After World War I, the United States primarily gained prestige. The U.S. had been a decisive force in the English and French winning the war and had revealed its vast industrial might. It was well positioned to come out of the shadows and take over the baton of premier world power from Great Britain.

Britain, on the other hand was financially exhausted and in debt from both the Boer War and World War I. The massive gains it had received from having a far-flung empire were starting to peter out, while the expenses of maintaining a huge empire continued to grow. The country had slowed down its investment in infrastructure, and its industrial capacity was outstripped by the U.S. In every way, it was a declining power, though it still had a great deal of stature and respect around the world.

Ironically, although the United States was in every way poised to take the lead as the chief world power, it shied away from assuming the responsibility. People in this country wanted to return to the isolationism that had served so well for more than a century. Fear of immigrants lead to new and very restrictive quotas. Even though the League of Nations was masterminded by President Wilson, the U.S. refused to join.

The U.S. turned for two decades from the status it had gained during World War I as a major international player. One wonders how events might have turned out differently had the country embraced its stature sooner and brought some real pressure to bear on the dictatorships that developed in Europe.

The United States was on the winning side in World War I. While we gained certain things from World War I, it was not the normal things one would expect by being on the winning side.

The United States got no land from World War I. This was something we made clear at the start of the war. We didn’t enter World War I to get land. We did enter the war to make the world safer for democratic governments. For a short period of time, this occurred. We defeated countries that had governments that weren’t democratically elected.

We also hoped to create an organization that would keep world peace. We wanted an organization where nations could talk about their problems instead of fighting over them. The League of Nations was created to try to prevent future conflicts. Ironically, the United States didn’t join the League of Nations due to opposition from the Senate.

Another thing we got as a result of World War I was our reputation as a world power was solidified. We were the deciding factor in World War I. It was now very clear that the United States was a strong world power. Our reputation was enhanced as a result of World War I.

The United States was not in World War I for any kind of material or territorial gain.  Therefore, it did not gain in any tangible way from fighting in the war.  It got no new territory and no indemnities from the losers.

The US did gain, though, in two ways.  First, it gained economically through its trade with and loans to Great Britain.  Second, it gained in international prestige.  Before the war, the US was really not much of a player on the international stage.  By participating in the war and in the peace talks after the war, the US made itself a much more important country in terms of world affairs.