Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 11:24-13:28

A fabricated First World War thesis as a source warning

A conference claim that the First World War was fabricated to justify an attack on Turkey shows the danger of building an enormous thesis on one newspaper item.

Conspiracy TheoriesHistorical MethodSource CriticismWorld War I
Watch at this timeFull video guide
Question

What is the worst historical conspiracy theory you have heard?

Short answer

A claim that most of the First World War was invented to conceal an Allied attack on Turkey, based largely on one newspaper item.

Notes

Alex Clarke recalls a conference participant claiming that the First World War was invented to conceal an Allied attack on Turkey. The claim rested on one newspaper item, remembered as Australian. Four specialist historians appeared unsure whether the argument was a joke or a serious belief. A single newspaper item could not support a claim on that scale.