First thing that comes to mind -> Shot heard 'round the world. France, England, and Spain had investments in North America and given that they were the biggest countries at the time, they were 'the world' and reacted defensively, properly. France defended U.S., Spain mostly supplied both sides with resources to stay neutral, and of course England was our enemy. Indirectly, China and India's economy suffered due to the fact that the European countries were invested in America. Africa suffered as usual (slavery) and the U.S. Revolution inspired the South/Central American territories to rebel. Russia was unaffected, as far as I'm concerned.