World War Zero
n.— «The Russo-Japanese War “is easy to overlook because it was not a lengthy one,” said Kurk Dorsey, an associate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire. “But the treaty was really important.” Not unlike fears about a major regional war in the Middle East coming out of insurgent and sectarian conflicts in Iraq, Dorsey said there were global fears that the Russo-Japanese War would spread far beyond its northern Pacific battlegrounds on land and sea—and especially engulf China, which was a focal point of a wide range of European interests and ambitions. It’s why this “easily forgotten war” became known to historians as “World War Zero.”» —“Honoring Teddy Roosevelt” by Michael McCord Portsmouth Herald (New Hampshire) Dec. 10, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)