Global Conflicts Quiz

History of the Term 'World War'

• The term 'world war' was first used in the English language in the mid-19th century.
• German philosopher and historian, Karl Marx, used the term 'world war' in a series of articles published around 1850 called The Class Struggles in France.

Early Usage of the Term

• In 1889, German philosopher and philologist, Wilhelm Ferdinand Haupt, described an episode in Teutonic mythology as a 'world war'.
• The term 'world war' was used in the title of the anti-British novel, Der Weltkrieg: Deutsche Träume, in 1912.

Conflicts Considered

• The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) is not conventionally considered a world war according to the text.