What would the American economy look like if the American's didn't enter WWI? And what were America's main trading partners in the 1910s and 1920s?
The big question is, does the US stay out but still sell huge amounts of weapons and lend huge amounts of moeny to the Entente? Or are the "true neutrals"?
The big question is, does the US stay out but still sell huge amounts of weapons and lend huge amounts of moeny to the Entente? Or are the "true neutrals"?
What's with all this "true neutral" horseshit?
I too have reservations (to put it mildly) about that term, hence the quotes round it. However, I preferred to get on with answering the question rather than bicker over terminology.
As to the economic effects, there'll pretty certainly be a recession, as there was anyway, with the ending of the war and its associated business. However, the Administration and the Fed were clearly aware of the danger, and determined to do whatever was needed to keep it within bounds. And if it has to be, better politically to have it in 1917 than in the election year of 1920.
What if the Entente lost in 1917, but without losing their colonies, and with German hegemony on the continent, but no devastation in Britain beyond OTL (and in fact, less British soldiers lost).
A white peace then? Indemnities? Colonies returned to Germany? Tariff limits? The Ottomans? Italy? The Balkans?
There are oodles of factors in play here, all of which can effect a post-war Britain economically, politically, socially, etc. You can't just say "Herp, war ends in 1917, nothing much changes, derp". The situation is far too messy for something that simplistic.