History Main / TheWarToEndAllWars

* ''Franchise/IndependenceDay'': the War of 1996 is this, as the following time-line goes into an alternate 20 years where the world avoids any major war or genocide, after avoiding extinction from an invading alien race. Only the aliens' return sparks a new war, [[Film/IndependenceDayResurgence the War of 2016.]]

* ''Literature/TheProphecyOfTheStones'' seems to be leading up to a FinalWar but the ending reminds us that evil cannot be permanently defeated.

* In Creator/KeithLaumer's Literature/{{Bolo}} series, the FinalWar really is. Both interstellar empires are annihilated, each [[ApocalypseHow/{{Class 6}} sterilizing]] all known worlds of the other. The few overlooked colonies have neither the desire nor the ability to keep fighting.

* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}

** This is Lord Ezelcant's plan in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundanAGE''. Although his stated goal is to return the exiled Martian colonists to Earth, his real intention is to kill of everyone on ''both'' sides who has aggressive tendencies, forcing humanity to "evolve" into a more pacifistic species. (Unfortunately for him, a war that lasts 70 years is a great way to select ''for'' belligerent, survive-at-all-costs behavior. Guy should have taken an evolutionary biology class.)

* What Treize and Zechs brought about in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing,'' and it worked...for a year.
* This is Lord Ezelcant's plan in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundmanAGE''.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Franchise/IndependenceDay'': the War of 1996 is this, as the following time-line goes into an alternate 20 years where the world avoids any major war or genocide, after avoiding extinction from an invading alien race. Only the aliens' return sparks a new war, [[Film/IndependenceDayResurgence the War of 2016.]]
* ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' has Steve Trevor drop the trope name when telling the Amazons about the TropeNamer. Diana/Wonder Woman sets out with him to make the name true, but finds out that humanity is far too complicated and aggressive to halt all war simply by ending one conflict.
[[/folder]]

-->--'''Opening narration,''' ''{{VideoGame/Battlefield 1}} ''

-> ''More than 60 million soldiers fought in "The War to End All Wars." It ended nothing, yet it changed the world forever.''
-->--''{{VideoGame/Battlefield 1}}, opening narration''

->''"They said... it's a war to end all wars."''\\
''"See her, boy? This is Evangelina Parr. She's big. Perhaps even great. But by no means, she is the whore to end all whores."''
-->-- '''[[VideoGame/TheWitcher The Witcher Saga]]'''

* ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'', which takes place during the TropeNamer period, even lampshades the ironic nature of its name in the opening narration.
--> ''More than 60 million soldiers fought in "The War to End All Wars." It ended nothing, yet it changed the world forever.''

-> ''More than 60 million soldiers fought in "The War to End All Wars." It ended nothing, yet it changed the world forever.''

-> ''More than 60 million soldiers fought in "The War to End All Wars." It ended nothing, yet it changed the world forever.''
-->--''{{VideoGame/Battlefield 1}}, opening narration''

->''"They said... it's a war to end all wars."''\\
''"See her, boy? This is Evangelina Parr. She's big. Perhaps even great. But by no means, she is the whore to end all whores."''
-->-- '''[[VideoGame/TheWitcher The Witcher Saga]]'''

* ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'', which takes place during the TropeNamer period, even lampshades the ironic nature of its name in the opening narration:
--> ''More than 60 million soldiers fought in "The War to End All Wars." It ended nothing, yet it changed the world forever.''

* ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' features Franchise/WonderWoman participating in the TropeNamer to help bring an end to it.

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[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]

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* The war between the [[{{TheEmpire}} the Draka]] and the [[{{TheAlliance}} Alliance for Democracy]] in S.M. Stirling's [[Literature/TheDraka The Stone Dogs]] is called "The Final War", as afterwards there is no power left on Earth capable of challenging Drakan dominance. From the ashes of the Final War emerges the ''Final Society'', as the Draka genetically engineer themselves and their serfs into two codependent post-human races. Afterwards, the Draka still find themselves in conflict with the descendants of defeated Americans who fled the Solar System to found a colony on Alpha Centauri.
* In Creator/KeithLaumer's Literature/{{Bolo}} series, the FinalWar really is. Both interstellar empires are annihilated, each [[{{ApocalypseHow/Class6}} sterilizing]] all known worlds of the other. The few overlooked colonies have neither the desire nor the ability to keep fighting.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/HorribleHistories http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horrible_histories___martin_brown.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Really makes the "Never Again" part look rather sarcastic...]]

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* In MASH, Colonel Potter at one point bitterly toasts the last of his friends to die with the toast ' Here's to you, boys. To Ryan, who died in WWI: the War to End All Wars. To Gianelli, who died in the war after that.

* Ragnarok was expected by the [[Myth/NorseMythology Norse]] to be the final battle between the gods and their opponents (the giants, Fenrir, etc.)

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* UsefulNotes/WW1 was said to be this by some. The phrase was originally coined by Creator/HGWells as early as August 1914 in a series of newspaper articles that were collected into the brochure ''The War That Will End War''. It then became "The War to End War" and "The War to End All Wars" and later became associated with UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson, who actually only used it once in a speech. But some soon took a more cynical point of view. The future Field Marshal Earl Wavell commented about the 1919 Peace Conference: "After the 'war to end war', they seem to have been in Paris at making the 'Peace to end Peace'", a sentiment that was also echoed by the exiled Kaiser in the Netherlands.

* There has been one war between the Great Powers since UsefulNotes/WorldWar2- or, more accurately between a Superpower and a Great Power. The UsefulNotes/KoreanWar pitted primarily American forces[[note]]small contingents of soldiers from many other nations, including the Great Powers of France and Britain[[/note]] against the newly formed People's Republic of China. By the end, 40,000 UN[[note]]mostly American[[/note]] and 400,000 Chinese soldiers were dead- as well as millions of Korean soldiers and civilians from both sides[[note]]but, of course, neither North nor South Korea were Great Powers[[/note]]. Notably though, this took place entirely on the Korean Peninsula, so although the soldiers were from all over the world, the conflict was not. This is subverted by InsistentTerminology in case of the Korean War. It was not a " war," but "police action," United States and its allies fought in it only as part of the United Nations force, [[BlatantLies Russian pilots simply did not fight in this war at all, and all Chinese soldiers were technically "volunteers."]] In fact, adding the fact that neither Korea saw the other as a legitimate entity, [[MindScrew no "country" fought in Korea at all]], to paraphrase Russian scholar Andrei Lankov.

-->--'''[[VideoGame/TheWitcher The Witcher Saga]]'''

** The war between Manticore and Haven was initially supposed to be this, too. Time and again, DavidWeber reminded us that the only possible outcomes are either the end of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, or the end of the People's Republic of Haven. In the end that was technically true, as [[ExactWords Haven dropped the "People's]]."

* [[Film/Independence Day]] the War of 1996 is this as the timeline goes into an alternate 20 years where the world avoids a major war and genocide, after avoiding extinction from an invading Alien race. It's only until the Aliens comeback where it sparks a new war, the War of 2016.

* In MASH, Colonel Potter at one point bitterly toasts the last of his friends to die with the toast ' Here's to you, boys. To Ryan, who died in WWI: the War to End All Wars. To Gianelli, who died in the war after that.'

* There has been one war between the Great Powers since UsefulNotes/WorldWar2- or, more accurately between a Superpower and a Great Power. The UsefulNotes/KoreanWar pitted primarily American forces[[note]]small contingents of soldiers from many other nations, including the Great Powers of France and Britain[[/note]] against the newly formed People's Republic of China. By the end, 40,000 UN[[note]]mostly American[[/note]] and 400,000 Chinese soldiers were dead- as well as millions of Korean soldiers and civilians from both sides[[note]]but, of course, neither North nor South Korea were Great Powers[[/note]]. Notably though, this took place entirely on the Korean Peninsula, so although the soldiers were from all over the world, the conflict was not. This is subverted by InsistentTerminology in case of the Korean War. It was not a " war," but "police action," United States and its allies fought in it only as part of the United Nations force, Russian pilots [[BlatantLies simply did not fight in this war at all]], and all Chinese soldiers were technically "volunteers.". In fact, adding the fact that neither Korea saw the other as a legitimate entity, no "country" foughtin Korea at all, to paraphrase Russian scholar Andrei Lankov.

* Ragnarok was expected by the [[NorseMythology Norse]] to be the final battle between the gods and their opponents (the giants, Fenrir, etc.)

* What Treize and Zechs brought about in ''GundamWing,'' and it worked...for a year.

->''"They said... it's a war to end all wars."''
->''"See her, boy? This is Evangelina Parr. She's big. Perhaps even great. But by no means, she is the whore to end all whores."''
-->-- from [[TheWitcher the Witcher Saga]]

* Frank Herbert's ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' series. ''Children of Dune'' mentions Kralizec: in the oldest Fremen beliefs it is the Typhoon Struggle, the war at the end of the universe.

* Subverted in {{Naruto}}. It seems Nagato's plan was [[spoiler: to create a weapon so powerful it could (and would) destroy an entire country in a single attack. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Thus ending all wars out of fear of the weapon's use]] and [[WellIntentionedExtremist ushering in an era of true peace]]. Of course, he's also cynical/realistic enough to expect that this won't really last as people begin to forget how terrifying the weapon is, war will flare up again, and the weapon will be used to enforce peace, over and over…]]
** Also could describe Tobi's plan, [[spoiler: he started the next "world war" with the goal of trapping the entire world in a LotusEaterMachine of world peace and dead loved ones brought back to life]].