A New EB Tavern

[Romano-Dacis]

C'mon, we imperialist Romanians have to stand our ground: it ain't a world war until we're involved!!

I wouldn't classify a world war by how or where it's fought, but more so by the results from it. As such, I wouldn't qualify the Crimean War (which resolved pretty much nothing) or the Seven Year's War (once again, no result, the maps of Europe were redrawn ante bellum) as World Wars. In my book a World War needs to involve two or more superpowers, span at least two continents, and have a decisive outcome where the balance of power is evidently shifted. None of this "but after the 7 years war Britain gained this and France gained that" crap. Unless one of the major warring parties is completely annihilated from the diplomatic field (as happened in WW1 and WW2) it is not significant enough in the global balance of power to be a world war.

I would classify Alexander's campaign against the Persians, or all three Punic wars combined as world wars however, had Rome and Macedonia been superpowers (relative to their time). In these wars, the loser was decisively annihilated, the winner took control of vast swathes of land and resources, and was left largely unchallenged in their domain. These conflicts also spanned two continents (Europe and Asia, and Europe and Africa respectively). However, the fact that these weren't two superpowers going head-to-head means these wars also fail on their classification. At the time Macedonia was no more powerful than a Thracian confederacy and Rome was no more powerful than the Gauls.