Wars such as the War of Roses. Was it always named that or when do wars normally get a common name?
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> Wars such as the War of Roses.
That was just known as “the civil wars” at the time. The name “The Wars of the Roses” was popularised by a 19th century novel by Walter Scott.
Wars tend to be known by very generic names while they’re going on – often just something like “the war”. Propagandists will sometimes try and promote a name that paints their side in a good light. Later on, historians and writers will often try and promote names that they feel are particularly appropriate or poetic. And then it just depends what catches on. Sometimes different names catch on in different places, for example in Russia the Second World War is known as the Great Patriotic War.
Also there are sometimes disagreements about how to define the scope of a war. For example, some would argue that conflicts such as the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Spanish Civil War and the Second Italo-Ethiopian War should be included within the scope of “the Second World War”.
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