In history you can find various reasons for provoking a war. Accidents at the borders, acts of terrorism, occupation of the territory are the most common. However, even such a short document as the telegram can become a justification for war. Two telegrams that changed the course of history and world order were the Ems telegram that led to the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and the Zimmermann telegram that led to America's declaration of war on Germany. The Elms telegram was sent by King William of Prussia to Prussian Chancellor Bismarck and recounted the chance meeting between King William and the French ambassador Benedetti in 1870. The meeting concerned the claims to the Spanish throne of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, the whose claims were supported by Prussia. France was pressuring Prussia to formally pledge not to support Leopold when Benedetti spoke to King William at Bad Ems. King did not give his response but promised to continue talks with the ambassador in Berlin. After receiving the telegram, Bismarck saw it as an opportunity to turn the growing tension with France into war by modifying...