Not much, apparently,
"Arthur Zimmermann
The German foreign minister responsible for the 1917 Zimmermann telegram, which attempted to coerce Mexico into attacking the United States in exchange for financial incentives and a military alliance between Mexico and Germany. The exposure of Zimmermann’s communiqué was a major factor provoking the United States into declaring war on Germany."
"To prevent his ousting and to detach his own fate from the chancellor’s, Zimmermann quickly had to find a way to prove his loyalty to the military and to demonstrate his support for unrestricted
submarine warfare, preferably before its resumption on 1 February. It is in this particular environment of distrust, intrigue and tilt towards military rule in Germany that the fateful “Zimmermann telegram” was concocted.
Zimmermann’s closest advisers at the Foreign Office at the time were Hans Arthur von Kemnitz, counselor (Referent) on Latin American and East Asian affairs, and Count Adolph von Montgelas,
counselor on Mexican and North American affairs. Generally speaking, Kemnitz was a conservative Prussian whose views conformed closely to those of the military, whileMontgelas was a Bavarian of French descent with a liberal outlook.
There are many indications that it was Kemnitz who invented the Mexican alliance scheme. Shortly after the publication of the Zimmermann telegram, Bethmann Hollweg’s secretary recorded in his diary: “Das hat Kemnitz gemacht, dieser phantastische Idiot...”
Zimmermann himself later stated that the telegram had originated “in the brain of some minor official of the German Foreign Office, apparently a reference to his former counselor on Latin American and East Asian affairs. Kemnitz himself admitted his authorship of the Zimmermann telegram in the press after the war."
2007-11-16 13:43:58
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answer #1
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answered by johnslat 7
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Nothing. Even before the outbreak of WWI, Kaiser Wilhelm's foreign relations and intelligence operations were out of his hands and beyond his control.
2007-11-17 00:32:56
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answer #2
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answered by Pink_Pirate 3
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