What benefits did the First World War bring to the American economy? [4 marks]

America benefited from taking the markets of countries at war and retaining the domestic market after the war. During the war, the US economy boomed due to one-way war trade to European powers. Raw and finished goods, including cotton, wheat, brass, rubber, automobiles, machinery were exported to Allied powers. Exports of metals, machines, and automobiles rose three-fold, and food exports climbed by 250 per cent. America took over Germany’s plastic industries. The USA only joined the war in 1917 and so it didn’t become as financially and resourcefully drained as other powers.