Why were World War 1 and World War 2 seen as a World Wars, yet the 7 Years War wasn’t seen as one?

Question

I’ve always wondered this. The 7 Years war was fought on multiple continents and decided the world as we know it, just like both World Wars. I just don’t get why it wasn’t seen as a world war and I came here to ask why.

In: Other

Answer 1

Most likely because it simply predates the English term “world war”. The term “world war” originates around the middle of the 19th century, and World War I is generally described as the “first” since it occurred after the term was coined.

Note that some historians do consider the Seven Years’ War to be a “world war”, along with several other historical global conflicts (the Nine Years’ War, the War of Spanish Succession, the War of Austrian Succession, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars).

But if we were to go back and rename all the global wars in order of occurrence, you would end up with non-historians having no clue which war you’re talking about. In order, you’d have:

* First World War – the Nine Years’ War (1689-1697)
* Second World War – the War of the Spanish Succession (1704-1714)
* Third World War – the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)
* Fourth World War – the Seven Years’ War (1754-1763)
* Fifth World War – the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802)
* Sixth World War – the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)
* Seventh World War – World War I (1914-1918)
* Eighth World War – World War II (1939-1945)

So now when you say “World War I”, you’d have to clarify whether you mean the Nine Years’ War or the war that occurred at the beginning of the 20th century.