World Wars

Death and destruction, trench warfare, and the Holocaust are just some of the images conjured up when you hear the words 'world war'. Read on to learn more about the definition of a world war, and examine the two major conflicts of the 20^th century that we know as 'world wars': World War I and World War II.

World War Definition

Contrary to the name, a world war does not mean that the whole world is at war, but rather the world's major superpowers are at war, or at least involved in some capacity.

World War Terms

The term 'world war' has been used since the mid-19^th century. The term 'first world war' was first used by Ernest Haeckel, a German biologist and philosopher, shortly after the start of World War I. He said;

The 'European War' he mentions, which we call World War I, is also known as 'The Great War'.

World War History

When asked about world wars, there is every chance that World War I, II, or both spring to mind. These are indeed the two major international conflicts of the early 20^th century that we call 'world wars'.

That said, some historians feel that other conflicts also earn the dubious title of being a world war. These include:

• The Nine Years' War (27 September 1688 - 20 September 1697).
• The War of the Spanish Succession (9 July 1701 - 6 February 1715).
• The Seven Years' War (17 May 1757 - 15 February 1763).
• The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (7 battles between 20 April 1792 - 20 November 1815).

World War III

While there is no official World War III yet (luckily!), it is considered a future potential. During World War II, the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan) sparked great fear of nuclear warfare. Atomic bombs were made possible because of Albert Einstein's research and his 'e=mc^2' equation. Einstein himself said:

With (political) unrest in/between several countries and technological advances, nuclear warfare on a global scale is a real threat, potentially turning into World War III (but let's hope it does not!).

World Wars Timeline

World War I and World War II each lasted for several years, and a lot happened during that time! Let's look at timelines for both World Wars.

World War I Timeline

Below, you will see some key events from World War I.

World War II Timeline

Below are the key events of World War II.

As mentioned earlier, both wars were extensive. Below, we will go into more detail.

World War 1

World War 1 (World War I, WWI, WW1), also known as the Great War, was a major conflict on a global scale. The primary catalyst for the war was the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (and his wife) on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo (Bosnia Herzegovina). A month later, Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia, marking the beginning of WWI.

The war was fought between the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire (nowadays Turkey) and the Allied Powers of Great Britain, Russia, France, Romania, Italy, Canada, Japan, and the US; both joined by their respective supporters.

Germany started fighting on two fronts: France in the west and Russia in the east.

During the First Battle of the Marne, France (6 September - 12 September 1914), forces on both sides dug trenches, setting the tone for the rest of the war.

Significant battles during WWI are the Second Battle of Ypres (22 April 1915 - 25 May 1915), the Battle of Verdun (21 February 1916 - 18 December 1916), the Battle of the Somme (1 July 1916 - 18 November 1916), with the Battle of Verdun alone costing around 1 million lives for both the French and the Germans, and the Third Battle of Ypres, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (31 July 1917 - 10 November 1917). Another significant event was the Gallipoli Campaign (17 February 1915 - 9 January 1916). It was a battle fought between the British forces and the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey). It ended in total disaster for the British and resulted in a retreat.

Fig. 5 - Ypres (Passchendaele) before (top) and after (bottom) the Third Battle of Ypres (Battle of Passchendaele)

In the meantime, Germany was also waging war on the Eastern Front with Russia. However, when Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was forced to abdicate on 15 March 1917 in light of the Russian Revolution, the Romanov Dynasty was overthrown. This gave rise to the power of Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks, with the former stopping Russia's involvement and participation in WWI.

The US had remained on the sidelines at first. However, when German U-boats sunk several commercial and passenger vessels that included US ships, on 6 April 1917, the US declared war on Germany.

Germany decided to conduct warfare on two fronts based on the so-called Schlieffen Plan, a strategy devised about a decade earlier by Alfred von Schlieffen, a German Field Marshal. The flaw in the plan, however, was that it presumed an 'everything goes right' scenario, not taking into account any contingencies for things going wrong. In the end, this meant Germany's defeat.

Fig. 6 - Alfred von Schlieffen

The Second Battle of the Marne (15 July - 18 July 1918) was the beginning of the end, turning the tide to favour the Allied forces. On 11 November 1917, Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allied forces, ending the fighting. Then, on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after Franz Ferdinand's assassination, which sparked the start of WWI, The Treaty of Versailles was signed. This was WWI's most crucial peace treaty, officially ending the world war.

Fig. 7 - Europe in 1923, showing changes after WWI

World War 2

Even though WWI ended in 1919, it was not the end of the instability in Europe. Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933, taking power with his Nazi Party, which was the beginning of the destruction caused by WWII. Hitler anointed himself Führer and started to act on his obsession for the superiority of the so-called 'Aryan race', a pure German race.

Hitler signed alliances with Italy and Japan against the Soviet Union and rearmed Germany, the latter directly violating the Treaty of Versailles. Probably learning (somewhat) from Germany's mistake during WWI, Hitler did not want to fight on two fronts. On 23 August 1939, Hitler and Joseph Stalin signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. The pact promised no military action would be taken against the other for ten years. This left Hitler to carry out a long-desired plan: invade Poland, which he did on 1 September 1939. Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of WWII, a war between the Allied and Axis Powers.

Fig. 8 - Joseph Stalin, 1920

On 7 September 1940, the Germans started the Blitz, where Germany launched air attacks, bombing industrial targets, towns, and cities in the UK. The Battle of Britain was nearing its end, and the German Luftwaffe and British RAF fought it out in the air with a British victory, ending the Blitz on 11 May 1941.

Fig. 9 - London, including St. Paul's Cathedral, after the Blitz

In the meantime, Hitler wanted to expand Germany's territory, so he took two courses of action:

1. The extermination of Jews throughout German-occupied Europe. This genocide became known as the Holocaust.
2. Hitler went against the treaty he signed with Stalin and, under the code name Operation Barbarossa, ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941.

On 7 December 1941, Japan, Germany's ally, attacked and bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, causing the US to declare war on Japan, officially entering WWII. Japan had several victories over the US before the US Pacific Fleet won the Battle of Midway on 6 June 1942.

In North Africa, American and British forces won a victory over the Germans and Italians, causing Mussolini's government to fall in July 1943. In the meantime, Germany's counteroffensive on the Eastern Front was not going as planned, ending in the exceptionally bloody Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 - 2 February 1943).

On 6 June 1944, Operation Overlord launched D-Day, a massive seaborne invasion landing on the beaches of Normandy (France). The Battle of the Bulge started in December 1944 and was Germany's last major offensive. Things were not going well for Germany, and Hitler took his own life in his bunker on 30 April 1945.

Fig. 10 - Men of the 16^th Infantry Regiment, US 1^st Infantry Division landing on Omaha Beach, Normandy, on the morning of 6 June 1944, known as D-Day

The campaigns at Iwo Jima (February 1945) and Okinawa (April-June 1945) cost many lives. Eventually, the US dropped two atomic bombs, one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki. World War II officially ended on 2 September 1945.

Fig. 11 - World II deaths for Allied Forces and Axis Powers

In the aftermath, communism spread from the Soviet Union into eastern Europe. Soon the Soviet Union would stand off with the US in a conflict known as the Cold War.

To end on a more positive note:

• The 1945 Allied Conference in San Francisco (25 April 1945 - 26 June 1945) resulted in the creation of the United Nations (UN).
• The Treaty of Maastricht created the European Union (EU) to bring back stability, peace, and prosperity to Europe. It was signed on 7 February 1992 and became effective on 1 November 1993.

If you want to learn more, start with our article on the First World War, the origins of WWII, and the outbreak of WWII.