This book provides a fresh assessment of the impact of the First World War on the international economy. Leading academics offer new perspectives on the effects of the War on the long-term growth rates of the belligerent countries and examine its impact on individual sectors within these economies.Major issues considered include:* a discussion of trade barriers as a scapegoat for the sluggish state of world trade in the 1920s* a reassessment of the links between the First World War, German banking instability and the catastrophe in July 1931* the impact of the War on American manufacturing industry which continued to expand rapidly, boosting big business and redistributing some manufacturing to the south of the country* the social and economic consequences of the war for the British and Indian cotton industries* the impact of the war on the Japanese economy and society* the effects of the war on organized labour and the female labour force.