Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the man who accepted the german armistice famously stated in 1919, "This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years". He was correct, WWII began 20 years and 64 days later. He was not the only one who shared that sentiment. Winston Churchill avidly spoke about rearmament during the 1930s, but for the most part the general public did not.

At what point in time do you mean specifically?

'At the time' meaning what? Is this 1939 or 1919?

Even European groups from 1936 versus 1937 would probably have very different opinions on whether they thought war would break out in the near future.