The cessation of bloodshed was to him the great purpose to be attained: in the mind of Secretary Bryan it was more important that the war should be stopped than that the Allies should win.

To President Wilson the European disaster appeared to be merely a selfish struggle for power, in which both sides were almost equally to blame.

He never accepted Page's obvious interpretation that the single cause was Germany's determination to embark upon a war of world conquest.

From the beginning, therefore, Page saw that he would have great difficulty in preventing intervention from Washington in the interest of Germany, yet this was another great service to which he now unhesitatingly directed his efforts.
The Ambassador was especially apprehensive of these peace moves in the early days of September, when the victorious German armies were marching on Paris.

In London, as in most parts of the world, the capture of the French capital was then regarded as inevitable.