Why aren't the Napoleonic Wars called World War 1?

Question

Why is the Great War of 1914-1918 called World War 1 when it should be called WW2 and the war against Nazis and Imperialist Japanese should be called WW3?

Both the Great War and the Napoleonic Wars involved the European Powers, and battles took place all over the world and the European colonies, But Napoleons war isn't called World War 1, WHY?

Answer 1

Well frankly the Great War wasn't called world war 1, these things are usually done looking backwards.

One reason might be that the nation state hadn't crystallised into it's 20th century model back in the early 19th century, so we don't have that clash of nations feel about it.

Another is that it wasn't a single war with an end goal (not that anyone had the foggiest idea what the end goal was n the 14-18 conflict) but a series of vaguely related struggles (empire, jacobin) across a number of theatres across time. It was never total war in the 20th century concept of gearing the entire economy and conscription on a vast scale.

In fact the thirty years war of the 17-18th centuries was a wider scale, more intractable conflict that resulted in more deaths overall than the napoleonic wars.

One may as well ask why the gulf war which was the 1980-88 war between Iran and Iraq suddenly got sidelined by the gulf war between the then coalition and Iraq.

Answer 2

While there may have been battles around the world during the Napoleonic war, the combatants were all European nations. The fighting around with world was in their colonies and possessions.

In the Great War, or World War One, not only was the fighting wide spread around the world, but the combatant nations were from around the world as well.

Also, the fighting was not always limited to the combatants, the German policy of unrestricted submarine warfare meant that anyone could end up being attacked, participant or not. In fact, that is basically what brought the US into the war.

Answer 3

The Napoleonic Wars were fought primarily in Europe and involved primarily European powers.

The Great War, or The War to End All Wars, which was later renamed WWI was called The Great War or TWTEAW because the slaughter was so great that no one thought mankind would ever want to go to war again. Of course World War II put an end to that myth. Both WWI and WWII were truly the first wars fought on the global stage. While there had been battles between belligerents in various places around the globe in previous wars, WWI and WWII were really the first time that there were entire theatres of operation around the globe.

Answer 4

Many historians do indeed think of the Napoleonic wars as "world wars", and even of some slightly earlier conflicts as "world wars". But somehow the term "world war" did not arise until sometime in the 1940s, after WW2 had got under way. The war of 1914 to 1918 was called "The Great War" when it was happening, and after it had finished.

Answer 5

People at the time might not of thought of it as a world war, because it was several wars and the sides and allies kept changing. I think the term world war was first used when forces from Australia and New Zealand were shipped to fight in Turkey. Napolean's war was a "World War" some histories call that the first world war, and the cold war the forth. You could say the fifth is just starting...

Answer 6

The only currently known 1st world war was the world war 1. There were wars at ancient time but they were not termed as world war

Answer 7

Hindsight is 20/20. After we got through fighting WWII, we realized that it was WWII. When we got through fighting WWI, we called it "The Great War," and "The War to End All Wars." The "Napoleonic Wars" were so called because there were many of them, and they all involved Napoleon. Between Napoleon's defense of Toulon and his defeat at Waterloo, there were many wars and peaces.

Answer 8

the Napoleonic wars were sporadic, as war would be waged then a stalemate then a new alliance, so it was more imperialism than anything, where as ww1 was a war waged at a stagnant front line which rarely moved by the Germans and the austro-Hungarian empire and the British french Russians and Italians. i think since it was a constant state of war that it received the title where as the Napoleonic "wars" where not

Answer 9

Actually, historians sometimes call the Seven Years War (what is known as the French and Indian War in the US) the first world war.

Answer 10

becouse the rock says so.