Look at who the owners of breweries and distilleries were pre-Prohibition, and after. Before - small businesses, essentially micro-brewers, spread out across the country. After - Anheuser-Busch and a few others. QED.
Similarly, the purpose of World War 2 was to destroy other industrialized nations so that the United States could dominate the very lucrative world economy once peace was reattained.
Just look at who the world powers were pre-World War, and after.
America's strength is why the USD became the reserve currency of the world. Note that the Bretton Woods conference was held in 1944, before the war ended: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_system