Which war in 2001 is subjectively deemed a world war?
World war A world war, as it is commonly understood, is a large-scale war involving many of the countries of the world or many of the most powerful and populous ones. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in many theaters. While a variety of global conflicts have been subjectively deemed "world wars", such as the Cold War and the War on Terror, the term is widely and generally accepted only as it is retrospectively applied to two major international conflicts that occurred during the 20th century: World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945).
List of battles by casualties The following is a list of the casualties count in battles in world history. The list includes both sieges (not technically battles but usually yielding similar combat-related deaths) and civilian casualties during the battles. Large battle casualty counts are almost impossible to calculate precisely. Many of these figures are estimates, and, where possible, a range of estimates is presented. Figures display numbers of all types of casualties when available (killed, wounded, missing, and sick) but may only include number killed. Where possible, the list specifies whether or not prisoners are included in the count. This list does not include bombing runs (such as the attack on Pearl Harbor and the bombing of Tokyo) or massacres such as the Rape of Nanking, which, despite potentially massive casualties, are not typically classified as "battles", since they are usually one-sided engagements or the nation attacked upon is not officially at war with the attackers. Tactical or strategic strikes, however, may form part of larger engagements which are themselves battles.