(November 18, 2015 at 12:37 pm)Minimalist Wrote: These things are best defined after the fact.
An argument could be made that the first World War was really the Second Punic War just going by the scope of it.
The Seven Years War was pretty far-flung, too as a result of European colonialism.
An argument could be made for the Crusades, as well.
WWI was not generally called "World War I" until the Germans tried it again.
Going by what percentage of the world's GDP is involved in the war effort, crusades and seven years war are small time compared to WWI and WWII. Just because the shooting occurs across the globe doesn't mean the globe takes much notice.