World war

A world war is a military conflict affecting the majority of the world's countries. World wars usually span multiple continents, and are very bloody and destructive.

Related Topics:
Military conflict - Continent

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The term is usually used to refer to World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Both wars involved some degree of participation from most of the world's existing countries, especially through the colonial empires of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, besides the United States and Russia. There has also been discussion of a so-called World War III, often used as a theoretical possibility or science fiction scenario, recently to describe the War on Terrorism, or to refer to some other actual event (e.g. the Cold War).

Related Topics:
World War I - 1914 - 1918 - World War II - 1939 - 1945 - Colonial empires - Britain - France - Germany - Italy - Japan - United States - Russia - World War III - Science fiction - War on Terrorism - Cold War

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Other wars in earlier periods that saw conflict across the world have been considered world wars by some, including the Seven Years' War (1756–1763; Winston Churchill called it "the first world war" in his A History of the English Speaking Peoples), the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) and the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).

Related Topics:
Seven Years' War - 1756 - 1763 - Winston Churchill - A History of the English Speaking Peoples - French Revolutionary Wars - 1792 - 1802 - Napoleonic Wars - 1803 - 1815

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Since the conclusion of World War I, called the "war to end all wars", international organisations have been developed to attempt to prevent the outbreak of new wars. The League of Nations was established after World War I, and collapsed with the outbreak of World War II, after which the United Nations was formed.

Related Topics:
War to end all wars - League of Nations - United Nations

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