World War 1 Strange Facts: How Mexico Almost Made An Alliance With Germany Against The US!

Today marks 100 years since the outbreak of World War 1. 1914 to 1918 when the Great War ended, were an exeptionally turbulent time in Europe. However, they were also extremely tumultuous for Mexico, which was embroiled in the Mexican Revolution. The allies, France, Britain and Russia fought the Axis of Power: Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) and Bulgaria. Meanwhile, on this side of the Pacific, various leaders fought a bloody battle for control of Mexico.

In 1917, following elections, Venustiano Carranza became president of Mexico and created a new constitution, which enshrined individual rights, sovereignty of the resources of the nation and the rights of peasants and workers. By then the Germans, under the rule of Kaiser Wilhelm II sought an ally in America to weaken the US: Mexico. According to CNN, German secret agents approached the exiled former president Victoriano Huerta who agreed to help them if they would aid him to overcome Carranza - Mexico would end up allied with Germany against US.

Huerta traveled from Spain to the U.S., but was arrested and locked up in a Texas prison where he later died. The Germans gave up and sought an alliance with Pancho Villa who, with German weapons, attacked Columbus, New Mexico, prompting the U.S. military to enter Mexico to search for Villa unsuccessfully. Then came a third attempt. On January 16, 1917, the Foreign Secretary of the German Empire, Arthur Zimmermann sent a telegram to the German ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt, to seek a rapprochement with the government of Carranza.

In the famous telegram, the German government asked its ambassador to speak with Carranza to convince Mexico to go to war with the U.S., and in return, Germany would inject funds into the Mexican economy and would return to Mexico the states of Arizona, Texas and New Mexico, lost in the war of 1847. When Venustiano Carranza learned of the German offer, he organized a special commission to investigate the matter and make a decision.

Regaining lost territory would have been a good opportunity for the country, but that would mean war with the United States at a time when Mexico still faced internal division, so Carranza refused. 1918 was the year the Austro-Hungarian Empire was defeated. The United States intervened militarily in the war, which allowed for the final Allied victory. The Great War ended on 11 November at 11am. In Mexico, Carranza ruled with a new constitution. By 1919 the United States had recognized his government and it seemed that after nine years of unrest the country was headed for peace.