a to Swedish officials tor 

:t'arward~: · A , • • -?> l-. - • ,,.. eu • l ' _ 
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I think it correct to say that history attributea our entry on 6 AJ!'il 1217 

into World War I as a bell.igerent. on the side of' the Allied Powers to the 

disclosure of the contents ot the Zimmermann Telegram. Note that this statement 

- - ---- - ...----

18 quaJ.if'ied by a date, viz, 6 April l917~JPerhaps that would bave come about 

l without the Zimmermann Telegram, sooner or later and far one reason or another, 

1D08t probably becauae or Germen rutbJ.e&Blle88 in the cODduct or subanarille warfare• i 

i But "later" might have been too late, because after unrestt'icted submarine warfare I 

started there wasn't much time lef't to help Britain. And if we had waited ~tiJ. 

England had been starved into capitulation, it is of course possible that we might 

never have entered the war. Or, if we were later forced to f'iibt because ot 

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REF ID:A63379 

and agents, 'but this correspondence never reached otf'1cial f'1les. On 

the other hand, all official histories, and nearly all biographies and 

autobiographies, embracing the 1914-18 war, throw light on hia remarkable 

contribution to the WUJ.• effort or the Powers ranged against Germany. 

''Most of these books are nO'" a little dusty on the shelves. The 

generation which read Dr. Page's letters, Robert Lansing's Memoire,, 

Colonel Hou.se•a papers, Von Papen'e Memoirs, Sir :Basil Thomson's diaries, 

so avidly is passing avs.y, and it ia the eheJ.vcs diap1a.}'1.:ig hi.etm:ies, 

biographies, and autobiOjJr&phies or the ;period. embracing tbe Second 
ttela1'e4 ia ~ee Hemx 1er "lt?!l!mtnt;:--aml. .mgre...-eape94¥11 .. .mw-,.3Bf3bb£J @£6£-

" REE J;J:).,:.A.6.i-3 "J 9-s --

;:;-~sn:.' s ~Mm:J.r.al...JwaJ..-~ .. ean1ee- c~ta±~f:nga..-

(_·~•We '!:he d&rk_a. dub.i"'"',.~1Jri;o in tho .oton: ~ ~ J~Q_ ~ ~~~~~it~. M'" ~~4'·-M•<t t'~ An~-\]\)-- ~ "When, through the~b~ or a letter in tJle Press, it became 

known that I was collecting mteria.l 'f'ar a biography ot .Admiral Sir R~ginald Hal.l, I received letters from hie old friends and colleagues 

expressing their pleasure that his great services were to be placed on 

record and their w1ll1ngness to help with personal recollections of a man 

whose leadership they had so much admired aod whose :friendship they had so 

srea.tly valued. 

".Nearly all m:f correspondents asked the same two qμestions. Had the 

Admiral left any papers usef'ul to a biographer, and was it even now, 

after torty yea.rs, possible to give a full account of his achieveucnts 

without havina access to official pa.per• still kept under lock and key'? 

Hall did not, as was generally believed, destroy all. the records of his 

steva.rdshi:p o.s Director of Naval Intelligence. In 1.932 he began work on 

h1a autobiography, with Ra:l.ph Straue as collaborator, but abandoned the 

project after f'ive or the thirty-five chapters had been comp1eted. I 

:round some use:tu1 material in those :five chapters, and it is evident tram. 

the chapter headings of the thirty unwritten chapters that his autob1osraphy 

would have been a book o:t historical. importance. 

"It 18 unlikely that there are nOW" any papers in the of'f'1cial archives 

which would throw any 1ight on hie activities. Bia vas not the type of 

work tbat could be recorded in reports and l.etters of proceedings. He 

he..d a very large ccn-respondence with Senior O:f"f'icers at'l.oa.t., Atte.ches, 

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• 

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~ September 8, l.917, the State Department published tbe text ot three 

code messages sent b;y the Germon Charged' At:rairea at :Bucnoa Aires to the 

:rare:tp. ott'ice at :Berl.in. These tel..egrams became notorious u tbe Luxburg ar 

8•ink without trace" :meSBagea. They were turniehed by the Britieh, -r01: the 

klorican crypt<>il"aphic bureau had as yet ~ been organized at tllat time. 

i'he f'1J.ea or the State Department contain several messaps in connection 

with this episode. Among them ia one dated September 18, 1917, to Dell 

(Secretar7, American. J!m.basa;y, London) tram. liarriaon (Secretary in the Diplo ... 

•tic Service, as&iilled to the Department later--1922--Assieta.nt Secretary 

or State) I in which Harrison transmitted the dates and initial groups ot 

aa messageo seut tram the Bvediah Foreign Of':f'ice I Stockholm, to the Swedish 

Lcption, Buenoo Aires a.Dd asked; nl'le8.Be let me know as aoan as ;poi.Bible 

U British authorities have copies of all. these meeaages, if they have been 

auccess.tuJ.1¥ treated, alld i:t' ao telegraph contents at earlieat poeBible 

moment.'' On September 19, :Bell replied as tollOW'S& 11Bwnbers 4, 5, ll, 16, 

17 1 18 and 22 are in 81.'ed.ish code and UDdecipherabJ.e here_..,,.... 

We shall see pr:esent.l:y that at the time or the Zimmermann Telegram episode 

the :British held back certain c.ryptoloe;ic detaila :t'rom the U .s. In. the case ot .. 

· the Sve41ah route did the :British tell Bell t.be trutbf wq tell him &Xl1'thin& 

rm 
REF ID:A63379 

address delivered on 6 IOYember 1925 b;y Lord :Bal.tour who, speaking at a l.uucheon 

&iven at Fdin'burgh Un1ver•1ty said,. as reported 1n The Scotsman at 7 November J.925: 

"The f'ollow1:ag a.tternoon Lord l3alf'our, aa Chancellor, apeaking &t 

the UniOJl luncheon 1n Mr. Baldwin' a honour, said that three dqs previously 

he would not bave ventured to tau.ch upon a topic which, up to that time,, 

had been an inviolable aecret. :But, in a magazine article,. then publ.ished 

tar the :f'irst time, there had appeared acme additional. letters at Mr. Walter 

Paae (the American Ambassador 1n Enaland during the moat critical. yea.rs at 

the Great War) which told how the Zimmermann telegrams had been discovered 

tbrough the Intelligence Service ot the British Admiralty. ll 

• 11 •The machinery,,• Lard BeJ.f'our cono1uded, ''bJ' which that discovery and 

Jll8Jl)" others Of vital. importance to the British Government vere made, was due 

to the admirable orp.nisation or which Sir AJ.f'red Ewing WU the author .. *" 

Soon we sball learn the pa.rt 13alf"our ~ in our story ot the Zimmerma.nn I ~ 

· Telegram.. Since then other accounts have appeared, perhaps the best and certainl.¥ 

the latest one being that in .Admiral Jaines' book, The ~s ot the Nay:y, which / ~- .- _._ __ I._.,._ .. ___ ....,__ 

.i:•ve already ment:_-.. -~=-~::tile -==-~ven in the l!eJl!rick 

account not anl7 'because it's pretty accurate 1 having been 'based upon certain 

telegrams exohansed between our ambassador in London and the Sta.te Department in 

Waahington, but &lllo because 1t 1a qU.1te dramatic. 

"One day, in the latter part ot February, 1917 1 J?ace vu requested to 

call upon Mr. Balf'our at the Foreign Office. Mr. :Bal.tour quietly handed 

the-.Ambaeaador a sheet at :pa.per--a document that, in its influence upon 

American. polic;y, proved to be the most senaational that the European War 

bad so far brousht forth. 'rhis pa.per contained the meseage that will be 

immortal a.a the Zinlnermann telegram. It disclosed the preparation Germany 

va.s making tor var W"ith tbe United States. :tt was & measap trom the 

German Foreign Of'f'ice in :Berlin to Von Eckhardt, the German Minister 1n the 

City at Mexico. As Germany had no aatia:tactory method ot cormnunica.ting with 

Mexico, thia telegram. bad been aent to Count :Bernatorf:f' in Washington, vi th 

inatructiona to forward it by' cable to the German. Minister in the Mexican 

Republic. This latter diplomat was directed to enter at once into negotiations 

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with Venuati&Do Carranza, l?rea14ent at Mexico, and to make an alliance with 

Mexico tar a joint German and Mexican invasion ot the United States. 

"In case this inVasion succeeded, Mexico was to obtain Texas, Nev 

Mexico, and Ar1zana.--terr1tory which she had lost to the United States as 

a result at the war at 1846, and which was now to be treated as a ltiD.d at 

Mexica.n Alsace-Lorraine and be "redeemed. 1

' The German plan also contemplated an attempt to detach Japan from her European allies and persuade 

her to Join the German-Mexican alliance. President Carranza., who, as 

subsequent events cUsclosed 1 looked not unfavorably upon this ambitious 

proposal., was the eame Carra.nza wham President Wilson had supported for the 

Mexican Presidency a.mong a :multitude at revolutionary candidates. Carranza. 

'Wiii"-Preaic\ent at Mexico,, indeed, as the reeult ot a. succession of events. 

that amounted al.most to American intervention. 

1

t&ge at once transmitted this inf'orma.tion to the Sta.te Department: 

SJOC:Rl!:?ARY 01!' STA'l'E1 

Washington. 

5746, Februa;cy 24. 

London 

Dated February 24, J.9J.7 

Rec 14 9 A.M. 

In about three hours I shall send a telegram ot great importance to the 

President and Secretary at State • 

SECRm'ARY OF STATE, 

Waahiqton. 

5747. February 24. 

My 5746. February 24. 

.Page to the President 

London 

Da.ted February 24, J.917 

Rec'd 8a3g P.M. 

CONPJDENTIAL FOR THE mESIDENT AND THE S~RE'l'ARY OF STA'l.'B. 

llal.:rour bas haxded me the text at a cipher telegram. from Zimmermann,, 

German Secretary ot State for Foreign Atfa.:trs, to the German Minister to 

Mexico, which waa sent vi& WaahiJlC'ton and relayed by l3ernstortt on Jal'luary 

l.9th. You can probably obtain a aopy or the text re1ayed b;y :Bernstort:f' 

f'rom the cabl.e of:f'ice in Washington. The ~irst group is the number ot the 

telegram, one hundred and thirty, and the second is thirteen thousand am 

tort7-tvo, indicating the number of the code used. The ls.st group but two 

it n1.nety-seven thousand five hundred and :f'1fty~six, which is Zinmer:mann•a 

sisnature. I shall s(?XJd ycu b;y mail a cow at the cipher text and at the 

4e-code into German e.Dd ioeanwhile I give :you the Eng1ish translation as 

f"ollow 1 

.. 23-

...... .....,.._ 

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''We intend to begin on the :tirst ~ February unreetr1cted 

eubma.r1De wartare. We shall. endeavor 1n apite or this to keep the United 

States ot .America neutra1. In the event of this not succeeding, we make 

Mexico a proposal or alliance on the f'ollow1ng basis: make war toaether, 

make :peace tasetber, generous :rinanoial. support an4 an understandin& Qt1 our 

part that Mexico 1e to reconquer the lost territory in Texas, New Mexico 

aud ArizODB.. '.rhe settl.ement in detail is left to you. You will Worm 

the President (that is, President Carranza at Mexico) of ~he above most 

secretly as soon as the outbreak at war V1th the United States of Aineri<."& 

is certain and add the suggestion that llc ahould, on his own initiative, 

invite Jpan to !mediate adherence and at the same time mediate between 

Ja:pe.n and ourselves. Please call. the :President's attention to the tact that 

the ruthless empla,yment at our su.bmrincs now orter& the prospect of compelling 

England in a tew months to make peace. 

"ZIMMERMANN." 

nThe receipt of this inf'at'mation has ao greatly exercised the British 

Government tllat they have 1ost no time in communicating it to me to transmit 

to ;you., in order that our government may be able v1thout delay to make such 

disposition as may be neoessar;y in view at the threatened invasion ot our 

territory. 

"The following paragraph is strictJ.y conf'idential.: 

nEarly in the war, the British Government obtained possession of a cop7 

or the German cipher code used in the above mesae.ge and have made it their 

bwsineas to obtain copies ~ Bernstorft'a cipber telegrams to Mexico, 

amonaat others, which are sent back to London and deciphered here. This 

accounts tor their being able to decipher this telegro.m. :from the German 

Government to their representative in Mexico, and also t~ the del.ay' from 

January 19th until nw in their receiving the in:f'ormation. Thi• syetem 

baa hitherto been a Jea1owsly guarded eecret alld is onJ.y divulged now to 

you by the British Govsrnment in viev o:t the extraordinary circumstances 

&lJd. their friendly :reeling tovard the United States. They earnestly request 

that you. will keep the source of your illtormation and the British Government•a 

method o:t obtaining it pt"ofoundl.y secret, but they put no prohibition on 

the publication ot Zimmerma.nn'a telegram itself'. 

"The copies at this and other telegrams were not obtained in Waehington 

but were bought ill. Mexico. 

111 ba.ve thanked l3ali'our tar the aervice bia aovernment has rendered 

us and suggest that a. private o:t'f'ici&l message at thanks from our government 

to him.woul.4 be beneficial. 

"I am inf'ormed that tbi• inf'ar:ma.tion has not yet been given to tbe 

Japanese Government, but I think it not unlikel.y that when it reaches them 

they may Jbake a publ.ic statement on it in order to clear up their position. rep:rd~ the United States and prove their ~ood f'aith to their allies .. 

PAGEu 

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veil of secrecy was lifted a bit by a story in the November issue of a now defunct 

American magazine called World's Work in which was published the final install-

' , ment of a book by Burton J. Hendrick entitled The Life and Letters of Walter H. 

; 'I 
lay beyond the REF ID:A63379 

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REF ID:A63379 

then and a little eseay, a.ll m..Tin.g to do vi th tbe Z1-erwann Telell"aa. Let 

• read ·a 'bit :trom his ls'ttera: