I think this question has been asked before but a quick search didn’t quite turn up the answers I’m looking for.
Basically, if the war was confined to Europe - almost wholly Germany, France and the southern arc of nations - then why is it considered a “world” war? I know that most of the nations involved had colonies and allies around the world who contributed troops and materiel, but really, it was four or five nations on each side doing the warring in a relatively small area of “the world.”
Were there any battles of significance outside of Europe?
Not to mention America being in it, toward the end.
But in any case, even if it had been confined to Europe, it involved a much bigger swath of Europe than any previous war,* and to Europeans, Europe was the ‘world’ that counted.
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*The Thirty Years War may have covered more territory, but I doubt it.
More importantly for the future of colonialism they raised troops from thier colonies to fight in the trenches of Europe. There were also the campaigns against Germany’s colonies. It was also more popularly called the Great War until World War II happened.
No human being alive at the time was not profoundly affected by the war or its immediate consequences. That includes the Pacific Islanders and Inuit who were nearly wiped out by the war-accelerated Influenza Pandemic, the Mongolians who were drawn into the Russian and Chinese Civil Wars, or the Latin Americans whose economies were impacted by the demand for materiel.
That can’t be said for “The Real First World War” aka the Seven Years War, even though it was fought in Europe, NE North America and India.
The Seven Years’ War was probably the first “world war.” Just Britain and France, but they fought all over the world wherever they found each other – Europe, North America, India, Africa, the Philippines, to name just a few.
A similar question: why Miss “Universe,” when there’s a cloud of sentinent gas covering a planet in the constellation Libra who thinks herself pretty hot?
Either that or watch the movie, African Queen. Essentially the Brits kicked Germany out of Africa. The Italians (allied with the French and British) were also involved in North Africa against Turk supported rebels.
In sum, there was fighting on three continents (Africa, Asia and Europe) and sea conflicts pretty much in all the oceans as well as some fighting in the Pacific Islands.
I preferred to refer to it as “The War to End All Wars”. Mostly because I was a draftee with a pissy attitude with a very dry sense of humor who could utter sarcasm with a straight (and on a good day, innocent) face.
Which was followed by “a peace to end all peaces” as Archibald Wavell dubbed the Versailles Conference. But some people have doubts as to how harsh that treaty really was, although that is a great debates topic.