Did they think the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires would try to take over France, Great Britain, Russia, etc.? Did they think they'd just take their colonies? Just try and reach a deal of peace since they didn't want a big war anyway?
On that note, what do the historians belive could have happened had the Central Powers won? Could they perhaps end up controlling most of Europe, Africa and the Middle East?
This may be of assistance:
On that note, what do the historians belive could have happened had the Central Powers won? Could they perhaps end up controlling most of Europe, Africa and the Middle East?
Speculation is not necessarily allowed, but this is a massive question that strikes to the heart of many major questions, and I'll leave those questions with you:
Was Austria-Hungary doomed to fail, regardless of victory, or was reform possible? Some would say a Federal state, a la the United States, was their best hope. But with an inherently reactionary and centralizing-force-in-Vienna move of waging a war of aggression, was that ever reasonably going to happen in time?
Could the Ottoman Empire (if we are talking a post 1915/1916 victory, which is in itself incredibly unlikely but I digress) deal with the cataclysmic aftermath of the largest genocide in history up until that point and fracturing holdings in the Middle East? What is a "victory" in their regard? How long does this tenuous hold last? Etc.
Considering the massive internal economic burden German incurred by, to be frank, horribly irresponsible economic policies, could they even hope to stand up if their victory came after 1916? It is incredibly likely that even with a German victory, economic depression would still regardless hit them. I go into the economic highlights in this post. Whatever gains they grabbed is up to speculation to simply being lost in a matter of years due to massive internal strife and economic disaster looming. Even if in some miracle situation an armistice was reached in Summer 1918 with the Western Entente, the navy and millions of socialists and soldiers back home were already brewing with revolution. Bavaria itself would secede for about a year as a Soviet Republic. Germany likely would survive, but dominate? That's up for discussion.
On that note, what do the historians belive could have happened had the Central Powers won?
Just a reminder: speculation is not permitted here. Could you remove that question from the text? You can take that one over to /r/HistoryWhatIf. Thanks!