• Chainweasel@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    They didn’t start calling WWII what it is until 1944, but I think we can all agree it didn’t start in 1944.
    Just like later historians placed the start of WWII on multiple different events depending on which country you’re in, the start of World War III will be long before we start calling it that.
    I’m in the camp that the start of WW3 will be the Russian invasion of Ukraine if things continue to escalate the way they’re going, because that’s when you really started seeing lines being drawn between the axis and allies.
    Russia, China, Iran, and NK are the most recognizable names that have aligned themselves with the axis so far.
    The lines are already drawn and future events will dictate whether or not we’re currently living in WW3 today.

    • BigFig@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      And some would argue that WW1 was WW2 and WW2 WAS WW3. The 7 years war/French and Indian (not French vs Indian) war are commonly referred to as the real first world war. And then the Nepoleonic wars are similarly thought of by some to have been a world war of sorts

      • bluGill@kbin.run
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        8 days ago

        WWI was called the great war, and the war to end all wars until WWII broke out. I sometimes call WWII just the great war part 2 - the treaties that “ended” WWI were clearly setup (on hindsight!) to make the war break out again in the future when Germany got sick of those treaties.

        The point is names are added after the fact and often don’t make a lot of sense if you know details.