why did they call world war 1 the great war?

Answer 1

because it involved almost the entire globe. people thought there would never ever be such a war ever again.

Answer 2

It was called the Great War after the end of the war. The war caused political and social change, and many felt that because it was seen as a sacrifice for no reason, that it taught the world the consequences of war. The also called it the Great War after it was identified as a cause of WWII.

Answer 3

The tripwire that set off the century's first global conflict was Austria's declaration of war against Serbia on July 28, 1914, a month after Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne) was assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian fanatic. A war between Austria and Serbia meant a war between Austria and Russia -- Serbia's traditional ally. That meant war between Russia and Germany. And that meant war between Germany and France. And that meant war between Germany and Great Britain. In a flash, the whole continent was at war. It didn't stop there...it carried over into the US, Japan and Italy.
Thats why it was called "the Great War." It was the first time that warfafre was waged by more than two countries at one time, involving most of the World Powers of the time.

Answer 4

It was termed the "great war" for many reasons. Here are some:
-The european colonies in the americas, africa and asia provided military resources in the conflict and many nations were engaged in the conflict. Therfore, it was global.
-It was the first war that showed the amazing impact of the industrial revolution. The incredible rate and capacity of the production of weapons and other ordinance was unprecedented for its time.
-The level of destruction which took the lives of millions and reduced cities and country sides to cinder.

The assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand is not the reason why europe went to war. It was mostly driven by economics. The war would have mostly likely occurred even if Archduke Ferdinand was not assissinated. Germany, France and Britain were all competing for global supremacy of resources.

An interesting book to read is "Aftermath: Remnants of War" written by Donovan Webster. It has a very enriching chapter on the impact of World War I had on France.

Answer 5

It was the first time the world fought a war at that magnitude. The term "World War" did not catch on until after the war was finished.

Answer 6

Because people at the time thought war could never again be as bad as it was. It was also called "The War to End All Wars". How little they knew...

Answer 7

As the previous answer says. And because it was such a large conflict, involving many more nations on one side or the other, than had ever been involved in a war before. It was fought on the 'western front' in Flanders and France, in Russia and Poland, in the Balkans, in the Near and Middle East and even in parts of Africa.

Answer 8

at the time and shortly after it was the greatest war the continent had ever seen, think of the previous franco prussian war or the napoleonic wars

Answer 9

It was the first war of its kind where almost all of europe and the united states faught. It was great as in fantastic but great as in large scale.