Hello Rob,
History has indeed been riddled with wars. At Daniel 11, there the "king of the north" is seen as opposing the "king of the south", with both sides winning victories. However, these were not global wars, but rather just regional, with one country fighting against another. On the other hand, when Jesus was crowned king of God's kingdom, the result was global warfare, with 93 percent of the world's population being involved in WWI. Revelation 6:3, 4 said that, upon Jesus, as the rider of the "white horse" being given a "crown", immediately there followed the"rider" on the "fiery-colored horse" that was "granted to take peace away from the earth so that they should slaughter one another....(with) a great sword."
When, for the first time in history, has the entire earth been decimated by war ? When was the first time that ' peace was taken away from the earth' ? Prior to 1914, no global war had ever occurred. In addition, Revelation 6 gives more details, that as a result of world-wide war, stark famine would strike, for Revelation 6:5, 6 says that a "black horse" appears, with it's "rider" carrying a "pair of scales". A quart of wheat, a normal staple in the middle east during John's time, would cost a "denarius", an entire day's wage and of the less nutritious barley, 3 quarts.
Something else to consider, is that the fourth horse, "a pale horse", the "rider" was given ' authority over "the fourth part of the earth, to kill with a long sword and with deadly food shortage and with deadly plague".(Rev 6:8) How did the "rider" on the "pale horse" kill "with deadly plague" ?
In the spring of 1918, the Spanish Influenza (H1N1) began, with many investigators tracing it's origin to Kansas, U.S.A. After a sharp increase in influenza deaths, by July 1918 it seemed that the worst was over. But it was not. When World War I ended on November 11, 1918, the world rejoiced. Ironically, at almost that same time, the pestilence broke out earth wide. It was a monster that now claimed international headlines. Few who lived through that time were untouched, and all were frightened.
In a relatively short time, the flu had killed more people than any other pandemic of its kind in human history. A common estimate of worldwide deaths was 21 million, but some experts now judge that figure to be low. Some epidemiologists today suggest that a more likely toll is 50 million deaths or perhaps as many as 100 million ! Notes John M. Barry, in his book The Great Influenza (2004): “Influenza killed more people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages killed in a century; it killed more people in twenty-four weeks than AIDS has killed in twenty-four years.” Thus, 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic has been the worse to ever to hit the face of the earth in history.
Hence, within a short period of time from the ' rider on the white horse', Jesus Christ being given a "crown", mankind saw more destructive loss of life than ever before. Thus, with Jesus installment as king in 1914, a series of catastrophic events quickly followed in succession, as seen at Revelation 6:2-8.
Also, Matthew 24 is to be considered, for at Matthew 24:3, Jesus disciples asked: "what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?” Hence, Jesus disciples were asking how it would be determined when his invisible "promised presence" had begun and the beginning of the "conclusion of the system of things", asking for a "sign". Jesus replied: "For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress." This ties in with Revelation 6.
Hence, as at Revelation 6, whereby "peace is taken away from the earth" as a result of Jesus being crowned king, Jesus is explaining that his invisible "presence" in kingdom power would be visibly recognized by the feature of global war, among other features. Jesus also stated that this global war was only the "beginning of pangs of distress." Conditions would steadily deteriorate from his enthronement in 1914 until the beginning of the "great tribulation".(Matt 24:15-21)
Note: In the "State of the World 1999"[Worldwatch Institute], it said that :"Three times as many people fell victim to war in [the 20th] century as in all the wars from the first century AD to 1899,” Hence, the 20th century could be considered as the century of warfare, global war.