Which message, sent by Germany in 1917, encouraged Mexico to attack the United States and was intercepted by the U.S.?

• A. Morse Code Letter
• B. Zimmerman Telegram
• C. Black Hand Document
• D. Sykes-Picot Agreement

Answer: (B)

This question tests your knowledge of a famous World War I telegram and its impact on U.S. entry into the war. In 1917, Germany sent a coded message to Mexico offering a military alliance against the United States, promising to help Mexico recover Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona if it joined with Germany. The British intercepted and deciphered the telegram and shared it with the United States, and its publication helped shift American public opinion toward entering the war against Germany. That telegram is known as the Zimmerman Telegram.

Morse Code Letter is too vague and not tied to a specific historic incident; the Black Hand Document refers to the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, not a 1917 message to Mexico; the Sykes-Picot Agreement was a 1916 secret treaty outlining postwar Middle Eastern influence, not a telegram to Mexico.