A Brief History On March 1, 1917, one of the most provocative diplomatic messages known to history was disseminated in the American press, the so-called Zimmerman Telegram, sent by Germany to Mexico in January of 1917 and intercepted by the British who dutifully relayed the shocking message to American President Woodrow Wilson. An aghast and angry Wilson wanted to release the contents of the message to the world and the American people immediately but held the news until March 1, 1917. An outraged American public learned of German designs on the American mainland and the telegram was largely responsible for spurring the United States to declare war on the Central Powers, effectively spelling the doom of the Central Powers’ prospects for victory in World War I. While this document revealed German hopes of allying with a Latin American country late in the war to help that country conquer some U.S. territory, did any of the Central Powers ever want to themselves actually conquer any parts of Latin America before or during the Great War?