Nevertheless, an ultimate conflict between A.P. and Reuters was inevitable. The United States was building up industrial might and developing resources to overtake and pass Great Britain in the race for world power. This was somewhat obscured, for the general observer, by the rather more aggressive challenge of Germany. Germany, too, had built up a modern industrial productive apparatus far greater than that of Britain. It found the world already divided. Markets, raw materials, the slave labor of colonies and their investment opportunities, had been “parcelled out” among Britain, France and their satellites: Holland, Belgium, Portugal. British and French guns were levelled against any suggestion of sharing the plunder with the newcomers. So German imperialism levelled its guns, too, and World War I was on. Peak of Reuter’s Power With Britain and France and Germany engaged in worldwide warfare while the United States (until 1917) stood on the sidelines, Reuters, Havas and Wolff were severely handicapped. Even under peacetime conditions they could not compete with the American agencies on a commodity-news basis. Their official or semi-official character restricted their freedom of action and of judgment. The moment something really important happened in Europe, they would hesitate, under official pressure. For example, when the Nazis murdered Austrian Premier Dollfuss, Havas sent nothing for hours while the Quai d’Orsay debated how French-controlled areas should be informed of this event, how it should be interpreted. The “officialese” in which such events were reported sometimes achieved peaks of silliness. A dispatch to New York from Havas bureau in Beirut, Syria, in 1934, said: French governor visited hinterland first time since elections. On every hand he was greeted with enthusiasm by populace which thanked him for all France had done to relieve food crisis. Extremists threw a few bombs but vigorous police measures reassured people.