Editing Basil Zaharoff (section)

==World War I==
In the years immediately preceding World War I, Zaharoff's fortunes grew in other areas to support his arms business. By purchasing the ''L'Union Parisienne des Banques'' (Union Parisienne Bank), which was historically associated with heavy industry, he was better able to control his financing arrangements. By gaining control of ''Excelsior'', the popular French daily newspaper, he could guarantee favourable editorials for the arms industry. To gain public recognition and acclaim, he founded a retirement home for ex-French Navy sailors, while a chair in Aerodynamics at the [[University of Paris]] led to further honours.

In April 1914, Australian newspapers<ref name=SMH>{{cite news|title=Olympic Games - A Munificent Gift|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15503991|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=27 April 1914}}</ref> published reports from London dated 25 April that M. Zaharoff had donated £20,000 "in order to enable France to be worthily represented at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Berlin" in 1916. The 1916 Olympic Games were subsequently cancelled because of the war.  Zaharoff's donation represented a substantial contribution.  On May 10, the French Government announced it would donate £6,000 to its Olympic team, and would distribute £12,000 of Zaharoff's donation among its Olympic teams, with the remaining £8,000 to "the furtherance of the Olympic cause."<ref>{{cite news|title=Olympic Games - Particulars of French Donation|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15517541|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=20 June 1914}}</ref>

On July 31, 1914, coincidentally the same day that the noted [[antimilitarism|antimilitarist]] [[Jean Jaurès]] was assassinated, [[Raymond Poincaré]] signed a decree appointing Zaharoff a Commander of the [[Légion d’honneur|Legion of Honour]].

In March 1914, Vickers announced a new dawn of prosperity. During the course of the war, Vickers would produce 4 ships of the line{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}}, 3 cruisers, 53 submarines, 3 auxiliary vessels, 62 light vessels, 2,328 cannon, 8,000,000 tonnes of steel ordnance, 90,000 mines, 22,000 torpedoes, 5,500 airplanes and 100,000 machine guns. By 1915, Zaharoff had close ties with both [[David Lloyd George]] and [[Aristide Briand]]. It is reported that, on the occasion of one visit with Briand, Zaharoff surreptitiously left an envelope on Aristide Briand's desk; the envelope contained a million francs for war widows.

One of Zaharoff's tasks during the Great War was to ensure that Greece joined the war on the Allied side, helping to reinforce the eastern front. On the surface, this seemed impossible{{Clarify|reason=this seems to be overdramatic. The royal houses intermingled. Constantine was brother-in-law by marriage to a granddaughter of Victoria |date=October 2016 }}  since [[Constantine I of Greece|King Constantine]] was a brother-in-law of the [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Kaiser]]. Setting up a press agency in Greece to publicise [[British propaganda during World War I|British propaganda]] contacted by [[Wellington House]], Zaharoff led, within a few months, to King Constantine's overthrow by Prime Minister [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] and Greek entry into the war as an ally of the [[British Empire]].

In 1917 and 1918, on the behest of David Lloyd George, Zaharoff initiated a series of secret peace negotiations with the Ottoman Empire, beginning on 18 July 1917. The British hoped Zaharoff could convince the [[Three Pashas]] to abandon the [[Central Powers]] and make a separate peace with the Allies. {{sfn|Insall|Maiolo|2012|p=1}}

By the end of World War I, ''The Times'' estimated that Zaharoff had laid out £50&nbsp;million in the Allied cause.