A world war is a war affecting most of the world's most powerful and populous countries. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters.
The term is usually applied to the two conflicts of unprecedented scale that occurred during the 20th century: World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). However, it is also sometimes applied to earlier wars and to a hypothetical future war.
Read more about World War: Origins of The Term, World Wars Before The 20th Century, World Wars of The 20th Century, Later World Wars
Famous quotes containing the words world and/or war:
“His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that nature might stand up
And say to all the world “This was a man.””
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The idea that information can be stored in a changing world without an overwhelming depreciation of its value is false. It is scarcely less false than the more plausible claim that after a war we may take our existing weapons, fill their barrels with cylinder oil, and coat their outsides with sprayed rubber film, and let them statically await the next emergency.”
—Norbert Wiener (1894–1964)