Honoring its secret commitment to the Entente, Romania entered the war in August 1916. "Flacăra" closed down with a final issue on November 13 of that year, as Bucharest prepared for the German siege. Banu later escaped to Paris, where, from January 1918, he joined the directorial staff of "La Roumanie" journal (with Emil Fagure and Constantin Mille), campaigning in French for the cause of Greater Romania. He intervened directly to obtain statements of solidarity with beleaguered Romania from Ernest Lavisse, Lucien Poincaré, and other French academics, while trying in vain to prevent the Romanian government from negotiating a separate peace with the Central Powers.