this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2024
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All or most of the "powerful" countries being involved, usually directly. Basically take a look at the top military powers, if majority are active boots on ground, running military strategies, fighting and taking a wartime position domestically, you've got a world war.
Really though it's a new-ish term, and highly subjective. WW1 was the Great War until it popped off again. For a modern thought experiment - could the war on terror be considered a world war? Much of the world's fighting power was dragged into it to some degree, but most people would say no.
Long story short, it's a 'world war' when historians decide it was.
What?
They didn't call World War One World War One during World War One?
no, just like we didn't (and still don't) call what was happening a few years ago "the first COVID-19 pandemic"
I will now.