Some slight incident may touch off a major war.

一件小事可以触发一场大战。

《新英汉大辞典》

The incident on the frontier touched off a major war.

边境发生的这起事件触发了一场大战。

youdao

Even a limited confrontation can escalate into a major war.

即使是局部的对抗也可能扩大成一场大战。

youdao

To guarantee continued support for the war, Lincoln was forced to recognize that the issue of slavery was, in fact,a major issue.

VOA: special.2009.10.08

It was here, from a place of political exile, that he wrote his major works--The Prince, the Discourses on Livy, and The Art of War.

也就是从这儿，从这个他遭到放逐的地方，他写下大作《君王论》,《论利瓦伊》,和《战争的艺术》

耶鲁公开课 - 政治哲学导论课程节选

He was killed on April 1st,1865,at the Battle of Five Oaks excuse me, at Five Forks, just west of Richmond, the last major engagement of the Civil War.

他最终死于1865年4月1日的五橡树战役,不好意思,是五岔口战役,就在里士满的西面,内战最后一场主要的会战

耶鲁公开课 - 美国内战与重建课程节选

For years the Army's annual computer-simulated war game has focused on fighting a major war.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Rebasing -- and Reequipping -- for Transformation

Mr Rumsfeld inherited lots of good ideas, has had a major war to learn from, and is the most powerful defence secretary in recent history.

ECONOMIST: The Quadrennial Defence Review

Since then, the Army has revised it plans so that those two divisions are no longer among the first to be deployed to fight a major war.

CNN: Bush refuses to back down on military readiness assertion