There was nothing great about the Great War, but that was how it was billed.  The general European conflict known as World War I had been brewing for decades.  It was the first great clash of Old World powers since the days of Napoleon Bonaparte and America wanted nothing to do with it.  The world was a much smaller place though in 1914, and American found out that affairs across the Atlantic had a great impact on

the U.S.

     The United States was dragged into the war after the Europeans had slugged it out for nearly three years.  President Wilson labeled it the "War to end all Wars", but that wasn't true either.  It was a truly horrific conflict, resulting in battlefield and civilain losses the likes of which no one had ever imagined.

     World War I began the downfall of European hegemony across the globe (this process was complete by the end of the Second World War).  When WWI was finally over, the politcal landscape of the world was transformed.  The European monarchies were destroyed, the spector of communism cast a long shadow across the entire planet, and America was firmly entrenched in the idea of isolation from the affairs of the old homeland.  Although the U.S. attempted to stay out of future European conflicts, the next two decades proved that an impossible goal.  The U.S. was now a world player, whether she liked it or not.