The term pre-war 's usually applied to the most recent or significant war in a culture's history. It's, however, often used for the period before World War I or the Interwar period before the outbreak of World War II, for example before 1939 or 1940. In real estate the term refers to buildings from the (late) 1930s in the Functionalist or Art Deco styles.… (More on Pre-war)