WW2 Start Date

[jimmy olsen]

Taken on its own the European theatre of WW2 was no more (or less) a world war than the Napoleonic Wars - it was simply yet another round of the struggle for European mastery dating back to the 16th century.  Yes there was fighting in North Africa and the Atlantic - but there was in the Nappy Wars as well.  The direct involvement of Japan and China is what gave WW2 its global dimension.

We should rename WW2 into WW1 then as the war we know as WW1 was fought almost exclusively in Europe too.

Rename the Seven Years War WWI instead, major campaigns were fought in Europe, India and North America.

[Eddie Teach]

Rename the Seven Years War WWI instead, major campaigns were fought in Europe, India and North America.

I prefer to call it the "French & Indian War" :pigdog:

[Josquius]

Just defining world war in terms of continents is silly.
If you do that then Alexander the Great fought a world war of a sort- 3 continents.
I'd agree with the total definition.

[Valmy]

Just defining world war in terms of continents is silly.
If you do that then Alexander the Great fought a world war of a sort- 3 continents.
I'd agree with the total definition.

That was Known World War I

[Caliga]

Observations:

The 1937 date was bound to be popular on Languish because around here people like to a) be contrarian, and b) prove they are GENIOUSes by pulling out more obscure bits of knowledge--though in this case 1937 should have at least been a poll option.

The Pearl Harbor date was something Marti put in there hoping spiess or some other AmeriKKKan would vote for it so he could harangue them about it.

[derspiess]

Observations:

The 1937 date was bound to be popular on Languish because around here people like to a) be contrarian, and b) prove they are GENIOUSes by pulling out more obscure bits of knowledge--though in this case 1937 should have at least been a poll option.

The Pearl Harbor date was something Marti put in there hoping spiess or some other AmeriKKKan would vote for it so he could harangue them about it.

Yep & yep.  I voted Sept. 1.

[PDH]

Can I change my vote?  I want to be harrangued...

[derspiess]

Actually for you it should be May 22, 1942, frijolero

Really? And why is that?

Date Mexico entered the war, duh.  Know your history.

[Ed Anger]

Can I change my vote?  I want to be harrangued...

ewwwww.

[Caliga]

If this poll was aimed at the general American public, 12-7-1941 really isn't a bad option since there are plenty of people I am sure who have no idea that the war had been going on more than two years prior to Pearl Harbor.  But obviously if you have no interest in history, you're not going to be posting here.

[Caliga]

Date Mexico entered the war, duh.  Know your history.

HARANGUE HIS ASS 

[Eddie Teach]

Just defining world war in terms of continents is silly.
If you do that then Alexander the Great fought a world war of a sort- 3 continents.
I'd agree with the total definition.

Alexander fought a series of wars, all of them somewhat localized.

[Oexmelin]

If this poll was aimed at the general American public, 12-7-1941 really isn't a bad option since there are plenty of people I am sure who have no idea that the war had been going on more than two years prior to Pearl Harbor.  But obviously if you have no interest in history, you're not going to be posting here.

Indeed. Seeing the WWII monument in Washington (apart from its fascist conception) inscribed with: «World War II: 1941-1945» is horribly strange to a foreign eye.

[Oexmelin]

It should probably be regarded as two separate, but entwined conflicts. China didn't give a shit about Poland, and the Poles returned the favor.

This. In this measure, it is akin to the already evoked Seven Years War, where two different wars were united into one by belligerent looking for allies and logistical support.

Culturally, the West is much more bound by the Sept. 1st date, however. The conflict with Japan lacks the ideological significance WWII as a whole gained, admitedly a bit later. Hence the, to our eyes, strange view of how WWII is portrayed in Asia, with Hitler being conscripted to sell kids' candies and all that.

[Valmy]

Seeing the WWII monument in Washington (apart from its fascist conception) inscribed with: «World War II: 1941-1945» is horribly strange to a foreign eye.

What is horrible about the monument is the fact it is plain horrible.  How could they make such poignant and great monuments to Korea and Vietnam and miss so decisively on the WWII one?