Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Had a thought the other day, of when people say 'the war' in your country, what war are they referring to? In the UK it's obviously WW2, and I assume it's the same in France, Germany, and USA, but for your nationality, what's THE war?

In mainland China it would be the Japanese occupation (which was sort of part of World War 2, but also sort of its own thing). That gets played up a lot in entertainment media and in the news, especially now with tension over the South China Sea.

We also had a big civil war which the Communists won, but we don't talk about that war much, too much political baggage carries over to the modern day.

Depending on who's talking, in the US many would actually be referring to Iraq/Afghanistan, or whatever's current.

In Spain it can be two wars.

The Civil War of 1936-1939 between sublevated and Republicans, or the War of Independence against France during 1808-1814.

Those are the two most famous wars in Spain. The Reconquest don't count as only a War, but maybe you can put it as a third place.

Interesting question.

WWII is definitely a contender for "THE war" for me, since it has been portrayed so much in the media I've consumed from childhood onward. However, while growing up my family had a few American Civil War buffs. so that war is also pretty prominent to me due to discussions that were had over the years (and the Ken Burns documentary which we watched almost annually). And of course there is the American Revolution, which is also referenced heavily in the media but also focused on in elementary and high school more than other conflicts our nation has been engaged in. At least that was the case for me going through the school system in the 80's and 90's.

For my parents' generation the Vietnam conflict could qualify as "THE war" due to its impact socially and politically.

I think an American's perspective will vary greatly depending on their family history, upbringing, etc.

It generally means WW1 here as most of the national focus is on the ANZAC myth and the battle of Gallipoli.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
Depending on who's talking, in the US many would actually be referring to Iraq/Afghanistan, or whatever's current.

This was pretty much what I was thinking as well.

I hear a lot of people refer to 'Nam as "The War"

Hmm, I think it depends on the age of the person you are talking to in Wales, as you could get several answers.

Anyone who is 70+ the answer is universally the Second World War, however a few of my friends grandparents say the Korean War, due to them being either born after Work War 2, or too young to remember it.

Anyone 50-60+ but the generation after the 70+ group is usually either the Falklands War or the Gulf War. It's usually far more the former than the latter, as it was a big deal in Britain (it had a nostalgic feel of the Colonial United Kingdom's gunboat diplomacy, and it also happened during a serious economic downturn in the UK) and the Gulf War wasn't as big a deal for Britain, but the effects of this war are still being felt, not from the actual outcome, but over the effects it had on veterans returning (Google "Gulf War Syndrome", as it's far too long to TL;DR even.)

And lastly, anyone 30-40+ but the generation after the 50-60+ is universally considered "The War on Terror", namely the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War. I find myself in this category, as I remember coming home from school on 9/11, and seeing those news reports. Kind of sticks with you.

"The War" - the "Great Patriotic war" of 1941-1945 (part of the WW2)


Other Patriotic war was the 1812 against Napoleon's army invasion

Great War is knows just as "World War 1", In early bolshevik's times it was called "Imperialistic war" or "German war"

The 1939 Winter war was known as a "Finnish war"

And when "civil war" is somewhere was mentioned, it means "Russian civil war of 1918-1922"

Also, Crimean war (mid 19 century), North war (Peter I vs Sweden), Russian-Japanese War, "Afghan", "Chechnya" and others

 Ahtman wrote:

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
Depending on who's talking, in the US many would actually be referring to Iraq/Afghanistan, or whatever's current.

This was pretty much what I was thinking as well.

This is my experience too. When people say "the war" they usually seem to mean whatever war they fought in, and well people who fought in earlier wars are kind of not people I run into a lot. Mostly "the war" either means the current conflicts, or Vietnam.

In the Netherlands it is always WW2. The Netherlands hasn't been in any other wars in the 19th/20th century since the Napoleonic ones (aside from colonial matters that is). More recent conflicts like in Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan are always 'the war in x' where x is the name of the place. An interesting one is the Indonesian War of Independence (1945-1949) which in the Netherlands is almost always euphemistically referred to as 'the Policing Actions'.


In Russia it usually refers to the Great Patriotic War, although in Crimea they also call the Crimean War just 'The War'.
Another exception is Afghanistan veterans who obviously mean the war in Afghanistan when they say 'the war'. Same is true for veterans of other conflicts of course. Current conflicts (like Syria or Donbass) are usually known as 'the x war' or 'the war in x'.
But in generally, when a Russia mentions 'the war' it is the Great Patriotic one.

In most of my life, no one in the US wants to talk about THE war; no matter which one it is.

Round here for me "the war" meant WWII. The story in my family is my grandfather stole my grandmother away from her old boyfriend who went off to "fight in the war"

Even though there was Korea and Vietnam afterwards, people just refer to them as Korea or Vietnam rather than "the war", or more recently they just say Iraq or Afghanistan. But in the 90's I remember folks would say The Persian Gulf instead of Desert Storm.