Fri 3 Jul 2009
The Myth: World War I was the first war conducted on a global scale.
Posted by dad under Military "Stuff," Past and Present
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The Truth: Historians cite six conflicts that could be labeled world wars: the War of the League of Augsburg (1688-1697), in which western European countries united to stop French conquest; the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), in which France, Rome, England, and Austria vied for control of Spain; the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), in which England, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Portugal, and German states fought over Austria; the French Revolution (1792-1802), in which French commoners overthrew the king, leading England, Prussia, Austria, Spain, and the Netherlands to step in to restore the monarchy; and the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), in which Austria, England, Russia, Sweden, and Norway fought Napoleon’s conquest of Europe.