Bernstorff’s telegram No. 205 (1917) — key from the printed text, partial

At a glanceKey from external plaintext · partial (21% of the cipher)

The telegram: Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, German ambassador in Washington, to the Auswärtiges Amt, 10 January 1917. The State Department sent it on 11 January to its embassy in Berlin: “Please deliver following cipher to Foreign Office, from German Ambassador here”.
Where: National Archives (NARA), RG 59, State Department decimal file 763.72111/4443, microfilm M367 roll 166, frames 0785 and 0786 (naId 27179174). Catalogue entry 657.
The cipher: A two-part (randomised) code of four-figure groups; a five-figure group is a prefix figure on a four-figure base group. 577 groups in all, of which groups 0–146 are telegram No. 205 and groups 147–576 a second text.
How it was deciphered: Bernstorff printed the German text of No. 205 in 1920. Aligned with the groups, it fixes 82 code groups; every group that repeats does so where the printed word repeats, and a blind alignment test beats 2,000 shuffles and two control texts.
What it says: Bernstorff has handed Lansing the memorandum on armed merchant ships, and warns that acting on it will bring a break with the United States unless Berlin waits for agreement with Washington.
Still open: The second text (430 groups; 69 match known groups, no sentence can be built), the five head groups and the end group of No. 205, and five runs inside it whose split is not fixed.
Credit: Transcription, the identification of the ciphertext as telegram No. 205, the alignment and the controls by WAINUT (contributed 27 October 2026), done with AI language-model agents; a second agent re-checked about 117 groups on the full-resolution scans and redid the alignment with its own code. The plaintext is Bernstorff’s own print of 1920.

01 The document

On 10 January 1917 Bernstorff handed the Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, a German memorandum on the armed merchant ships of the Entente, and asked the State Department to cable a cipher message to Berlin for him. Lansing’s letter of the same day (FRUS 1917, Supplement 1, doc. 75, filed as 763.72111/4443) at first refused, and names two subjects: “the new offensive armament of the merchant vessels of the Entente powers, and also my note of December 18 relative to peace terms”. A footnote adds that the message was sent the following day. It is the same State Department channel the Zimmermann telegram used five days later.

The file holds the message as the State Department typed it for the cable: two sheets of figures, marked “1.” and “2.”, the second ending “DEPARTMENT OF STATE JAN 11 1917 APPROVED Robert Lansing”. Frames 0787–0789 are Lansing’s note and the “TELEGRAM SENT” form of 11 January; frames 0769–0775 and 0778–0784 are the memorandum in clear and its translation.

Typed sheet headed 1. with thirteen rows of four- and five-figure code groups, beginning 958 677 728 229 0705 1166 0352 7031 1515 6147 — Sheet 1, rows 1–13: telegram No. 205, from the head 958 677 728 229 0705 and 1166 0352 7031 (Memorandum Lansing überreicht) to its last group 0278 and the first group of the second text, 6497. The clerk underlined the four-figure tail of several five-figure groups (54873, 71621, 11374, 61166). Image: National Archives (NARA), RG 59 763.72111/4443, M367 roll 166 frame 0785, via catalog.archives.gov.

The sheets carry 577 groups: 505 of four figures, 67 of five, 4 of three (the head) and 1 of six (group 377, 108609, doubtful). The catalogue’s “about 150 groups” was too low, and frame 0786 is sheet 2, not a reversed image: the reversed figures in its margin show through from sheet 1. The typeface confuses 5, 6 and 8; on the full-resolution scans group 20 is 8918 and group 40 88789. An independent re-reading of about 117 groups agreed on 116. The pencil tallies in the margin are a count for charging.

02 Two texts in one cable

Groups 0–146 are Bernstorff’s telegram No. 205. He printed its German text in Deutschland und Amerika (Berlin 1920), pp. 325–326, as “Ziffertelegramm, Washington, den 10. Januar 1917. Antwort auf Telegramm 148”; the English is in Official German Documents relating to the World War (Carnegie Endowment 1923), vol. II, p. 1017, no. 56, received in Berlin on 14 January. Neither print mentions the ciphertext or gives a code group.

Groups 147–576 are a second text in the same code. It does not fit No. 205 (section 05). It is probably the part on the American note of 18 December 1916 on peace terms, the second subject in Lansing’s letter; that is not confirmed. The memorandum in clear on frames 0769–0775, which the catalogue suggested as a crib, is what No. 205 reports on, not its text.

03 The code

Two-part code. The recovered groups follow no alphabetical order: aber 8335, alles 4349, Amerikaner 7294, auf 8693, bis 7424, Bruch 4879, Da 9793, daß 8172. Groups run 0000–9999 with leading zeros kept.
Prefix figures. A five-figure group is a prefix figure plus a four-figure base group. In 21 of the 67 five-figure groups the last four figures also occur as a group on their own; chance gives about 2.2, and the first four figures do so in only 2. So 86699 vorgegangen (6699 Vorgehen), 88789 herbeigeführt (8789 herbeiführen), 11374 hiesigen Regierung (1374 hiesiger Regierung), 61166 des Memorandums (1166 Memorandum). Prefix 8 for a past participle rests on two cases; prefix 5 in 54873 (Vereinigten Staaten) has no known meaning.
Several groups for the full stop. The eight sentence ends of No. 205 carry 1515, 3377, 0404, 1515, 3377, 0404, 1724, 1515.
Which code. It is not code 13040, whose text of the Zimmermann telegram is mostly five-figure groups between 10000 and 24000. It fits the published description of code 0075, a two-part code of 10,000 groups held at the Washington embassy in January 1917, as quoted second-hand from Kahn. No 0075 indicator is visible, so the attribution is probable, not proven.

04 Telegram No. 205

The 82 base groups are in codebook.tsv, each with the positions that fix it and a grade (C: from the known plaintext and consistent at every occurrence; M: uncertain). 120 of the 147 groups of No. 205 have a value of their own. The passage below runs from “Hierzu muß aber jedenfalls” to “Davon abgesehen”:

Hierzu muß aber jedenfalls [der] hiesigen Regierung Zeit gelassen werden. Da alles [7918] von Wilson entschieden wird, ist Besprechung mit Lansing reine Formsache. Er antwortet niemals, bis er Instruktionen von Wilson hat. Im vorliegenden Fall muß letzterer erst Denkschrift lesen.

“For this, however, the government here must in any case be given time. Since everything is decided by Wilson, a discussion with Lansing is a mere formality. He never answers until he has instructions from Wilson. In the present case the latter must first read the memorandum.” Bernstorff warns that acting on the memorandum will wreck Wilson’s peace mediation and lead to a break with the United States unless Berlin waits for agreement in Washington, and suggests that Americans might be warned against serving on armed ships. Germany announced unrestricted U-boat warfare on 31 January 1917; the United States broke off relations on 3 February.

The full German and English texts, with every hole marked, are given below under Full texts. Words in [?…] there come from the 1920 print and sit on runs of groups whose split is not fixed; they are not decoded from the groups.

05 Why the alignment holds

Every code group that recurs in groups 0–146 recurs where the printed text repeats the word, and none is contradicted: 0352 Lansing (6, 84); 2373 Wilson (18, 78, 96, 112); 7937 mit (five times); 9699 wird (five times); 0197 von (77, 95, 118); 6918 7437 im Sinne (12, 141); 2396 2772 Friedensvermittlung (16, 113); 4879 7937 (5)4873 Bruch mit Vereinigten Staaten (24, 132), among others.

A blind test that does not use the alignment maps cipher position p of groups 5–145 to word position p·160/141 of the printed German (160 tokens). A repeated group scores when all its occurrences fall within ±w words of one shared word:

window	No. 205 against groups 5–145	control: No. 212 text	control: No. 205 against part 2 blocks	2,000 shuffles (mean / max)
±6	23/25	8/25	7/19, 7/16, 8/16	0.43 / 0.76
±3	20/25	4/25	3/19, 2/16, 5/16	0.17 / 0.44
±2	16/25	2/25	0/19, 0/16, 3/16	0.10 / 0.32

No shuffle reached the observed score at any window (p < 0.0005). The No. 212 control is the opening of Bernstorff’s cipher telegram of 16 January 1917 from the same book. The letter-level statistical check (docs/_validate.py) returns “underdetermined”, as expected for a whole-word code with 1.38 tokens per type: swapping word values of equal length still yields German words, so the alignment test is the one that fits this code.

06 The second text

Filling in the groups already fixed by No. 205 gives values to 69 of the 430 groups of the second text (16.0%), nearly all function words (ich, daß, hat, auf, für, Wilson, Friedens-). No sentence can be built and no plaintext is claimed. The second text opens 6497 8511, and the same pair recurs at groups 277–278 (with 96497 and 98511 elsewhere), perhaps a heading or a formula. The run 8769 3865 2452 occurs twice (507–509, 512–514).

07 What remains uncertain

Groups 147–576, the second text: 430 groups, 361 without a value. No printed or archival plaintext was found. The next step is a sibling crib: German telegrams sent by the same State Department route in December 1916 and January 1917, first catalogue entry 635 (Foreign Office to Bernstorff, 5 December 1916). A Room 40 decrypt (TNA HW 7, ADM 137) or the Auswärtiges Amt file copy would also serve; neither was checked.
The head 958 677 728 229 0705 (probably “Antwort auf Telegramm 148”) and the end group 0278 (perhaps the signature): no value.
Runs whose split is not fixed, with the words taken from the print, not decoded: groups 19–23 (0280 8918 8559 92312 5180, “zum Scheitern bringen und statt dessen”), 28–30 (8584 0441 4171, “wenn nicht mindestens so lange”), 59–63 (8951 73169 0358 0411 7599, “welche zu Angriffszwecken bewaffnet sind”) and 125–131 (6436 0089 5051 5052 6011 1878 7325, “muß ich pflichtgemäß bestimmt erklären, daß ich”). The last run contains none of the known groups for muß, ich or daß, so the cipher words it differently from the print or uses other forms.
Grade M (uncertain): 1354 0321 “aus nicht ermessen” (split doubtful); 8096 unvermeidlich (doubtful reading of its figures); 0498 jedenfalls (der?); 06887 Instruktionen; 4118 vorliegenden; 1724 stop or paragraph; 71621 zu nehmen (placed by position only).
7918 at group 76 has no word in the print.
Readings of the figures: group 447 is 28648 or 26648; group 377 108609 is doubtful; 06887, 4118 and 0089 fit the glyph forms but are not certain.
The novelty is qualified: no decipherment of this ciphertext and no group of this code were found in print, and the link between 763.72111/4443 and telegram No. 205 is not made in FRUS, Bernstorff or the Official German Documents. The search was light; Boghardt, The Zimmermann Telegram (2012), was not consulted.

Full texts

The transcription and the decryption of every document on this page, so that the reading can be used and checked. Short files are shown here; all are in the repository.

Telegram No. 205, Washington, 10 Jan 1917 (groups 0-146) read in part

Bernstorff reports that he has handed Lansing the German memorandum on armed merchant ships, and warns that acting on it will wreck Wilson's peace mediation and bring a break with the United States unless Berlin waits until agreement is reached in Washington; since Wilson decides everything, he must first read the memorandum. Three weeks later Germany declared unrestricted U-boat warfare and the United States broke off relations.

Builds coherent sentences, but under the read bar of 95% of words read as sense (79% here); the holes are marked in the reading.

Transcription

transcription.txt

# Catalogue 657: Bernstorff to the Auswaertiges Amt, Washington 10 Jan 1917, sent by the State Department on 11 Jan 1917
# as its telegram to the American Embassy in Berlin ("Please deliver following cipher to Foreign Office").
# Source: NARA RG 59, decimal file 763.72111/4443, microfilm M367 roll 166 (naId 27179174), frames 0785 (sheet "1.")
# and 0786 (sheet "2.").
# The groups as typed, row by row as on the sheets. Read from the scans with a vision-capable language model;
# about 117 groups re-read independently at full resolution (116 agree; the one open case is marked below).
# Conventions: [?] = doubtful reading; {x} = struck through on the original (not a group); (...) = a note on a
# correction or a pencil mark, not a group. The typeface confuses 5, 6 and 8 (6 has an open hooked top, 8 is
# closed and S-like). Pencil running tallies in the margin (/199, /302 ...; sheet totals) are a clerk's count for
# charging, not part of the message. Frame 0786 is not a reversed image: it is sheet 2, ending with
# "DEPARTMENT OF STATE JAN 11 1917 APPROVED Robert Lansing".
# Corrections made during the work: group 20 reads 8918 (closed 8, as in 8559 next to it), not 6918;
# group 40 reads 88789 (like 8789 at group 27), not 88769.
# Count: 577 groups = 505 of four figures, 67 of five, 4 of three (the head) and 1 of six (group 377, 108609[?]).
# Groups 0-146 are telegram No. 205 (ciphertext_tel205.txt); groups 147-576 are a second text (ciphertext_part2.txt).
# Group numbers (0-based) are printed by decode.py.
## sheet 1 (frame 0785)
958 677 728 229 0705 1166 0352 7031 1515 6147
9699(corr from 5699) 6699 6918 7437 7436 1166 2396 2772 2373 0280[?] 8918 8559
92312 5180 4879 7937 54873 8789 8584 0441 4171 7937 6699
3091 5205 9699 7424 1609 7937 1374 88789 2012 3377 2199
9699 1275 3371 5919 7158 8172 7294 8517 3091 5383 6356 8693
2524 9335 71621 8951 73169 0358 0411 7599 0404 8796 5810
8335 0498 11374 6251 2170 6356 1515 9793 4349 7918 0197
2373 3404 9699 2012 6143 7937 0352 5902 2958 3119 3377 2765
5380 5132 7424 2765 06887 0197 2373 0270 0404 6918 4118
5653 5810 3285 4003 1861 7785 1724 0656 6105 2878 8693 2373
2396 2772 4905 7184 2880 0197 1589 1354 0321 1515 2805 8416
6436 0089[?] 5051 5052 6011 1878 7325 4879 7937 4873 9076 8096[?]
1026 0545 4203 6986 6918 7437 61166 86699 9699 0278 6497
8511 2882[?] 1724 1628 9762 6222 1435 1415 0102 98511 4532
2880 3102 8172 6077 8693 1787 15687 8155 0962 80171 54147[?]
3342 1079 6463 08856 4999 0270 3377 2592 5447 03342 7599[?]
8796 4332 1035 98462 0966 8563 26303 8010 8975 6811 0171
2880 4349 5132 01878 2236 26463 3858 0545 0907 0197 2876
84824 7599 3377 2880 2481 2851 3959 7918 1079 75475 5660
9662 21626 0938 9762 8178 01054 4321 8620 6021 0404 25673
9160 7054 3011 1126 0270 25220 6463 6554 9501 0356 6629
88327 4364 8863 2373 8858 41469 7715 7972 6463 09766 {8}
27292 1172 0270 2944 4122 1415 9086 2883 6963 82606 06887
7715 6303 92254 76393 8975 2880 9766 5132 6463 4749 4203
6011 71878 8172 2880 1354 86041 6356 2429 8794 6497 8511
1611 6995 6815 4865 0111 2914 7038 {xxxxxx} 5530 6064 0029
1087 8686 4969 7541 5667 1724 6016 05552 5637 0655 0860
4969 7234 0173 0111 4003 7038 5304 5766 6935 01755 82392
1415 6575 2564 3005 2858 5637 1049 4905 6128 9267 3921 1515
## sheet 2 (frame 0786)
3145 1280 8212 0254 2660 4267 98462 1354 0942 1347 5660 2880
9833 8537 80129 1724 0229 7759 5782 6064{0}[?] {00}[?] 0029 1319 4532
0200 1083 4003 2678 6346 7937 2373 2396 4974 5143 4130 1021
2765 1735 3280 8806(corr, last figure written 6 above) 8172 2678 6496 3003 4358 0675 5660 9479
1354 1024 85322 9056 {13545/9} 1354 5924 5507 108609[?] 72487 1569
2678 7871 2236 12681 4117 74165 4109 2396 7791 78233 1021
2880 1026 2678 4945 9076 4142 9385 0907 4765 1076 9511
95202 1552 1515 6092 85380 5759 0858 4610 6680 4532 2481
8506 2878 0535 2938 71569 7672 72225 97699 6738 1024 76478
4412 8511 5867 5782 4865 5965[?](pencil above: 6064) 4003[?](pencil above: 5756) 2496 0270 1275 {46}[?] 7647
9076 22564 0659 2224 7715 5272 7147 6165 5995 3043(pencil 1 over last figure: 3041?) 3466
09674 28648[?](second figure typed over: 8 or 6) 8463 9704 8268 1921 5660 2600 4733 2540 0315
1569 8463 0270 8861 9160 7152 8804 4066[?] 5449 2600 3505 09073
89861 0315 5710 2600 0270 9762 96497 5569 7937 48609 84781[?]
0315 2648 2600 9983 7081 8804 0942 5071 6722 1026 3280 0288
6672 7201 2224 00359 0315 6107 3447 2840 5417 8814 4297 9810
9307 9823 4277 8769 3865 2452 97140 2011 8769 3865 2452 9952
2236 2600 2074 5793 1724 1828 7081 5304 8544 8172 2600 2380
72695 05256 3091 5452 7599 1021 2592 6460 7612 8693 5446 2678
7681 1021 {7284} 7294 6872 2194 5471 4570 2426 2678 2883 2600
0404 2880 9671 9505 8693 2509 6722 2380 5924 2600 2122 8327
3126 3285 2194 5778 8379 92012 5857 10642 9076 52396 1787
14873 7575 5893

Decryption

decryption_tel205.txt

# Catalogue 657, telegram No. 205 (groups 0-146): decryption line by line. Written by decode.py.
# Each line: group numbers | groups | value of each group from codebook.tsv (grade) | German as printed | note.
# A group with no value of its own sits in a span whose split is not fixed (see align_205.tsv); [?] after a
# group = doubtful reading of its figures. Value N+x = prefix figure N on base group x.

  0-  4 | 958 677 728 229 0705 | 958=-; 677=-; 728=-; 229=-; 0705=- | [Antwort auf Telegramm 148]? | header; 3-figure groups = 12 figures, may be misspaced 4-figure groups; not resolved
  5-  5 | 1166 | 1166=Memorandum(C) | Memorandum
  6-  6 | 0352 | 0352=Lansing(C) | Lansing | confirmed at 84
  7-  7 | 7031 | 7031=überreicht(C) | überreicht
  8-  8 | 1515 | 1515=[Punkt](C) | .
  9-  9 | 6147 | 6147=Meines Erachtens(C) | Meines Erachtens | phrase group
 10- 10 | 9699 | 9699=wird(C) | wird | confirmed at 35, 44, 80, 145
 11- 11 | 6699 | 6699=Vorgehen(C) | Vorgehen | confirmed at 32; 86699 = vorgegangen at 144
 12- 13 | 6918 7437 | 6918=im(C); 7437=Sinne(C) | im Sinne | repeated at 141-142
 14- 14 | 7436 | 7436=dieses(C) | dieses
 15- 15 | 1166 | 1166=Memorandum(C) | Memorandums
 16- 17 | 2396 2772 | 2396=Friedens-(C); 2772=-vermittlung(C) | Friedensvermittlung | repeated at 113-114
 18- 18 | 2373 | 2373=Wilson(s)(C) | Wilsons | confirmed at 78, 96, 112
 19- 23 | 0280 8918 8559 92312 5180 | 0280[?]=-; 8918=-; 8559=-; 92312=-; 5180=- | zum Scheitern bringen und statt dessen | 5 groups for 6 words; split not fixed; the words are taken from the print, not read
 24- 26 | 4879 7937 54873 | 4879=Bruch(C); 7937=mit(C); 54873=5+Vereinigten Staaten(C) | Bruch mit Vereinigten Staaten | repeated at 132-134 (4873 without prefix)
 27- 27 | 8789 | 8789=herbeiführen(C) | herbeiführen | 88789 = herbeigeführt at 40
 28- 30 | 8584 0441 4171 | 8584=-; 0441=-; 4171=- | , wenn nicht mindestens so lange | 3 groups for 5 words and a comma; split not fixed; the words are taken from the print, not read
 31- 32 | 7937 6699 | 7937=mit(C); 6699=Vorgehen(C) | mit Vorgehen
 33- 35 | 3091 5205 9699 | 3091=ge- (participle prefix)(C); 5205=-wartet(C); 9699=wird(C) | ge- wartet wird | 3091 = ge- also at 52
 36- 38 | 7424 1609 7937 | 7424=bis(C); 1609=Einigung(C); 7937=mit(C) | bis Einigung mit | 7424 bis again at 92
 39- 39 | 1374 | 1374=hiesige Regierung(C) | hiesiger Regierung | 11374 = hiesigen Regierung at 69
 40- 42 | 88789 2012 3377 | 88789=8+herbeiführen(C); 2012=ist(C); 3377=[Punkt](C) | herbeigeführt ist . | 2012 ist again at 81
 43- 48 | 2199 9699 1275 3371 5919 7158 | 2199=Es(C); 9699=wird(C); 1275=sich(C); 3371=vielleicht(C); 5919=erreichen(C); 7158=lassen(C) | Es wird sich vielleicht erreichen lassen
 49- 54 | 8172 7294 8517 3091 5383 6356 | 8172=daß(C); 7294=Amerikaner(C); 8517=davor(C); 3091=ge- (participle prefix)(C); 5383=-warnt(C); 6356=werden(C) | , daß Amerikaner davor ge- warnt werden
 55- 58 | 8693 2524 9335 71621 | 8693=auf(C); 2524=Schiffen(C); 9335=Dienst(C); 71621=7+nehmen(M) | auf Schiffen Dienst zu nehmen | 8693 auf again at 111
 59- 64 | 8951 73169 0358 0411 7599 0404 | 8951=-; 73169=-; 0358=-; 0411=-; 7599=-; 0404=[Punkt](C) | , welche zu Angriffszwecken bewaffnet sind . | 6 groups for 5 words, a comma and a stop (0404 = stop); split not fixed
 65- 73 | 8796 5810 8335 0498 11374 6251 2170 6356 1515 | 8796=Hierzu(C); 5810=muß(C); 8335=aber(C); 0498=jedenfalls (der?)(M); 11374=1+hiesige Regierung(C); 6251=Zeit(C); 2170=gelassen(C); 6356=werden(C); 1515=[Punkt](C) | Hierzu muß aber jedenfalls (der) hiesigen Regierung Zeit gelassen werden . | 5810 muß again at 102
 74- 76 | 9793 4349 7918 | 9793=Da(C); 4349=alles(C); 7918=- | Da alles [?] | 7918 extra group, unexplained
 77- 81 | 0197 2373 3404 9699 2012 | 0197=von(C); 2373=Wilson(s)(C); 3404=entschieden(C); 9699=wird(C); 2012=ist(C) | von Wilson entschieden wird , ist
 82- 88 | 6143 7937 0352 5902 2958 3119 3377 | 6143=Besprechung(C); 7937=mit(C); 0352=Lansing(C); 5902=reine(C); 2958=Form-(C); 3119=-sache(C); 3377=[Punkt](C) | Besprechung mit Lansing reine Form sache .
 89- 98 | 2765 5380 5132 7424 2765 06887 0197 2373 0270 0404 | 2765=er(C); 5380=antwortet(C); 5132=niemals(C); 7424=bis(C); 2765=er(C); 06887=0+Instruktionen(M); 0197=von(C); 2373=Wilson(s)(C); 0270=hat(C); 0404=[Punkt](C) | Er antwortet niemals , bis er Instruktionen von Wilson hat .
 99-107 | 6918 4118 5653 5810 3285 4003 1861 7785 1724 | 6918=im(C); 4118=vorliegenden(M); 5653=Fall(C); 5810=muß(C); 3285=letzterer(C); 4003=erst(C); 1861=Denkschrift(C); 7785=lesen(C); 1724=[Punkt] or [Absatz](M) | Im vorliegenden Fall muß letzterer erst Denkschrift lesen .
108-115 | 0656 6105 2878 8693 2373 2396 2772 4905 | 0656=Wieviel(C); 6105=Wert(C); 2878=Euere Exzellenz(C); 8693=auf(C); 2373=Wilson(s)(C); 2396=Friedens-(C); 2772=-vermittlung(C); 4905=legen(C) | Wieviel Wert Euere Exzellenz auf Wilsons Friedensvermittlung legen
116-122 | 7184 2880 0197 1589 1354 0321 1515 | 7184=kann(C); 2880=ich(C); 0197=von(C); 1589=hier(C); 1354=aus [?](M); 0321=(nicht) ermessen [?](M); 1515=[Punkt](C) | , kann ich von hier aus nicht ermessen . | 1354/0321 split doubtful
123-124 | 2805 8416 | 2805=Davon(C); 8416=abgesehen(C) | Davon abgesehen
125-131 | 6436 0089 5051 5052 6011 1878 7325 | 6436=-; 0089[?]=-; 5051=-; 5052=-; 6011=-; 1878=-; 7325=- | , muß ich pflichtgemäß bestimmt erklären , daß ich | 7 groups; none of the known groups for muß (5810), ich (2880) or daß (8172) occurs here: a hole, not a confirmed reading
132-137 | 4879 7937 4873 9076 8096 1026 | 4879=Bruch(C); 7937=mit(C); 4873=Vereinigten Staaten(C); 9076=für(C); 8096[?]=unvermeidlich(M); 1026=halte(C) | Bruch mit Vereinigten Staaten für unvermeidlich halte
138-145 | 0545 4203 6986 6918 7437 61166 86699 9699 | 0545=[Komma](C); 4203=wenn(C); 6986=ohne weiteres(C); 6918=im(C); 7437=Sinne(C); 61166=6+Memorandum(C); 86699=8+Vorgehen(C); 9699=wird(C) | , wenn ohne weiteres im Sinne des Memorandums vorgegangen wird
146-146 | 0278 | 0278=- | [Schluss / Bernstorff]? | end of telegram 205; part 2 starts at 147

Reading

reading_tel205.md

# Telegram No. 205 (groups 0-146) as sentences, in German

Bernstorff to the Auswärtiges Amt, Washington, 10 Jan 1917. Word division, punctuation and spelling follow the text
Bernstorff printed in 1920 (Deutschland und Amerika, pp. 325-326), against which the groups were aligned.
Marks: `[958]` = a group without a value; `[?words]` = words of the print that sit on a run of groups whose split is
not fixed, or on a group whose figures are doubtful, so they are not read from the groups; `[der]` = a word of the
print with no group of its own. The line-by-line decryption is in `decryption_tel205.txt`.

## Reading

[958] [677] [728] [229] [0705]

Memorandum Lansing überreicht. Meines Erachtens wird Vorgehen im Sinne dieses Memorandums Friedensvermittlung
Wilsons [?zum Scheitern bringen und statt dessen] Bruch mit Vereinigten Staaten herbeiführen, [?wenn nicht
mindestens so lange] mit Vorgehen gewartet wird, bis Einigung mit hiesiger Regierung herbeigeführt ist.

Es wird sich vielleicht erreichen lassen, daß Amerikaner davor gewarnt werden, auf Schiffen Dienst zu nehmen,
[?welche zu Angriffszwecken bewaffnet sind]. Hierzu muß aber jedenfalls [der] hiesigen Regierung Zeit gelassen
werden.

Da alles [7918] von Wilson entschieden wird, ist Besprechung mit Lansing reine Formsache. Er antwortet niemals, bis
er Instruktionen von Wilson hat. Im vorliegenden Fall muß letzterer erst Denkschrift lesen.

Wieviel Wert Euere Exzellenz auf Wilsons Friedensvermittlung legen, kann ich von hier [?aus nicht ermessen]. Davon
abgesehen, [?muß ich pflichtgemäß bestimmt erklären, daß ich] Bruch mit Vereinigten Staaten für [?unvermeidlich]
halte, wenn ohne weiteres im Sinne des Memorandums vorgegangen wird.

[0278]

Translation

translation_tel205.md

# Telegram No. 205 (groups 0-146): English translation

Our translation of `reading_tel205.md`, with the same holes. `[958]` = a group without a value; `[?words]` = the
English of words that are taken from the 1920 print but not read from the groups. A published English translation
of the whole telegram is in *Official German Documents relating to the World War* (1923), vol. II, p. 1017, no. 56.

## Reading

[958] [677] [728] [229] [0705]

Memorandum handed to Lansing. In my opinion, action along the lines of this memorandum will [?wreck] Wilson's peace
mediation [?and instead] bring about a break with the United States, [?unless, at least for as long as it takes,]
action is held back until agreement with the government here has been reached.

It may perhaps be possible to have Americans warned against taking service on ships [?that are armed for purposes
of attack]. For this, however, [the] government here must in any case be given time.

Since everything [7918] is decided by Wilson, a discussion with Lansing is a mere formality. He never answers until
he has instructions from Wilson. In the present case the latter must first read the memorandum.

How much weight Your Excellency places on Wilson's peace mediation I [?cannot judge] from here. Apart from that,
[?duty compels me to state positively that I] consider a break with the United States [?unavoidable] if action is
taken along the lines of the memorandum without further ado.

[0278]

Second text, groups 147-576 decoded, not read

A second text in the same code, sent with No. 205. Lansing's letter of 10 Jan 1917 (FRUS 1917 Supp. 1 doc. 75) says Bernstorff's cipher message concerned the armament of Entente merchant ships and also the American note of 18 Dec 1916 on peace terms; this part is probably the second subject. Not confirmed.

A mechanical decode with holes in most sentences: shown so that the transcription and the key can be checked and improved, not as a reading.