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{{Short description|War involving major global states}} {{other uses}} [[File: M18 tank destroyer fires its 90mm gun point-blank at a Nazi pillbox emplacement to clear a path through a side street in Brest, France. September, 1944. (49811749312).jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[United States Army]] [[infantry]] supported by a [[M18 Hellcat|M18 tank destroyer]] advancing through a [[Nazi Germany|German]]-occupied [[Brest, France]] during [[World War II]], the most recent conflict to widely be considered a "world war"]] {{War}} A '''world war''' is an international [[War|conflict]] that involves most or all of the world's [[major powers]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/world%20war |title=World War |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=11 November 2019 |archive-date=11 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211050834/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/world%20war |url-status=live }}</ref> Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, [[World War I]] (1914–1918) and [[World War II]] (1939–1945), although some historians have also characterized other global conflicts as world wars, such as the [[Nine Years' War]], the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], the [[Seven Years' War]], the [[French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars]], the [[Cold War]], and the [[war on terror]]. ==Etymology== The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' had cited the first known usage in the [[English language]] to a [[Scotland|Scottish]] newspaper, ''The People's Journal'', in 1848: "A war among the great powers is now necessarily a world-war." The term "world war" is used by [[Karl Marx]] and his associate, [[Friedrich Engels]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1887/12/15.htm|title=Introduction to Borkheim|last=Engels|first=Frederick|access-date=2015-03-01|archive-date=2018-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716152910/https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1887/12/15.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> in a series of articles published around 1850 called ''The Class Struggles in France''. [[Rasmus B. Anderson]] in 1889 described an episode in [[Teutonic mythology]] as a "world war" (Swedish: ''världskrig''), justifying this description by a line in an [[Old Norse]] epic poem, "[[Völuspá]]: folcvig fyrst I heimi" ("The first great war in the world").<ref>[[Rasmus Björn Anderson]] (translator: [[Viktor Rydberg]]), ''Teutonic Mythology'', vol. 1, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-uJRw32enFQC&pg=PT237 p. 139] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126230205/https://books.google.com/books?id=-uJRw32enFQC&pg=PT237 |date=2020-01-26 }}, London: S. Sonnenschein & Co., 1889 {{OCLC|626839}}.</ref> German writer August Wilhelm Otto Niemann used the term "world war" in the title of his anti-British novel, ''Der Weltkrieg: Deutsche Träume'' (''The World War: German Dreams'') in 1904, published in English as ''The Coming Conquest of England''. The term "first world war"<!--do not capitalize here; per the quote, it's not a proper noun--> was first used in September 1914 by German biologist and philosopher [[Ernst Haeckel]], who claimed that "there is no doubt that the course and character of the feared 'European War' ... will become the first world war in the full sense of the word",{{sfn |Shapiro |Epstein |2006 |p=329}} citing a wire service report in the ''[[The Indianapolis Star|Indianapolis Star]]'' on 20 September 1914. In English, the term "First World War" had been used by Lieutenant Colonel [[Charles à Court Repington]], as a title for his memoirs (published in 1920); he had noted his discussion on the matter with a Major Johnstone of [[Harvard University]] in his diary entry of September 10, 1918.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chief Editor's notes June 2014|work=Oxford English Dictionary's blog|date=2014-06-13|first=Michael|last=Proffitt|url=https://public.oed.com/blog/june-2014-update-chief-editors-notes-june-2014/|access-date=2022-04-25|archive-date=2022-04-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220415031658/https://public.oed.com/blog/june-2014-update-chief-editors-notes-june-2014/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://qi.com/infocloud/the-first-world-war|title=The First World War|work=Quite Interesting|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103043739/https://qi.com/infocloud/the-first-world-war|archivedate=2014-01-03}} Also aired on [[List of QI episodes|QI Series I]] Episode 2, 16 September 2011, BBC Two.</ref> The term "World War I" was coined by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine on page 28 of its June 12, 1939, issue. In the same article, on page 32, the term "World War{{nbsp}}II" was first used speculatively to describe the upcoming war. The first use for the actual war came in its issue of September 11, 1939.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/3195322/world-war-grey-friday/ |title=Grey Friday: TIME Reports on World War II Beginning |magazine=TIME |date=September 11, 1939 |access-date=20 October 2014 |quote=World War II began last week at 5:20 a. m. (Polish time) Friday, September 1, when a German bombing plane dropped a projectile on Puck, a fishing village and airbase in the armpit of the Hel Peninsula. |archive-date=11 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011180303/http://time.com/3195322/world-war-grey-friday/ |url-status=live }}</ref> One week earlier, on September 4, the day after France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, the Danish newspaper ''[[Kristeligt Dagblad]]'' used the term on its front page, saying "The Second World War broke out yesterday at 11 a.m."<ref>"Den anden Verdenskrig udbrød i Gaar Middags Kl. 11", ''Kristeligt Dagblad'', September 4, 1939, Extra edition.</ref> [[Speculative fiction]] authors had been noting the concept of a Second World War in 1919 and 1920, when [[Milo Hastings]] wrote his [[dystopian]] novel, ''City of Endless Night''. Other languages have also adopted the "world war" terminology; for example, in [[French language|French]], "world war" is translated as {{Lang|fr|guerre mondiale|italic=yes}}; in [[German language|German]], {{Lang|de|Weltkrieg|italic=yes}} (which, prior to the war, had been used in the more abstract meaning of a global conflict); in [[Italian language|Italian]], {{Lang|it|guerra mondiale|italic=yes}}; in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], {{Lang|es|guerra mundial|italic=yes}}; in [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], {{Lang|no|verdenskrig|italic=yes}}; in [[Polish language|Polish]] {{Lang|pl|wojna światowa|italic=yes}}; in [[Russian language|Russian]], {{Lang|ru|мировая война|italic=yes}} ({{Lang|ru-LT|mirovaya voyna|italic=yes}}); and in [[Finnish language|Finnish]], {{Lang|fi|maailmansota|italic=yes}}. ==History== ===First World War=== {{Main|World War I}} [[File: General gouraud french army world war i machinegun marne 1918.JPEG|thumb|[[French Army]] soldiers holding a position in the ruins of a church during the [[Second Battle of the Marne]], part of World War I]] The First World War occurred from 1914 to 1918. In terms of human [[history of technology|technological history]], the scale of World War{{nbsp}}I was enabled by the technological advances of the [[Second Industrial Revolution]] and the resulting [[globalization]] that allowed global power projection and [[mass production]] of military hardware. It had been recognized that the complex system of opposing [[military alliance]]s (the [[German Empire|German]] and [[Austro-Hungarian Empire|Austro-Hungarian]] Empires against the [[British Empire|British]], [[Italian Empire|Italian]], [[Russian Empire|Russian]], and [[French colonial empire|French]] Empires) was likely, if war broke out, to lead to a worldwide conflict. That caused a very minute conflict between two countries to have the potential to set off a [[domino effect]] of alliances, triggering a world war. The fact that the powers involved had large [[colonial empire|overseas empires]] virtually guaranteed that such a war would be worldwide, as the colonies' resources would be a crucial strategic factor. The same strategic considerations also ensured that the combatants would strike at each other's colonies, thus spreading the wars far more widely than those of [[pre-Columbian]] times. {{explain|date=December 2022}} [[War crimes]] were perpetrated in World War I. [[Chemical weapons in World War I|Chemical weapons]] were used in the war despite the [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907]] having outlawed the use of such weapons in warfare. The [[Ottoman Empire]] was responsible for the [[Armenian genocide]], during the First World War, as well as other war crimes. ===Second World War=== {{Main|World War II}} [[File:The British Army in the Normandy Campaign 1944 B8553.jpg|thumb|A [[British Army]] [[Churchill tank|Churchill]] tank passing a destroyed ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' [[Panzer IV]] tank during [[Operation Overlord]], part of World War II]] The Second World War occurred from 1939 to 1945 and is the only conflict in which [[nuclear weapons]] have been used; both [[Hiroshima]] and [[Nagasaki]], in the [[Japanese Empire]], were [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|devastated]] by atomic bombs dropped by the United States. The main Axis powers were [[Nazi Germany]], the [[Empire of Japan]], and the [[Kingdom of Italy]]; while the [[British Empire|United Kingdom]], the [[United States]], the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] were the "[[Big Four (World War II)|Big Four]]" Allied powers.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Turning Point: Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, and Chiang Kai-Shek, 1943: The Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran Conferences|first=Keith|last=Sainsbury|location=[[Oxford]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1986}}</ref> [[Nazi Germany]], led by [[Adolf Hitler]], was responsible for [[genocides]], most notably [[the Holocaust]], which murdered demographics considered [[Untermensch]] by the Nazis. These included about six million [[Jews]] and about five million others, such as [[Slavs]], [[Romani people|Roma]], [[homosexuals]], and the physically and mentally disabled.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Documenting Numbers of Victims of the Holocaust and Nazi Persecution |url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/documenting-numbers-of-victims-of-the-holocaust-and-nazi-persecution |access-date=2020-09-05 |website=encyclopedia.ushmm.org |archive-date=2020-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220011124/https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/documenting-numbers-of-victims-of-the-holocaust-and-nazi-persecution |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[United States]], the [[Soviet Union]], and [[Canada]] deported and [[interned]] minority groups within their own borders and, largely because of the conflict, many ethnic [[Germans]] were later expelled from [[Eastern Europe]]. Japan was responsible for attacking [[Neutral country|neutral nations]] without a [[declaration of war]], such as the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]. It is also known for its brutal treatment and killing of Allied [[prisoners of war]] and the inhabitants of [[Asia]]. It also used Asians as [[forced laborers]] and was responsible for the [[Nanjing Massacre]] in which 250,000 civilians were brutally murdered by Japanese troops. [[Noncombatants]] suffered at least as badly as or worse than [[combatants]], and the distinction between combatants and noncombatants was often blurred by the belligerents of [[total war]] in both conflicts.<ref name="stories">{{cite web |url= https://storiespreschool.com/worldwar.html |title= World War |access-date= 11 November 2019 |archive-date= 11 November 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191111061254/https://storiespreschool.com/worldwar.html |url-status= live }}</ref> The outcome of the war had a profound effect on the course of [[Human history|world history]]. The old European empires collapsed or they were dismantled as a direct result of the crushing costs of the war and in some cases, their fall was caused by the defeat of imperial powers. The [[United States]] became firmly established as the dominant global [[superpower]], along with its close competitor and ideological foe, the [[Soviet Union]]. The two superpowers exerted political influence over most of the world's [[Nation state|nation-states]] for decades after the end of the Second World War. The modern international security, economic, and diplomatic system was created in the aftermath of the war.<ref name="stories"/> Institutions such as the [[United Nations]] were established to collectivize international affairs, with the explicit goal of preventing another outbreak of general war. The wars had also greatly changed the course of daily life. Technologies developed during wartime had a profound effect on peacetime life as well, such as through advances in [[jet aircraft]], [[penicillin]], [[nuclear power|nuclear energy]], and [[electronic computers]].<ref name="stories"/> ==Potential third world war== {{Main article|World War III}} [[File:DF-ST-82-06464 Troops from the 82nd Airborne Division are dropped by parachute during exercise Reforger '80.jpeg|thumb|U.S. Army paratroopers landing in a field in [[West Germany]] during [[Exercise Reforger|Exercise Reforger 1984]], a Cold War-era [[NATO]] [[military exercise]] used to prepare for potential conventional warfare against the [[Warsaw Pact]]; such a conflict was expected to be World War III.]] Since the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] during the Second World War, there has been a widespread and prolonged fear of a potential third world war between nuclear-armed powers.<ref name="Biggs">Biggs, Lindy and Hansen, James (editors), 2004, ''Readings in Technology and Civilisation'', {{ISBN|0-7593-3869-8}}.</ref><ref name="Worland">Worland, Rick, 2006, ''The Horror Film: An Introduction'', Blackwell Publishing, {{ISBN|1-4051-3902-1}}.</ref> It is often suggested that it would become a [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]], and be more devastating and violent than both the First and Second World Wars. [[Albert Einstein]] is often quoted as having said in 1947 "I know not with what weapons World War{{nbsp}}III will be fought, but World War{{nbsp}}IV will be fought with sticks and stones."<ref>{{Cite book | first = Alice | last = Calaprice | title = The new quotable Einstein | page = 173 | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-0-691-12075-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7406337 |title=The culture of Einstein |publisher=NBC News |date=2005-04-19 |access-date=2012-08-24 |archive-date=2013-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005132629/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7406337/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=24 Jun 1948, Page 4 - The Berkshire Eagle at Newspapers.com |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/30745506/ |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=Newspapers.com |archive-date=2022-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422225558/http://www.newspapers.com/image/30745506/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Did Albert Einstein Say World War IV Will be Fought 'With Sticks and Stones'? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/einstein-world-war-iv-sticks-stones/ |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=Snopes.com |date=16 April 2018 |archive-date=2022-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422225558/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/einstein-world-war-iv-sticks-stones/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It has been anticipated and planned for by military and civil authorities, and it has also been [[World War III in popular culture|explored in fiction]]. Scenarios have ranged from conventional warfare to limited or total nuclear warfare.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} Various former government officials, politicians, authors, and military leaders (including [[James Woolsey]],{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} [[Alexandre de Marenches]],<ref name="MarenchesWWIV">{{Cite book| year=1992|title=The Fourth World War: Diplomacy and Espionage{{nbsp}}... |isbn=0688092187|last1=Andelman |first1=Professor David |last2=Marenches |first2=Comte Alexandre de |last3=Marenches |first3=Count De |last4=Andelman |first4=David |publisher=Morrow }}Book regarding alleged WWIV</ref> [[Eliot Cohen]],<ref name="CohenWWIV">{{cite web|year=2001|url=http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=95001493|title=World War IV: Let's call this conflict what it is.|access-date=2010-02-04|archive-date=2010-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327142047/http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=95001493|url-status=live}}Why war on terrorism should be called WWIV</ref> and [[Subcomandante Marcos]]<ref name="fourth">{{cite journal |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/nep/v002/2.3marcos.html |title=The Fourth World War Has Begun |author=Subcomandante Marcos |author-link=Subcomandante Marcos |journal=Nepantla: Views from South |volume=2 |issue=3 |year=2001 |pages=559–572 |access-date=20 October 2014 |archive-date=29 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029232312/http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=%2Fjournals%2Fnep%2Fv002%2F2.3marcos.html |url-status=live }}</ref>) have attempted to apply the labels of the "Third World War" and the "Fourth World War" to various past and present global wars since the end of the Second World War, such as the [[Cold War]] and the [[War on terror]] respectively. During the early 21st century, the [[ongoing armed conflicts]] that are taking place around the world, and their worldwide spillovers are sometimes described as [[proxy war]]s waged by the United States and Russia,<ref name="turnproxy">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/world/middleeast/syria-russia-airstrikes.html?_r=0 |title=U.S. Weaponry Is Turning Syria Into Proxy War With Russia |author=Anne Barnard and Karen Shoumali |work=The New York Times |access-date=14 October 2015 |date=12 October 2015 |archive-date=15 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015002734/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/world/middleeast/syria-russia-airstrikes.html?_r=0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cain">{{cite news |author=Martin Pengelly |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/04/john-mccain-russia-us-proxy-war-syria-obama-putin |title=John McCain says US is engaged in proxy war with Russia in Syria |work=The Guardian |access-date=17 October 2015 |date=4 October 2015 |archive-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012181525/http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/04/john-mccain-russia-us-proxy-war-syria-obama-putin |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="prox">{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/13/middleeast/syria-civil-war/index.html |title=U.S., Russia escalate involvement in Syria |author=Holly Yan and Mark Morgenstein |publisher=CNN |access-date=17 October 2015 |date=13 October 2015 |archive-date=17 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017044948/http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/13/middleeast/syria-civil-war/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="stupid">{{cite news |last=Taub |first=Amanda |title="The Russians have made a serious mistake": how Putin's Syria gambit will backfire |work=Vox |date=1 October 2015 |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/10/1/9434365/putin-syria-russia-mistake |access-date=17 October 2015 |archive-date=22 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022072913/http://www.vox.com/2015/10/1/9434365/putin-syria-russia-mistake |url-status=live }}</ref> which led some commentators{{who|date=August 2022}} to characterize the situation as a "proto-world war", with many countries embroiled in overlapping conflicts.<ref name="proto">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/16/world/middleeast/untangling-the-overlapping-conflicts-in-the-syrian-war.html|title=Untangling the Overlapping Conflicts in the Syrian War|work=The New York Times|access-date=19 October 2015|date=18 October 2015|archive-date=19 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019023347/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/16/world/middleeast/untangling-the-overlapping-conflicts-in-the-syrian-war.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ==Other global conflicts== [[File:Wojciech Kossak The Battle of Zorndorf (1758) 1899.jpg|thumb|An artist's depiction of the [[Prussian Army]] clashing with the [[Imperial Russian Army]] at the [[Battle of Zorndorf]], part of the Seven Years' War, which some historians consider to be an early world war]] The [[Seven Years' War]] (1754/56–1763) was fought across all of North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Most of the great powers of the era participated, notably including the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British Empire]] and [[Kingdom of France|French Empire]], but polities from many continents played important roles. Some historians call it "World War 0" as a result.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2014/07/01/why-the-first-world-war-wasnt-really|title=Why the first world war wasn't really|newspaper=The Economist|date=2014-07-01|access-date=2018-05-29|archive-date=2018-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530034837/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2014/07/01/why-the-first-world-war-wasnt-really|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Devetak |first1=Richard |last2=Tannock |first2=Emily |date=January 2017 |title=The Globalization of International Society: Imperial Rivalry and the First Global War |chapter=Imperial Rivalry and the First Global War |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/6787/chapter-abstract/150921217?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2024-09-09 |website=academic.oup.com|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198793427.003.0007 |isbn=978-0-19-879342-7 }}</ref> Historians like Richard F. Hamilton and [[Holger H. Herwig]] created a list of eight world wars, including the two generally agreed-upon world wars, the Seven Years' War, and five others: the [[Nine Years' War]] (1689–1697), the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] (1701–1714), the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] (1740–1748), the [[French Revolutionary Wars]] (1792–1802), and the [[Napoleonic Wars]] (1803–1815).<ref name="HamiltonHerwig2003" /> British historian John Robert Seeley dubbed all of those wars between France and Great Britain (later the UK) between 1689 and 1815 (including the [[American Revolutionary War]] from 1775 to 1783) as the [[Second Hundred Years' War]], echoing an earlier period of conflict between France and England known as the [[Hundred Years' War]] (1337–1453).<ref name="AllisonFerreiro2018">{{cite book | editor1 = David K. Allison | editor2 = Larrie D. Ferreiro | date = 6 November 2018 | title = The American Revolution: A World War | publisher = Smithsonian Institution | pages = 16 | isbn = 978-1-58834-659-9 | oclc = 1061862132 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IlpnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA52 | access-date = 21 January 2022 | archive-date = 21 January 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220121061952/https://books.google.com/books?id=IlpnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA52 | url-status = live }}</ref> Some writers have referred to the American Revolutionary War alone as a world war.<ref name="AllisonFerreiro2018"/> Others (like William R. Thompson or Chase-Dunn and Sokolovsky) also include the [[Italian Wars]] and ''Dutch wars'' [<nowiki/>[[Eighty Years' War|Dutch-Spanish]] and [[Anglo-Dutch Wars]]] as part of Global Wars, while clasificating WW1 and WW2 as the Global ''German Wars'', and the [[Coalition Wars]] with [[French–Habsburg rivalry#Nine Years' War|Wars of Louis XIV]] as the 2nd and 1st Global ''French Wars''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thompson |first=William R. |date=1983 |title=World Wars, Global Wars, and the Cool Hand Luke Syndrome: A Reply to Chase-Dunn and Sokolovsky |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2600689 |journal=International Studies Quarterly |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=369–374 |doi=10.2307/2600689 |jstor=2600689 |issn=0020-8833|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, other historians prefer to see all of those conflicts as "Hegemonic Wars" or "General Wars", been inter-regional wars on the grand scale, but not worldly.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Levy |first=Jack S. |date=April 1985 |title=Theories of General War |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/world-politics/article/abs/theories-of-general-war/67FF1194166413E399BE9C6475F720F8 |journal=World Politics |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=344–374 |doi=10.2307/2010247 |jstor=2010247 |issn=1086-3338|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Melko |first=Matthew |date=2001 |title=The Importance of General Wars in World History |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23607788 |journal=Peace Research |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=83–100 |jstor=23607788 |issn=0008-4697}}</ref> Other historians suggest even earlier conflicts to be world wars. For example, Russian ethnologist [[Lev Gumilev|L. N. Gumilyov]] called the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]] "the World War of the 7th century" because it evolved into a war between the fourfold alliance of the [[Tang dynasty|Chinese Empire]], the [[Western Turkic Khaganate]], the [[Khazars]], and the [[Byzantine Empire]] against a triple union of the [[Sasanian Empire]], the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], and the [[First Turkic Khaganate|Eastern Turkic Khaganate]], with proxy conflicts in [[Afro-Eurasia]] (like the [[Aksumite–Persian wars]]) and across the [[Old World]].<ref>Gumilyov L. N. [http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/OT/ot15.htm Ancient Turks. Chapter XV. World War VII.] - M. : Iris-Press, 2009. - 560 p. — (Library of history and culture). {{ISBN|978-5-8112-3742-5}}</ref> Others consider that the [[Ottoman–Portuguese confrontations]] and [[Ottoman–Habsburg wars]] can be considered as world conflicts, prototypes of the "[[Great Game]]" in [[Eurasia]] and the [[Scramble for Africa]], but between two main power-projecting and religious blocs, the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], as holders of the [[Muslim]] [[Caliphate]], and the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburgs]], as [[Holy Roman Emperor]].<ref>Crowley, Roger Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the battle of Lepanto and the contest for the center of the world, [[Random House]], 2008</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-08-22 |title=The Ottoman 'Discovery' of the Indian Ocean in the Sixteenth Century: The Age of Exploration from an Islamic Perspective | website=History Cooperative |url=https://historycooperative.org/journal/the-ottoman-discovery-of-the-indian-ocean-in-the-sixteenth-century-the-age-of-exploration-from-an-islamic-perspective/ |access-date=2023-05-04 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Burke |first=Edmund |title=Encounters Old and New in World History: The Sixteenth-Century World War and the Roots of the Modern World |date=2017-06-30 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |isbn=978-0-8248-6591-7 |doi=10.21313/hawaii/9780824865917.003.0006}}</ref> However, the [[Americas]] and [[Oceania]] were not involved in those conflicts, in which case, other historians consider the [[Thirty Years' War]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pike |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mVaWzgEACAAJ |title=The Thirty Years War, 1618 - 1648: The First Global War and the End of Habsburg Supremacy |date=2023-01-16 |publisher=Pen & Sword Books Limited |isbn=978-1-5267-7575-7 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Trettioåriga kriget |url=https://historiskamedia.se/bok/trettioariga-kriget/ |access-date=2023-03-27 |website=Historiska Media |language=sv-SE}}</ref> and [[Eighty Years' War]] (specially [[Dutch–Portuguese War|Iberian–Dutch War]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=The First Global War: The Dutch versus Iberia in Asia, Africa and the New World, 1590-1609 |url=https://www.cepese.pt/portal/pt/publicacoes/obras/volume-1-number-1-summer-2003/the-first-global-war-the-dutch-versus-iberia-in-asia-africa-and-the-new-world-1590-1609 |access-date=2024-09-09 |website=CEPESE {{!}} CENTRO DE ESTUDOS DA POPULAÇÃO, ECONOMIA E SOCIEDADE |language=pt}}</ref><ref>[https://www2.historia.su.se/personal/jan_glete/Glete-Sea_Power_Habsburg_Spain.pdf Jan Glete. The sea power of Habsburg Spain and the development of European navies, 1500-1700*. Paper to the conference Guerra y Sociedad en la Monarquía Hispánica: Politica, Estrategia y Cultura en la Europa Moderna (1500-1700), Madrid, 9-12 March 2005]</ref> as the first global conflict, pitting the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese Empire]]s against the [[French colonial empire|French]], [[Dutch colonial empire|Dutch]], and [[British Empire]]s and their allies (mostly [[Protestantism|Protestants]], like [[Danish colonial empire|Danish]] and [[Swedish colonial empire|Swedish oversea]] expeditions) across the five continents.<ref>Written by Felix Velazquez Lopez. With the collaboration of several academics from universities in Spain. Produced by Premium Cinema. (2010). «The History of the Greatest Empire Ever Known: Chapter 5, Felipe III (Los Austrias)».</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://academic.oup.com/gh/article/38/4/550/5820729 |access-date=2023-04-04 |title= Globalizing the Thirty Years War: Early German Newspapers and their Geopolitical Perspective on the Atlantic World |date=2020 |doi=10.1093/gerhis/ghaa018 |last1=Müller |first1=Johannes |journal=German History |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=550–567 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Yun-Casalilla |first=Bartolomé |title=The Luso-Spanish Composite Global Empire, 1598–1640 |date=2019 |work=Iberian World Empires and the Globalization of Europe 1415–1668 |series=Palgrave Studies in Comparative Global History |pages=323–376 |editor-last=Yun-Casalilla |editor-first=Bartolomé |place=Singapore |publisher=Springer Nature |doi=10.1007/978-981-13-0833-8_7 |isbn=978-981-13-0833-8|doi-access=free }}</ref> Another possible example is the [[Second Congo War]] (1998–2003) even though it was only waged on one continent. It involved nine nations and led to ongoing [[low-intensity warfare]] despite official peace and the first democratic elections in 2006. It has been referred to as "Africa's World War".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/africasworldwarc0000prun |title=Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe |first=Gerard |last=Prunier |publisher=Barnes & Noble |isbn=9780195374209 |year=2014 |access-date=20 October 2014 |url-access=registration }}</ref> {{anchor|The World Wars|World wars of the 20th century|World Wars|World War I|WWI|WW1|World War II|WWII|WW2}} {|style="width:100%;" class="sortable wikitable" |+ |- style="background:#CCCC;" ! Event ! Casualties lowest estimate ! Casualties highest estimate ! Location ! From ! To ! Duration (years) |- | align="center" | {{Css Image Crop|Image = NineYearsWar.png|bSize = 256|cWidth = 256|cHeight = 128}} [[Nine Years' War]]<ref name="HamiltonHerwig2003">{{cite book | editor1 = Richard F. Hamilton | editor2 = Holger H. Herwig | date = 24 February 2003 | title = The Origins of World War I | chapter = Chapter 1: World Wars: Definition and Causes | first1 = Richard F. | last1 = Hamilton | first2 = Holger H. | last2 = Herwig | publisher = Cambridge University Press | pages = 4–9 | isbn = 978-1-107-39386-8 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fcILAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 | access-date = 21 January 2022 | archive-date = 21 January 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220121060914/https://books.google.com/books?id=fcILAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="ChildsChilds1991">{{cite book | author1 = John Charles Roger Childs | author2 = John Childs | date = 1991 | title = The Nine Years' War and the British Army, 1688–1697: The Operations in the Low Countries | publisher = Manchester University Press | pages = 5 | isbn = 978-0-7190-3461-9 | oclc = 1166971747 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q_3HAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA5 | access-date = 2022-01-21 | archive-date = 2022-01-21 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220121060909/https://books.google.com/books?id=q_3HAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA5 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="Cohen2012">{{cite book | author = Eliot A. Cohen | date = 13 November 2012 | title = Conquered Into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battles Along the Great Warpath that Made the American Way of War | publisher = Simon and Schuster | pages = 339 | isbn = 978-1-4516-2411-3 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0oIwBsuA8K4C&pg=PA339 | access-date = 21 January 2022 | archive-date = 21 January 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220121060910/https://books.google.com/books?id=0oIwBsuA8K4C&pg=PA339 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="Gillespie2021">{{cite book | author = Alexander Gillespie | date = 14 January 2021 | title = The Causes of War: Volume IV: 1650 – 1800 | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing | pages = 452 | isbn = 978-1-5099-1218-6 | oclc = 1232140043 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=y7EVEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA452 | access-date = 21 January 2022 | archive-date = 21 January 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220121060911/https://books.google.com/books?id=y7EVEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA452 | url-status = live }}</ref> | 680,000<ref name="HamiltonHerwig2003" /> | | [[Europe]], [[North America]], [[South America]], [[Asia]] | 1688 | 1697 | 9 |- | align="center" | {{Css Image Crop|Image = WaroftheSpanishSuccession.png|bSize = 256|cWidth = 256|cHeight = 128}} [[War of the Spanish Succession]]<ref name="HamiltonHerwig2003" /><ref name="Cohen2012" /> | 700,000<ref name = "Urlanis1971">{{cite book |last= Urlanis |first= Boris Cezarevič | page = 187 | title=Wars and Population |year = 1971 |publisher=Progress Publishing }}</ref> | 1,251,000<ref name = "Levy2014">{{cite book |last=Levy |first=Jack |title = War in the Modern Great Power System: 1495 to 1975 | page = 90 | publisher= University of Kentucky |year=2014 |isbn=978-0813163659 }}</ref> | [[Europe]], [[North America]], [[South America]], [[Africa]] | 1701 | 1714 | 13 |- | align="center" | {{Css Image Crop|Image = WaroftheAustrianSuccession.png|bSize = 256|cWidth = 256|cHeight = 128}} [[War of the Austrian Succession]]<ref name="HamiltonHerwig2003" /><ref name="Lynn2013">{{cite book | author = John A. Lynn | date = 19 December 2013 | title = The Wars of Louis XIV 1667–1714 | publisher = Routledge | pages = 261 | isbn = 978-1-317-89951-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yy9mAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA261 | access-date = 21 January 2022 | archive-date = 21 January 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220121060913/https://books.google.com/books?id=yy9mAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA261 | url-status = live }}</ref> | 359,000<ref name="HamiltonHerwig2003" /> | | [[Europe]], [[North America]], [[South America]], [[Asia]] | 1740 | 1748 | 8 |- | align="center" | {{Css Image Crop|Image = SevenYearsWar.png|bSize = 256|cWidth = 256|cHeight = 128}} [[Seven Years' War]]<ref name="bbcfirstworldwars">{{cite news |title=WW1: Was it really the first world war? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28057198 |access-date=20 January 2022 |work=BBC News |date=28 June 2014 |archive-date=20 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120202946/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28057198 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hodgson |first1=Quentin E |title=The First Global War |journal=SAIS Review |date=2001 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=291–294 |doi=10.1353/sais.2001.0016 |s2cid=154584277 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/30528#:~:text=The%20Seven%20Years'%20War%2Dknown,global%20war%20in%20modern%20history. |issn=1945-4724 |access-date=2022-01-20 |archive-date=2018-06-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180601224625/http://muse.jhu.edu/article/30528#:~:text=The%20Seven%20Years'%20War%2Dknown,global%20war%20in%20modern%20history. |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> | 992,000<ref name="HamiltonHerwig2003" /> | 1,500,000<ref name="horriblethings">{{cite book |first=Matthew |last=White |title=The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History's 100 Worst Atrocities |date=2012 |publisher=W. W. Norton |pages=529–530 |isbn=978-0-393-08192-3}}</ref> | [[Europe]], [[North America]], [[South America]], [[Africa]], [[Asia]] | 1754 | 1763 | 9 |- | align="center" | {{Css Image Crop|Image = AmericanRevolutionaryWar.png|bSize = 256|cWidth = 256|cHeight = 128}} [[American Revolutionary War]]<ref name="AllisonFerreiro2018"/> | 217,000 | 262,000 | [[North America]], [[Gibraltar]], [[Balearic Islands]], [[Asia]], [[Africa]], [[Caribbean Sea]], [[Atlantic Ocean]], [[Indian Ocean]] | 1775 | 1783 | 8 |- | align="center" | {{Css Image Crop|Image = FrenchRevolutionaryWars.png|bSize = 256|cWidth = 256|cHeight = 128}} [[French Revolutionary Wars]]<ref name="HamiltonHerwig2003" /> | 663,000<ref name="HamiltonHerwig2003" /> | | [[Europe]], [[Egypt]], [[Middle East]], [[Atlantic Ocean]], [[Caribbean]], [[Indian Ocean]] | 1792 | 1802 | 9 |- | align="center" | {{Css Image Crop|Image = NapoleonicWars.png|bSize = 256|cWidth = 256|cHeight = 128}} [[Napoleonic Wars]]<ref name="bbcfirstworldwars"/><ref>{{cite web |title=1812: The First World War |url=https://ageofrevolution.org/waterloo-timeline/1812-the-first-world-war/ |website=Age of Revolution |access-date=20 January 2022 |archive-date=20 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120202948/https://ageofrevolution.org/waterloo-timeline/1812-the-first-world-war/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | 1,800,000<ref name="HamiltonHerwig2003" /> | 7,000,000<ref>Charles Esdaile "Napoleon's Wars: An International History".</ref> | [[Europe]], [[Atlantic Ocean]], [[Mediterranean Sea]], [[North Sea]], [[Río de la Plata]], [[French Guiana]], [[West Indies]], [[Indian Ocean]], [[North America]], [[South Caucasus]] | 1803 | 1815 | 13 |- | align="center" | {{Css Image Crop|Image = WWI-re.png|bSize = 256|cWidth = 256|cHeight = 128}} [[World War I]] | 15,000,000<ref>{{harvnb|Willmott|2003|p=307}}</ref> | 65,000,000<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no01/05-0979.htm|journal =Emerging Infectious Diseases |publisher=CDC |title=1918 Influenza: the Mother of All Pandemics |volume= 12 |issue=1 |date= January 2006 |first1=Jeffery K. |last1=Taubenberger |first2=David M. |last2=Morens |pages =15–22 |doi =10.3201/eid1209.05-0979 |pmid =16494711 |pmc =3291398 |access-date=2017-09-18|archive-date=2009-10-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006002531/http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol12no01/05-0979.htm|url-status=live|hdl=1805/733 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> ||Global | 1914 | 1918 | 4 |- | align="center" | {{Css Image Crop|Image = Map of participants in World War II.svg|bSize = 256|cWidth = 256|cHeight = 128}} [[World War II]] | 40,000,000<ref name="auto">{{cite book| first = David| last = Wallechinsky| title = David Wallechinskys 20th Century: History With the Boring Parts Left Out| date = 1996-09-01| publisher = Little Brown| isbn = 978-0-316-92056-8}}</ref> | 85,000,000<ref name="auto1">Fink, George: ''Stress of War, Conflict and Disaster''</ref> | Global | 1939 | 1945 | 6 |- | align="center" | {{Css Image Crop|Image = Cold War Map 1980.svg|bSize = 256|cWidth = 256|cHeight = 128}} [[Cold War]] | | | Global | 1947 | 1991 | 47 |- | align="center" | {{Css Image Crop|Image = Battlefields in The Global War on Terror.svg|bSize = 256|cWidth = 256|cHeight = 128}} [[War on terror]] | 4,500,000<ref name="brownuni2023"> * {{cite web|title=Human Cost of Post-9/11 Wars: Direct War Deaths in Major War Zones, Afghanistan & Pakistan (Oct. 2001 – Aug. 2021); Iraq (March 2003 – Aug. 2021); Syria (Sept. 2014 – May 2021); Yemen (Oct. 2002–Aug. 2021) and Other Post-9/11 War Zones|url=https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures/2021/WarDeathToll|access-date=10 September 2021|website=The Costs of War}} * {{Cite news |last=Berger |first=Miriam |date=15 May 2023 |title=Post-9/11 wars have contributed to some 4.5 million deaths, report suggests |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/15/war-on-terror-911-deaths-afghanistan-iraq/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529144019/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/15/war-on-terror-911-deaths-afghanistan-iraq/ |archive-date=29 May 2023}} * {{Cite web |last=Savell |first=Stephanie |date=15 May 2023 |title=How Death Outlives War: The Reverberating Impact of the Post-9/11 Wars on Human Health |url=https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2023/Indirect%20Deaths.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609194652/https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2023/Indirect%20Deaths.pdf |archive-date=9 June 2023 |website=Costs of War |publisher=Watson Institute of International & Public Affairs}}</ref> | 4,600,000<ref name="brownuni2023" /> | Global | 2001 | present |} ==See also== {{portal|World}} * [[Interwar period]] * [[Post-war]] * [[Post-Cold War era]] * [[List of largest empires]] * [[List of military conflicts spanning multiple wars]] * [[List of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel]] * [[List of ongoing armed conflicts]] * [[Military history]] ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==Bibliography== * {{cite book|last1=Shapiro|first1=Fred R.|last2=Epstein|first2=Joseph|title=The Yale Book of Quotations|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-300-10798-2|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780300107982}} * {{cite book|last=Willmott|first=H. P.|year=2003|title=World War I|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|isbn=978-0-7894-9627-0|oclc=52541937}} ==External links== <!-- YOU CAN HELP: Find which assertions (especially in "Subsequent world wars") these go with and make them into references as soon as you can. --> * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150501122844/http://www.ubishops.ca/baudrillardstudies/spiegel.htm This is the Fourth World War], an interview with philosopher Jean Baudrillard {{Globalization|state=autocollapse}} [[Category:War]] [[Category:World]] [[Category:Wars by type]] [[Category:World wars| ]]
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