world war

[Mullins, Bill]

National Review Online's blog, The Corner, had a discussion today about whether the use of the phrase "World War I" in the period between the wars was anachronistic.
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/05_04_10_corner-archive.asp#060423


"world war"  OED has 1909
"War Clouds in Europe." Los Angeles Times; Feb 4, 1887; pg. 4 col 2.
"She may, in the interest of humanity not wish to see the crisis precipitated; but she is the nation above all others that will profit by the complications and consequences of a world war."


CASTRO'S APPREHENSION.  Los Angeles Times; Feb 3, 1903; pg. 1, col 4.
""I cannot grasp the news from Washington.  I fear that the Venezuelan conflict will be made a pretext for a world war.""



"World War II" OED has Sept 11, 1939.
TELEPATHY. Washington, Sept. 3 [letter to editor] The Washington Post; Sep 7, 1939; pg. 10, col 5.
"My great love for you prompts me to give you some advice on how to conduct yourself during World War II, which has apparently begun."



"second world war" [general] OED has 1930
"Student Hear Oriental News" Los Angeles Times; Dec 30, 1927; pg. 6 col 4
"Speaking before the student convention Dr. Wei declared a second world war, worse than the last, would result should China attempt to become a nation of the European type and succeed."



"second world war" [specific to the conflict that ended in 1945] OED has 1942
Brookhart to Talk.  The Washington Post; Jan 14, 1937; pg. 7 col 4.
"Taking as his topic "Prospects for the Second World War," former Senator Smith W. Brookhart, of Iowa, will address the Capital City Forum at 8:15 p.m. tomorrow at 1502 Fourteenth street northwest."

Broun, Fischer Speak on Spain To 1,000 Here.  The Washington Post; Mar 3, 1937; pg. 24 col 1.
"Declaring the difficulty in Spain "is the first battle of the Second World War," Fischer said Franco, leader of the rebel forces is not an individual but an embodiment of Mussolini and Hitler."



"First World War" [specific to the 1914-1918 conflict] OED has 1931
[book title] _The First World War_ Lt-Col à Court Repington, Boston, New York, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1920