The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002 Page: 77
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harboring reservations, Texans were now predisposed toward the idea of
intervention against foreign powers.58
For the next few weeks, the major Texas dailies kept up a steady
drumbeat of stories linking Mexico with Germany. "It is not fantastic to
believe that much of the trouble we have had with Mexico has been the
result of German propaganda and German bribery," the Dallas Morning
News declared. The Houston and Dallas dailies stoked the fires, arguing
that the German intrigue in Mexico was but one example of the Central
Powers' efforts to take advantage of poorer, neutral nations. Front-page
editorial statements reinforced hostilities. The News carried a page-one
illustration of a German submarine sailing away from three sinking,
unarmed U.S. ships. The News stated that the Zimmermann affair was
the final "unprovoked act of aggression" and Americans should "recog-
nize the fact that Germany is already making war on the United States."
Berlin's efforts with Carranza's government and their "equally active"
efforts also aided Villa, the paper alleged. "It is not extravagant to think
that German agents have been financing Villa for a year or more, and
that his raid on Columbus is chargeable to German instigation.'""
President Wilson, who campaigned in 1916 on his ability to keep the
nation out of the European conflict, reversed his stance and asked
Congress to declare war on Germany in April 1917. The president listed
the Zimmermann telegram and its threats against U.S. security among
his reasons to abandon neutrality and enter the war. The president list-
ed many other reasons, but the one that mattered a great deal to most
Texans dealt with Germany's ties to the government in Mexico City.
Many believed that Germany, based on its record in Mexico, posed a
real threat as both an external and internal enemy. The San Antonio
Express noted that "Dr. Zimmermann's error" conclusively linked the
unpopular Mexican regime with Germany. "The quarrel is against the
Prussian government, not the German people," the Express editors
explained in their justification for Wilson's declaration of war. "It is not
a time for doubt or impatience as to the activities of the powers that be
at Washington," the Express concluded. Following release of the
Zimmermann telegram, Ellen Maury Slayden noted the grim tone of
" Dallas Morning News, Mar. 7, 1917, Brewing and Liquor Interests, 1581-1582, 1686-1689. In
the 1919 U.S. Senate hearings on Germany's influence on Mexico, the government provided
confirmation of German ownership of Mexican newspapers and the distribution of news from
the German Information Service as part of their attempts to influence the press and public opin-
ion in Mexico against the United States. However, the committee provided no assessment on the
direct impact of these German actions. German involvement in Mexican government and mili-
tary affairs dating back to the Plan of San Diego is still disputed by scholars who have examined
official documents relating to this era. See Coerver and Hall, "Huertistas and 'Huns,"' Texas and
theMexzcan Revolution, 109-122 and Harris and Sadler, Border and the Revolution, 71-133.
"Dallas Mornzng News, Mar 2, 12, 15, 20, 1917."L T" J7 TT 't 1 T-
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 105, July 2001 - April, 2002, periodical, 2002; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101222/m1/85/?q=%22oil-gas%22: accessed June 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Historical Association.