world war noun
a war that involves most of the principal nations of the world [7]
~ dictionary.com
So how do you know if something's a World War or not?
I was feeling a bit confused about the concept of a world war. So does a certain number of countries need to be involved? Does a certain amount of continents need to be entangled in the mess? I thought it may be the scope of it all. To be honest, I had no idea.
As many parts of the world weren't involved in World War 2 and certainly not World War, I was certainly perplexed. If, as some say, one in which all the continents are involved [8], there were other examples of previous wars who could have made the cut;
So I might conclude, that it is loosely defined by how much of the world and how many nations are directly involved. If countries from most of the 6 inhabited continents (Antarctica is not really inhabited so I am not counting it here) are involved and/or a significant percentage of the world population is involved then it qualifies as a World War.
As many parts of the world weren't involved in World War 2 and certainly not World War, I was certainly perplexed. If, as some say, one in which all the continents are involved [8], there were other examples of previous wars who could have made the cut;
- The Mongol Invasions (1206 - 1324) [9]
- The Dutch-Portuguese War (1580 - 1650) [10]
- War of the Spanish Succession (1701 - 1713) [11]
- War of the Austrian Succession (1740 - 1748) [12]
- Seven Years' War (1756–1763) [13]
- The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) [14]
- French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) [15]
- Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) [16]
So I might conclude, that it is loosely defined by how much of the world and how many nations are directly involved. If countries from most of the 6 inhabited continents (Antarctica is not really inhabited so I am not counting it here) are involved and/or a significant percentage of the world population is involved then it qualifies as a World War.
While I hopefully have explained the term to you all who have the same question, it might also be partially subjective. So if you'd like to send me your thoughts on it, do it here. :)
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