When did knowledge of english became common throughout the world?

by thegreatshark

I was wondering when did it become common, for people (especially in Europe, but also in Asia for example) to be able to speak english fluently. Was it already common during, for example during world war 1, to be able to speak english in Europe?

Searocksandtrees

Hi! There's always room for more contributions, but meanwhile get started on this section of the FAQ

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/language#wiki_when_did_english_become_an_international_language.3F