It would seem that the events of both world wars are known to us as two times two. But this is far from the case. The First World War is full of mysteries and "dark spots". Today we will tell only about some of them …
Squadron death
The death of Admiral von Spee's German squadron off the Falkland Islands still raises many questions. It is quite possible that this disaster was the result of a skillfully carried out operation by the British special services …
With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the German naval command sent a squadron to the Pacific Ocean under the command of the experienced Admiral Count Maximilian von Spee. The task of the squadron was simple - to act on the enemy's Pacific communications.
At first, the Germans were lucky - on November 1, 1914, off the Chilean coast, Admiral von Spee sank the British cruisers Good Hope and Monmouth. But then the commander received a coded telegram from the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Tirpitz. The minister ordered Spee to go to the North Sea to join the main forces of the Kaiser's fleet. At first, Spee followed the order exactly. His ships, having rounded Cape Horn, quietly entered the Atlantic.
Now the Germans had to follow to the north, to their home bases. But to everyone's surprise at the council of war, Spee announces his decision to attack the British harbor of Port Stanley, located in the Falkland Islands. The ship captains were perplexed. They made it clear to their commander that this goal did not justify the risk to which the squadron would be exposed. But Spee was adamant.
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Battle of the Falkland Islands
On the morning of December 8, 1914, von Spee's squadron approached the Falkland Islands. And then on the horizon the Germans saw British battle cruisers. The impression was that the British knew in advance when and where their enemy would be, and therefore acted for sure. The outcome of the meeting was a foregone conclusion. After a short battle, all four German cruisers went to the bottom. The losses of the Germans amounted to more than 2,000 sailors and officers, led by Admiral von Spee himself.
Subsequently, Admiral Tirpitz wondered: “What made Spee go to the Falkland Islands? Why did such an experienced and cautious admiral make such a risky decision? " Kaiser Wilhelm II himself wrote on the margin of the unfortunate battle report: "The reason that prompted Spee to attack the Falkland Islands is still a mystery."
It is possible that the British secret services had a hand in this story. Historians have good reason to believe that, shortly before the battle, Spee received a coded telegram signed by the Berlin authorities (from the Minister of the Navy or the Naval Headquarters) with the following content: “There is no enemy on the Falkland Islands. Follow to Port Stanley, destroy coastal facilities, capture prisoners if possible, and then go home. The text could be different, but its essence was in the key phrase - there is no enemy. Only in this case, it becomes clear Spee's sudden decision to attack Port Stanley with a minimum of ammunition.
Fake order
The order that the squadron was to attack the Falklands was bogus. The British simply used the German cipher in this case and, on behalf of the German Naval Headquarters, sent the squadron into a trap. But where did the British get the secret German codes?
Russia helped the British to acquire such "deadly" information. In August 1914, the German cruiser Magdeburg, which was conducting reconnaissance off the coast of the Russian Empire, crashed in the Baltic.
“The Russians fished out the body of a drowned German junior officer from the water,” Winston Churchill later wrote in his memoirs. - With the numb hands of a dead man, he clutched the code books of the German Navy to his chest. On September 6, a Russian naval attaché came to visit me. The Russians believed that the English Admiralty should have had these books. So we half a mile from the hands of our loyal allies priceless documents ….
The British immediately transferred the documents from the cruiser "Magdeburg" into the hands of specialists from the famous "Room 40" (Room 40). This was the conventional name of the decryption center of the British Admiralty.
Soon all the codes of the German Navy were deciphered. The German fleet was completely defenseless against the threat of any provocative British special operation. And the first victim of the special services of the British fleet was the Spee squadron.
USA biding their time
The British were playing a win-win game. Sending a fake encryption program, the British "experts" understood that Spee could neither double-check nor clarify it - his squadron had already entered the ocean. And on the high seas, he had no right to go on air, since he had to remain secretive. It is clear that a disciplined German admiral will not dare to violate the order of his superiors, even if he himself seems insane. And so it happened. The Germans fell into a trap set by the British. The squadron of Admiral Spee ceased to exist …
But the struggle continued. By the beginning of 1917, the situation on the fronts of the First World War was static and bleak. Two hostile groupings of powers grappled in mortal combat. But neither the Entente (Great Britain, France, Russia), nor the countries of the Quadruple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria) could receive a decisive advantage.
In such a situation, the position of the United States, the only great power that still remained neutral, was of great importance. Whoever the States will support will be the winner.
The Entente countries would very much like to attract the Americans to their side - after all, this would radically change the balance of power! And American President Woodrow Wilson was inclined to war on the side of the Entente: the destruction of Germany as a great power was in line with American interests. But the trouble is - ordinary Americans did not want to hear about participation in this, as they thought, a purely European "mess". But here the Germans themselves committed a fantastic stupidity, which turned out to be truly fatal for the Kaiser Germany. As the Americans like to say, "they shot themselves in the leg."
Room 40
In February 1917, a secret telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Ambassador to Mexico was laid on the table of the US President. This telegram was intercepted and decrypted by the same British cryptographic department, codenamed "Room 40", and then "kindly provided" for review by the US authorities.
The content of the telegram was shocking. German Foreign Minister; Affairs proposed to Mexican President Carranza to declare war on the United States. So - no more and no less! For such a heroic act, Germany promised Mexico an increment in the form of its former territories, which by that time had already become US states. Texas, New Mexico and Arizona must once again return “under the wing of their mother,” Mexico. Wilson and the entire upper American establishment could not believe their eyes. What is this - a joke, a hoax, a prank? What a politician being. in his right mind, can write this? Seriously offer Mexico, which is hundreds of times weaker than the United States of America in all respects, to attack its powerful neighbor! Moreover, to attack alone - for the Germans could not provide any military or material assistance to her. The seas were dominated by the British fleet,who kept Germany itself in a hunger blockade.
Sometimes chewing is better than talking …
At first, Wilson did not believe it - he decided that this was a gross provocation by the British, who were trying to drag America into the war at any cost. But the British provided proof: no, not a provocation - the telegram was genuine. Then Wilson ordered to publish the text of the telegram in print.
When the text of Zimmerman's dispatch appeared on the pages of American newspapers, a real storm of indignation arose in the country. The insidiousness and villainy of the Germans was revealed in all its glory. However, here and there there were notes of doubt: “Yes, full! Is it possible? Is there some kind of falsification here? It all looks too incredible."
And then Zimmermann hammered the last nail into the lid of the coffin of the Second Reich. Instead of calmly denying the telegram's authenticity, the German minister decided to explain himself. Yes, the telegram is genuine, - said Zimmerman, - but look, I wrote it all in a conventional mood! If the US declares war on Germany, if Carranza agrees, etc.
In general, the well-known phrase from the advertisement was fully justified here: "Sometimes it is better to chew than to speak." All these many "ifs" did not convince the Americans in the least. They firmly understood one thing: Germany is openly calling for an attack on the territory of the United States! After that, Wilson no longer needed to convince anyone. As contemporaries noted: “Before the publication of Zimmerman's dispatch, 90 percent of Americans did not want war. After publication - 90 percent began to want it."
The bourgeois is worse than a degenerate
Later, when Germany was in ruins, German journalists joked bitterly. They say that the opposition has always reproached the German imperial government for the fact that it appoints exclusively aristocrats to diplomatic posts, but the "third estate" in this area is closed. And what? As an experiment, Zimmerman, a native of the bourgeoisie, was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. So he did such nonsense, which would not be done by the most degenerate aristocrat.
The realization of this erroneous personnel decision came for the Germans, alas, too late. Until then … In April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. Hundreds of thousands of fresh American soldiers began to arrive on the European continent, radically changing the situation on the Western Front. In November 1918, Kaiser's Germany capitulated.
Journal: War and Fatherland No. 2 (43). Author: Dmitry Petrov