World War


 * For the conflict that was referred to as the World War before the start of the second war, see World War I.

World War is "a war engaged in by all or most of the principal nations of the world". While a variety of global conflicts have been subjectively deemed "World Wars", such as the Cold War, the term is widely and usually accepted only as it is retrospectively applied to two major international conflicts that occurred during the 20th century: World War I (1914–18) and World War II (1939–45).