Entramados
Germany and Japan in American press discourse: From the Columbus raid to the Zimmermann Telegram
Kevin Eduardo Erives Chaparro
Published
December 26, 2025
Keywords
- American press,
- Columbus (New Mexico),
- Germany,
- Japan,
- Mexican Revolution
- United States,
- Zimmermann Telegram ...More
How to Cite
Erives Chaparro, K. E. (2025). Germany and Japan in American press discourse: From the Columbus raid to the Zimmermann Telegram. Letras Históricas E-ISSN: 2448-8372, (31), 25 pp. Retrieved from https://letrashistoricas.cucsh.udg.mx/index.php/LH/article/view/7507
Copyright (c) 2025 Kevin Eduardo Erives Chaparro
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Abstract
This article analyzes how the U.S. press between 1916 and 1919 constructed the alleged German intervention in Mexico behind Francisco Villa’s raid on Columbus and later in connection with the Zimmermann Telegram. Drawing on a qualitative analysis of news reports, opinion pieces, and editorials from a selection of U.S. newspapers, it examines the narrative frameworks through which Germany, Mexico, and Japan were represented as potential partners in a war alliance against the United States. The study shows that these newspapers almost unanimously treated German involvement in the Columbus raid as plausible or self-evident, and then retrospectively read the Zimmermann Telegram as definitive proof of a broader conspiracy orchestrated from Berlin. Rather than determining whether such intervention actually occurred, the article focuses on how this press discourse linked the Mexican Revolution to the First World War, legitimized U.S. security concerns on the southern border, and helped shape public perceptions of Germany and Japan as coordinated external threats.References
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