Global War What Is A Global War Alliances Happened On More Than

Global wars, also called World Wars, have happened several times in history. Many consider the The Great War of 1914-1918 (World War I) to be the first. However, many previous wars have spanned the globe and involved numerous countries, qualifying them as "global wars" in the eyes of some historians.

1 What is a global war?

The specific qualities that make up a global war are open to debate, however, the following are a reasonable set of criteria:

1.1 Alliances

Normally, there are groups of nations on each side in two alliances or distinct groups.

In the American Revolutionary War, the sides were aligned between the United States, France, Spain and the Netherlands against Great Britain and minor German States. The Great War of 1914-1918, the sides were aligned between Japan, China, Brazil, Cuba, United States, British Empire, France, Arabian Empire and the Russian Empire against the German Empire, Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. monarchy , was a dualistic state ( 1867 1918) in which the Kingdom of Hungary enjoyed self-government and representation in joint affairs (principally foreign relations and defence) with the west, and the Ottoman EmpireOsmanlı İmparatorluğu Devlet-i Aliye-i Osmaniye The Ottoman Coat of Arms Imperial motto: unknown The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital İstanbul ( Constantinople) Sovereigns Sultans.

1.2 Happened on more than one continent

The Great War of 1914-1918 was fought in China, The Pacific OceanFor other meanings of pacific see pacific (disambiguation). The Pacific Ocean (from the Spanish Pacifico meaning peaceful is the world's largest body of water. It encompasses a third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 179. 7 million km² (69. 4 mill, ArabiaArabia is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia. It lies north of Ethiopia and northern Somalia; south of Israel, the disputed Palestinian territories, and Jordan; and southwest of Iran. The coastal limits of Arabia comprise: on, AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20. 3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for ar and the North Atlantic as well as Europe. The Seven Years War was fought in India, and North America as well as Europe. The Second World War of 1931-1945 was fought first in China, and then later in Greenland, Alaska, off the coast of Argentina, and in Africa, Arabia and North America as well as Europe and the Pacific Ocean.

1.3 Great numbers of deaths

Some of the early wars may not have the totals of deaths as the last world war did, but compared to the number of people in the world during the early world wars, the numbers were large.

2 Wars not considered global wars

Some large wars that are not global wars, but do have some of the elements of the three above…

2.1 American Civil War

There were almost 600,000 deaths in that war and the two navies did fight in European Waters but this was an internal conflict. No other nations were involved militarily. Britain and France did think of sending troops but did not do so. Russia showed strong support for the Union but also did not send military support.

2.2 The Cold War

Alliances were involved, as were multiple continents. However, this did not involve conflict other than through proxy wars such as the Vietnam War and the Afghanistan War. The Soviet Union and the US did not declare war on each other.

3 List of global wars

3.1 War of the League of Augsburg (1688-1697)

Fought by Palatinate, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Spain, Sweden, United Provinces, and England against France, and to a degree the Ottoman Empire. The war was fought in North America and Europe.

3.2 War of the Spanish Succession(1701-1714)

Fought by Great Britain, Spain, German and Italian States against France.

Again this war was fought in Europe and North America.

3.3 War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)

Fought by Prussia, Great Britain Austria, Sardinia, Sweden and the Netherlands against France, Russia, Bavaria, Spain and Saxony.

The war was fought in India and North America as well as Europe.

3.4 Seven Years' War (1754-1763)

Fought by Great Britain, Prussia, Portugal and Hanover against France, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Saxony The Netherlands and Russia.

Churchill, in his history, called this the First World War.

Fighting occurred in India, The Philippines, North America, Africa and the Caribbean as well as Europe. This global war was also the first to not start in Europe. It started in the Ohio River Valley in present day United States.

3.5 American Revolutionary War (1775-1784)

Fought by Great Britain, Madras, and minor German States against France, Kingdom of Mysore, The Netherlands, Spain, Sardinia and the United States of America.

Fighting occurred in India, The Caribbean, Europe, and North America.

3.6 French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802)

Fought by France and the Batavian Republic against Naples, Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Sardinia, Portugal, The Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Russian Empire and Ottoman Empire.

This World War was fought in Africa and Europe.

3.7 Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)

Fought by France and the United States (non-allied with France) against the Great Britain, Spain, Austria, the German states of the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden, The Netherlands, Saxony, Prussia, Russian Empire and Piedmont.

The United States of America did not support France at all, but the War of 1812 between it and the United Kingdom is considered part of the fighting of the greater war.

The war was fought in North America, Europe, Africa, South-East Asia, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Indian Ocean.

This war was a series of wars, allied nations came in and out and not all remained for the duration of this global war. Many consider Battle of Waterloo to be the last battle of this war.

3.8 The Great War (World War I) (1914-1918)

Fought by China, Japan, Brazil, Cuba, Belgium, Portugal, the British Empire, France, Italy, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Liberia, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Panama, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Siam( Thailand), Greece, Russian Empire, and the United States of America against Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungary, and the German Empire.

The war was fought in China, the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Africa, Arabia and Europe.

Note: British Empire was the common term for Great Britain at this time. The term refers to the colonies it controled.

3.9 World War II (1931-1945)

Fought by Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, the Soviet Union, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Syria, Turkey, the United States Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia against Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, and Romania. Finland's position was more complicated (see Winter War).

However, only the allied nations of the United States, Great Britain, France, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, the Soviet Union, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Poland and India sent troops. The rest of the allied nations provided material and monetary support.

The Second World War was fought in Greenland, Alaska, China, South East Asia, The Pacific Ocean, The Indian Ocean, Arabia, Africa, The South Atlantic, The North Atlantic and Europe.

Note: Italy declared war on Germany in 1943 and switched sides.

Also note: Some Historians consider the Japanese attack on China in 1931 to be the beginning of World War 2. The Traditional start of the war is September 3, 1939.

<Hide>

Home > Global War