Imagined war

David Morgan-Owen

Imagined war

David Morgan-Owen^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of International Relations

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Abstract

How war was imagined before the outbreak of conflict in 1914 has been an ongoing source of interest to historians. Ideas about future war have been explored as a potential explanation for the willingness of societies to go to war and in terms of ‘war enthusiasm’. They have also underpinned a perception that military-political elites believed in a ‘short war illusion’ that encouraged them to risk conflict. In both cases recent historiography has overturned these long-standing myths, opening the way for a more creative approach of using ‘imagination’ as a means of re-examining the First World War.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	1914-1918-online. International encyclopedia of the First World War
Editors	Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene
Publisher	Freie Universität Berlin
Publication status	Published - 28 Jul 2025

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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title = "Imagined war",

abstract = "How war was imagined before the outbreak of conflict in 1914 has been an ongoing source of interest to historians. Ideas about future war have been explored as a potential explanation for the willingness of societies to go to war and in terms of {\textquoteleft}war enthusiasm{\textquoteright}. They have also underpinned a perception that military-political elites believed in a {\textquoteleft}short war illusion{\textquoteright} that encouraged them to risk conflict. In both cases recent historiography has overturned these long-standing myths, opening the way for a more creative approach of using {\textquoteleft}imagination{\textquoteright} as a means of re-examining the First World War.",

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language = "English",

editor = "Ute Daniel and Peter Gatrell and Oliver Janz and Heather Jones and Jennifer Keene",

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AB - How war was imagined before the outbreak of conflict in 1914 has been an ongoing source of interest to historians. Ideas about future war have been explored as a potential explanation for the willingness of societies to go to war and in terms of ‘war enthusiasm’. They have also underpinned a perception that military-political elites believed in a ‘short war illusion’ that encouraged them to risk conflict. In both cases recent historiography has overturned these long-standing myths, opening the way for a more creative approach of using ‘imagination’ as a means of re-examining the First World War.

M3 - Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary

BT - 1914-1918-online. International encyclopedia of the First World War

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A2 - Gatrell, Peter

A2 - Janz, Oliver

A2 - Jones, Heather

A2 - Keene, Jennifer

PB - Freie Universität Berlin

ER -

Imagined war

Abstract

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