Petaluma’s Past: The Zimmermann Telegraph Plot of 1917
If you haven’t already head this story, it will astound you.
In 1917, Germany was 2½ years into what would eventually be labeled WWI. America was staying out of it. Even Woodrow Wilson’s election slogan for his up-coming second term was that he would “keep us out of the war.” But in January of 1917, Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare against Britain with submarines newly named “U-Boats,” and subsequently, 7,000 ships would be sunk by them.
Then, on Jan. 17, President Wilson made a speech in the Senate proclaiming, “World peace can only be established in the event that the present war in Europe ends in peace, without victory.” (Insert question mark here). Our Petaluma Argus Editor Emmett Olmsted, then opined, “We imagine that speech (Wilson’s), will be received with no respect from England, France, Russia, Japan and Italy.”
He sure had that right.
That same month, an amazing encoded telegraph from German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann was sent to the German Ambassador in Mexico, proposing, “We shall endeavor to keep the US neutral, but in the event of this not succeeding, we make Mexico a proposal of alliance. Make war together, make peace together, generous financial support and an understanding on our part, that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. You will inform the President of Mexico (most secretly), as soon as the outbreak of war with the U.S.A. and add that he should invite Japan to immediate adherence and mediate between Japan and ourselves.”
Can you believe that?
Well, it obviously didn’t work out that way. But a lot more happened when the Brits decoded it and sent it on to Wilson, all hell broke loose in Washington.
Let’s look closer at the world in the year 1917.
The Mexican Revolution was winding down and our General Pershing was pulling out of Mexico, giving up the hunt for Pancho Villa. Czar Nicholas II of Russia abdicated, thus ending 196 years of the Russian Empire, as the Russian civil war raged. The Brits captured Baghdad from the Ottomans, Puerto Rico and the Marshall Islands became US protectorates, China declared war on Germany, Britain established Palestine as a Nation for the Jewish people, and The Ukraine was declared a Republic.
What could go wrong?
All the while, our country was in war preparedness mode.
But on Feb. 1, our Argus Editor Olmsted was optimistically opining that Germany’s increased U-Boat campaign could be heralding “the beginning of the end” of the war and may actually be “a silver lining.”
The following day, London announced that 17 ships had been sunk. A US torpedo boat was sent to patrol the Golden Gate, troops were sent to guard the armory at Benicia, all passports of those trying to get to Germany were confiscated, naval guns were affixed upon all merchant ships and German ships attempting to enter the Panama Canal were seized. War had not yet been officially declared, but we were on war footing, for sure.
British code breakers have said this about the Zimmermann telegraph.
“Never before, or since, has so much turned upon the solution of one secret message.”
The message was shown to President Wilson on Feb 24, 1917, then released to the American public on March 1. The US formally declared war on April 6 and Wilson’s “Armed Neutrality” idea was over and gone. That Zimmermann telegraph had been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
In Petaluma, both the Argus and the Courier began lobbying for our National Guard Company K to mobilize, and a recruitment meeting was held at Petaluma’s Dreamland Skating Rink. 200 young men showed up, eager to supplement the 14 active guard members of that time. Editor Olmsted then warned, “It is probably true that we will not have use for land forces in any contest with Germany, but there is the ever present menace of Mexico and the men of Japan.”
Fear was afoot.
The March 2 Argus headline had been, in all caps, “GERMANY PLOTS WITH MEXICO AND JAPAN AGAINST THE U.S.” with the subtitle, “Mexico to receive financial support and to recover Texas, New Mexico and Arizona provinces.” However, in a timely message, the following day, US Secretary of State Lansing exonerated the Japanese in any plot to defect from our alliance.
On March 3, Berlin admitted the plot lines, saying, “Well, the US had tried to ally South America against them.” They added that “It (the plot), was only in the event of war with the US.” On March 9, Berlin denied paying money to Mexico.
So much for diplomacy.
Our Argus cautioned, “War with Germany means that an immense army must be acquired.” And then, on May 26, the paper announced, “The gloomy fact that a state of war exists, has now been brought home to us. The National Guard has been placed under arms and orders have been issued to recruit their companies to full strength.” The U.S. had started official conscription on June 5 and then it all officially had become WWI.
In other news of the year 1917, escape artist Harry Houdini was performing his magic, Buffalo Bill Cody passed away at age 72, the beautiful German spy Mata Hari was executed in Paris and Woman’s Suffrage was approved in New York State.
Sebastopol, California got a railroad depot (now The West County Museum), Santa Rosa Junior College was under organization to open the following year and San Francisco enacted a drive against prostitution, closing down over 200 “house,”, thus putting thousands of ladies out on the cold, cold streets. The hot novel of ’17 was “Sherlock Holmes” by Arthur Conan Doyle, the top movie was “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” and “The Tiger Rag” was the No. 1 hit song.
Other names in the news were Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Al Capone, T.E. Lawrence, Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Woolf, Georgia O’Keefe, Mack Sennett and a bevy of actors with memorably colorful names like Theda Bara, Zasu Pitts, Pola Negri and “Fatty” Arbuckle.
And, in little Petaluma California, a young architect named Brainerd Jones was busy making a national name for himself.
So it wasn’t all bad news in 1917.
Just mostly.
(Skip Sommer is an honorary lifetime member of the Petaluma Histoical Museum and Heritage Homes. You can reach him at skip@hotmail.com)
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