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A world war is a war involving many or most of the world's most powerful and populous countries. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theatres. The term is applied to the two major international conflicts that occurred during the 20th century: *World War I, or First World War (1914–1918) *World War II, or Second World War (1939–1945) The scale of these wars were due to technological advances that allowed global power projection and mass production of military hardware. ==Origins of the term "world war"== The term "World War" was coined speculatively in the early 20th century, some years before the First World War broke out, probably as a literal translation of the German word ''Weltkrieg''. German writer August Wilhelm Otto Niemann had used the word in the title of his anti-British novel ''Der Weltkrieg: Deutsche Träume'' ("The World War: German Dreams") as early as 1904, published in English as ''The coming conquest of England''. Also, the term was used as early as 1850 by Karl Marx in ''The Class Struggles in France'', as well as his associate Friedrich Engels.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Introduction to Borkheim )〕 Rasmus B. Anderson in 1889 describes an episode in Teutonic mythology as a world war (Swedish ''världskrig''), justifying this description by a line in an Old Norse epic poem, ''Völuspá'': ''folcvig fyrst i heimi'' (the first great war in the world).〔Rasmus Björn Anderson (translator: Viktor Rydberg), ''Teutonic Mythology'', vol. 1, (p. 139 ), London: S. Sonnenschein & Co., 1889 .〕 The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' cites the first known usage in the English language to a Scottish newspaper, the ''People's Journal'' in 1848: "A war amongst the great powers is now necessarily a world-war." It was recognized that the complex system of opposing alliances–the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire ''vs.'' the French Third Republic, the Russian Empire, and the British Empire was likely to lead to a worldwide conflict in the event of war breaking out. Due to this fact, a very minute conflict between two countries had the potential to set off a domino effect of alliances, causing mass war. The fact that the powers involved had large overseas empires virtually guaranteed that a war would be worldwide, as the colonies' resources would be a crucial strategic factor. The same strategic considerations also ensured that the combatants would strike at each other's colonies, thus spreading the fighting far more widely than in the pre-colonial era. Other languages have also adopted the "World War" terminology. For instance, in French, "World War" is translated as "Guerre Mondiale"; in German, "Weltkrieg", which, prior to the war, had been used in the more abstract meaning of a global conflict; in Italian, "World War" is translated as "Guerra Mondiale"; in Spanish and Portuguese, "Guerra Mundial", in Danish, "Verdenskrig" and in Russian, "" (''Mirovaya Voyna''). Speculative fiction authors were noting the concept of a Second World War at least as early as 1919 and 1920, when Milo Hastings wrote his dystopian novel ''City of Endless Night''. In English, the term "First World War" was used by Charles à Court Repington as a title for his memoirs, published in 1920, having originally discussed the matter with a Major Johnstone of Harvard University in September 1918. The term "World War I" was invented by ''Time'' magazine in its issue of June 12, 1939. In that same article, the term "World War II" was first used speculatively to describe the upcoming war.〔"In World War II it is possible that even nations who do not take sides may play a vital military part, for they may be invaded."〕 The first use for the actual war came in its issue of September 11, 1939. One week earlier, the Danish newspaper ''Kristeligt Dagblad'' used the term on its front page, saying "The second World War broke out yesterday at 11 a.m."〔"Den anden Verdenskrig udbrød i Gaar Middags Kl. 11", ''Kristeligt Dagblad'', September 4, 1939.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「world war」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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