<P> Popular sentiment in the United States at that time was anti-Mexican as well as anti-German, while in Mexico there was considerable anti-American sentiment . General John J. Pershing had long been chasing the revolutionary Pancho Villa and carried out several cross-border raids . News of the telegram further inflamed tensions between the United States and Mexico . </P> <P> On the other hand, there was also a notable anti-British sentiment in the United States, particularly among German - and Irish - Americans . Many Americans wished to avoid the conflict in Europe . Since the public had been told (untruthfully) that the telegram had been stolen in a deciphered form in Mexico, the message was widely believed at first to be an elaborate forgery perpetrated by British intelligence . This belief, which was not restricted to pacifist and pro-German lobbies, was promoted by German and Mexican diplomats and by some American newspapers, especially the Hearst press empire . This presented the Wilson administration with a dilemma . With the evidence the United States had been provided confidentially by the British, Wilson realized the message was genuine--but he could not make the evidence public without compromising the British codebreaking operation . </P> <P> Any doubts as to the authenticity of the telegram were removed, however, by Arthur Zimmermann himself . First at a press conference on 3 March 1917, he told an American journalist, "I cannot deny it . It is true ." Then, on 29 March 1917, Zimmermann gave a speech in the Reichstag in which he admitted the telegram was genuine . Zimmermann hoped Americans would understand the idea was that Germany would only fund Mexico's war with the United States in the prior event of American entry into World War I . </P> <P> On 1 February 1917, Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare against all ships in the Atlantic bearing the American flag, both passenger and merchant ships . Two ships were sunk in February, and most American shipping companies held their ships in port . Besides the highly provocative war proposal to Mexico, the telegram also mentioned "ruthless employment of our submarines ." Public opinion demanded action . Wilson had previously refused to assign US Navy crews and guns to the merchant ships . However, once the Zimmermann note was public, Wilson called for arming the merchant ships, but anti-war elements in the United States Senate blocked his proposal . </P>

What message did the german admiralty declaration sent to the world