In late summer 1914, while traveling back from London and receiving news of World War I having erupted, Ionescu made a series of highly accurate predictions — he theorized that Italy, the United States, Japan and Romania itself were to be dragged into the conflict, that the Central Powers were to be initially victorious, and that, after a series of setbacks, "we shall get to see Greater Romania with our own eyes". Reportedly, he also foretold a worldwide rise in support for left-wing causes.