China Denies Plan to Hack into U.S. Computers CNN Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Eavesdropping a Quiet Menace The Carlisle Sentinel Take a look at an interesting article we found.
German Court Limits Cyberspying The BBC Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Prime Minister to Address Spying Charges Grenada Broadcasting Network Take a look at an interesting article we found.
 by nachista |
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 by J. Peterman |
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 by nachista |
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March 06, 2008
Remember the Zimmerman Telegram? The diplomatic note passed between Germany and Mexico during World War I. Brought the U.S. into the fray. Set the course for the rest of the 20th century.
We have the Brits to thank for all this.
It was January 1917. Britain, France and Germany had been slaughtering each other on the Western Front for going on three years. Cut off by a British naval blockade, Germany decided to unleash its U-boats on North Atlantic shipping. The U.S., meanwhile, was still heeding George Washington's admonishment about "foreign entanglements."
So on Jan. 16, 1917, German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman sent a telegram to Heinrich von Eckhardt, Germany's ambassador to Mexico, which said, in part:
"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 of 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."
How do we know all this? British Intelligence had not only broken the German code, they were also spying on the Americans.
As a symbol of its neutrality, the U.S. was allowing Germany to use its secure diplomatic cable to send messages from Berlin to the German Embassy in Washington. So the Germans thought it was a safe way to send the message - first to Washington by diplomatic cable, then by Western Union to Mexico City using an old German code.
So if the Brits were listening to U.S. diplomatic communications, why is it called "the Zimmerman Telegram"? This is where it gets interesting.
The cable was good news for the British. They'd long wanted to lure the U.S. into the war, tilting the balance in their favor. The communiqué would do just that. But they had to do it without letting the Germans know they'd cracked their code, and without letting the Americans know they'd been eavesdropping.
So they contacted one of their spies in Mexico City, "Mr. H." (his true identity is still unknown). He bribed someone in the Western Union office in Mexico City. It was the perfect solution.
The Americans were already angered by German U-boats attacks on their ships. With the Zimmerman Telegram in hand, it was easy for President Woodrow Wilson, who'd been elected on the slogan, "He kept us out of the war," to do an about-face.
The Zimmerman Telegram was released to the public on Feb. 26, 1917. On April 6, the U.S. declared war on Germany and General Pershing started packing his bags for Europe.
Now I don't bring all this up as a way of endorsing or criticizing any country's spying efforts. As the curator of our little endeavor here, that's not my job.
But given the current goings-on, it does, regardless of your politics, make for interesting observations. Don't you think?
Share the Eye:
Salient Tours www.salienttours.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
The Western Front Association WFA Take a look at an interesting article we found.
International Spy Museum spymuseum.org Take a look at an interesting article we found.
House Dems Near Surrender on Bush Spying Huffington Post Take a look at an interesting article we found.
The Zimmerman Telegram is interesting for what it left out -- California. It's interesting to n...
Mar. 06, 2008 6:55 PM
Should we spy on our friends, as well as our enemies?
11% 11% 78%
TeamCosmo said...
It's amazing how 1 bribe can change the entire course of history. I think that it just goes to show that the outcome of war or any situation, for that matter, can not be predicted based on the information that appears itself. You never know what's going happen.
Whatever has to be done I say..."for the greater good..." ....not really though. I am one of the few that think sometimes you can have too much information...and the means by which some people obtain it is cruel and unusual punishment...don't we have better things to do in our own country with our own money??
thecatalyst said...
I like Texas. I'm glad it's still ours. Better that we were let in on this bit of information, even if it had to come through the mysterious "Mr. H.".
Having people in our country like "Mr. H" is the reason why we are such a superpower in today’s society! Can you imagine what would have happened if he did not step in and just as stated above "change the course of history with one single bribe."? I believe that we would have a few less states and one less republican presidential nominee, considering of course that Mr. McCain is from the great state of Arizona. Now granted I am a pretty hardcore Democrat, I respect Mr. McCain and his upcoming challenges in the general election. Back on track... "Mr. H" our 007 of the 20th century, did a great thing and perhaps saved a great portion of the America we know today... quite literally. Mr. H, a man whom I would love to have met, but of course in complete secrecy.
The Zimmerman Telegram is interesting for what it left out -- California. It's interesting to note that a possible alliance between FARC in Columbia and Chavez in Venezuela has been discovered in the emails on a laptop captured in a raid on FARC in Ecuador by Columbian troops.
Actually, I'm interested in how FARC gets a laptop to work in the Ecuadorian jungle? Sounds like a great wireless system. Perhaps it's the same one that Bin Laden uses in his cave in the mountains of Afghanistan (or Pakistan) for his Mad Mahdi ramblings. I admire Mr H., but where's Errol Flynn and the Bengal Lancers when you need them?
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