Classifying a Major

[JerkyJerry]

Hello all you WWII buffs. I’m curious to know what classifies any country as a ‘major?’

Is it the size of its standing army?

Economics?

Raw Materials?

Technologies?

GDP?

Production?

Duration?

ETC.


A combination of things?

Who coined the phrase?

Can a major and minor be separated by a number? As in the: Number of tanks? Number of ships? etc.
Did different countries classify themselves as a major or minor?
Were there benefits to being called a major or minor country?
How much of the labeling back then was political?

I'm looking for a bit of a history lesson apparently!?

 

[Volodio]

His influence in the world I would say.

 

[Slickepinnen]

According to our current knowledge, albeit limited, the only affect on game-play that the classification of "Major Country" has has to do with the ideology-bonuses for fascist nations. If a fascist nation is at war with a major they get a colossal reduction to claim fabrication time and cost, basically reducing the time to mere weeks. This is the only way, that I'm aware of, that the "Major"-classification has any affect.

Personally, I would be pleased if the "Major"-status could be claimed for a nation if it succeeds in defeating a "Major" country in war as a faction-leader. It would not have much of an impact on the game as a whole but I consider earning the prestigious title a fitting reward for smaller nations that they could set for themselves as a goal of retrieving. Perhaps a nation aspiring to the greatness of majorhood would also have to fulfill certain additional military and industrial criteria to truly rise up to the layer of top-tier powers.

 

[OBRkenobi]

The extent and importance of It's role in the war.

 

[Dr. Frog]

It's a pretty loose term that is tired directly to impact on the war; this means bigger nations that were heavily involved are usually considered majors.
I've read that technology is a part of being a major, which makes sense, as most books I've read don't treat China as a major.

Anyway, it's a fairly fluffy term similar to 'great power'.