From an Unforeseen War to an Unpredictable Peace: Peace Imaginations in the World War I According to the Journal Of Servet-i Fünun

Peace movements are perhaps the most neglected issue of the literature on World War I. In this article, peace visions of the public opinions in the belligerent parties reflected in the journal of Servet-i Fünun during the World War I are focused. Public opinion is seen as an important actor of the war as soldiers, statesmen and politicians. It is shown that war itself could not be foreseen and also the predictions like short war and quick peace are falsified. It is suggested that political, military and economic forecasts about duration of the war were tool to manipulate public opinions. Prolongation of the war was possible by keeping alive the hope of a quick peace. Variations on the tendencies of the public opinion such as peace advocacy or opposition to peace are explained according to the course of the war. Imaginations about how the war would finally end and about the nature of peace (partial, permanent) during the war are evaluated