How were wars named while they were still ongoing?

by peevedlatios

For instance, I doubt that World War II was referred to as WW2 during its course, or that the 100 years war was known as the 100 years war while it was still going on. Were they just referred to as "The War", which I can't really see since I imagine that would get confusing really fast when multiple wars are ongoing, did they have boring names like "War of German aggression" or something along those lines?

SovietPropagandist

World War 2 was referred to as "the second world war" pretty consistently. Being so close after WW1 (which was called "The Great War", "The War to End Wars", or "The World War") it was a pretty logical name.

In US history at least, wars are generally named after the country that they are fought in or given names that reflect their importance.

  • Korean War
  • Vietnam War
  • Mexican-American War
  • Spanish-American War
  • War of Independence / Revolutionary War
  • The Indian Wars
  • The War of 1812 / Napoleonic Wars (I much prefer the latter because the American theater was just one small part of a much broader war and I think it could technically be called the first World War since it spanned multiple continents but I'm sure someone will be along shortly to disagree)
  • The Civil War / The War Between the States (I like the latter because it's more descriptive)
  • The Gulf War
  • The War on Terror (I REALLY hate this name. You can't wage a war on an idea >:( It should be the Afghan War and the Iraqi War)