By sinking American merchant ships and civilian passenger liners without warning, the German government intentionally provoked the United States to declare war. Additionally, the Zimmerman Telegram, intercepted and decoded by British intelligence, revealed Germany's plan to form an alliance with Mexico to invade the United States if it entered the war on the side of the Allies. These factors, combined with the loss of American lives and the violation of neutral rights, compelled the United States to join World War I on April 6, 1917, declaring war on the German Empire.