The article is a little unclear on why Germany referred to the conflict as a 'Weltkrieg' or World War. The term was used exclusively to refer to a situation whe

The article is a little unclear on why Germany referred to the conflict as a 'Weltkrieg' or World War. The term was used exclusively to refer to a situation where the British Empire entered a conflict between the Central Powers(Germany & Austria-Hungary) and the Dual Alliance(France & Russia). It was used even before any side mobilized or declared war in diplomatic communications with Austria-Hungary. The declaration of war by the UK brought in all its colonies and India into the conflict and made possible the capture of Germany's colonies in Africa. This radical transformation of a european continental war is what justified calling the conflict a world war. The industrialized nature of the war was not why the coming conflict was described as a world war. By that criteria it is hard to see how any prior conflict would even come close. The fact that german leaders at the time felt the need to coin a new term is a very powerful argument for WWI being a significantly different kind of conflict.