The First World War brought long term repercussions on the United States although its participation was rather limited and came quite late in the day. With President Woodrow Wilson out of office after serving two terms, the newly elected Warren Harding was not quite able to deal with the implications of the Versailles Treaty which handed out good concessions to the war’s victors such as France and Germany but was extremely harsh on the losers, Germany where the trouble in the country could only increase accordingly (Bowles 2011).
The United States also faced domestic issues at home which were a consequence of the ‘savage peace of 1919’. First of all, tens of thousands of American soldiers had been killed in battles which were largely meaningless to the country and these undoubtedly had a considerable effect on public morale accordingly (Wilson, 1918). Additionally the creation of the League of Nations which was President Wilson’s idea did not catch on much as this was quite a weak kneed institution without much bite in itself apart from the fact that it was completely ineffectual in preserving world peace especially with the rise of Communism in Russia.
In the short term, the United States would seem to have gained from the war as it became a world player on the international stage without losing much of its home popularity. The economy was booming and there were several opportunities for expansion but one can observe that the long term effects were quite disastrous. Due to a certain frivolity and an economic boom, the eventual result was the Wall Street Crash of 1929 where millions lost all they had and this was eventually followed by the Great Depression of the mid 30’s although that was actually also naturally caused.
References:
Bowles, M. (2011). A history of the United States since 1865. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.
Theodore Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905)
Zimmermann Telegram (1917)
Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Germany (1917)
President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points (1918)
19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote (1920)
