[PGR88]

It was a war where the assumptions of literally everyone in power were smashed down and their arrogance was laid low.

The only country who benefitted from WWI was the United States, the least-affected combatant.

[PAR35]

The only country who benefitted from WWI was the United States,

Not accurate.

The Nips did OK, and the Italians gained a lot of territory from Austria. France probably came close to breaking even in ending up with money and a couple of German states. Britain picked up chunks of Africa, but that probably wasn't worth the cost. The big winners, however, were Poland and Finland.

[oldvirginian]

“The only country who benefitted from WWI was the United States, the least-affected combatant.”

Same with WW2.
We went into that one in a depression. Ramping up factories to supply England and fight the war in the Pacific was just what the economy needed. By wars end the US had the only economy that hadn’t been bombed back to the stone age and most of the world owed us a debt for war supplies.
England finally paid it’s war debt off in 2006. With the convoluted way France does it’s debt who knows what they’ve done.
China still owes 500 million dollars that was lent them to prop their money, on top of the equipment sent to them.

We came out of both world wars smelling like a rose 🌹.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

The only country who benefitted from WWI was the United States

The British and French empires, despite their many casualties, expanded following World War I. It was WWII, not WWI, that finished off these two empires.