Re: CHAT: World War, was Re: CHAT: "have a Canadian day"

>Matt Pearson wrote:
>
>> I suppose the only war that *truly* deserves the designation "world war"
>> is World War Two, since this is the only war which was ever fought on
>> a truly world-wide scale, with participants from all the major continents,
>> and battles throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania--not to mention all
>> the major oceans and seas.
>
>Well, World War I met those criteria as well and remember, Japan was
>a combatant in that war as well.  But your point is taken, WW2 certainly
>met the criteria in a more vigorous manner.
Yes, I remember that Japan was a combatant.  My preferred definition
of a world war is a war that was *fought* all over the world, concerning
issues which had an impact on many/most parts of the globe.  (Hence the
Korean War and the Gulf/Iraqi War don't count as world wars, despite
participation of many far-flung countries, since the fighting was quite
localised.)  WW1 may have involved a large cast of characters, but unless
I'm misremembering my history, it was fought only in parts of Europe, the
Ottoman Empire, and adjacent oceans and seas.  (Are there any other
engagements I'm not remembering?)

Anyway, it's all relative.  WW1 was certainly a *big* war by any reasonable
criterion, so the designation "World War" is hardly inappropriate.

Matt.