Even aid that might seem like a drop in the bucket in the larger context of Soviet production for the war played a crucial role in filling gaps at important moments during this period. (German Language). [56] Nevertheless, some 8,244,000 tons of goods went by this route, 50% of the total. The Americans provided vital explosives and gunpowder. [7], During this same period, the U.S. government began to mobilize for total war, instituting the first-ever peacetime draft and a fivefold increase in the defense budget (from $2billion to $10billion). For comparison, a total of 22 million tons landed in Europe to supply American forces from January 1942 to May 1945. Even Joseph Stalin himself would say that the lend-lease was . LEND LEASE. Under Lend-Lease, the United States provided more than one-third of all the explosives used by the Soviet Union during the war. ", In practice, very little was returned except for a few unarmed transport ships. "Without Lend-Lease, the Red Army would not have had about one-third of its ammunition, half of its aircraft, or half of its tanks. The Lend-Lease agreements with 30 countries provided for repayment not in terms of money or returned goods, but in "joint action directed towards the creation of a liberalized international economic order in the postwar world." adopted, it is in some important respects anachronistic today. During the war, Soviet factories produced more than 29.1 million small arms of all major types, while only 152,000 small arms ( 0.5% of the total) were manufactured by American, British, and Canadian plants. In time, opinion shifted as increasing numbers of Americans began to consider the advantage of funding the British war against Germany, while staying free of the hostilities themselves. A map of lend-lease shipments from the United States to the U.S.S.R. from 1941-45. [35] Most tank units were Soviet-built models but about 7,000 Lend-Lease tanks (plus more than 5,000 British tanks) were used by the Red Army, eight percent of war-time production. When I listened to his remarks, I was fully in agreement with him, and today I am even more so. Saudi Arabia-Top 10 most important events in the History. Roosevelt approved $1billion in Lend-Lease aid to Britain at the end of October 1941. Although it was not entirely reasonable that Canada should pay for any construction that the Canadian Government considered unnecessary or that did not conform to Canadian requirements, nevertheless considerations of self-respect and national sovereignty led the Canadian Government to suggest a new financial agreement. From there, it flew 5,650 kilometers to the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, one of some 14,000 aircraft sent by the United States to the Soviet Union during World War II under the massive Lend-Lease program. The plan proposed by FDR was to "lend-lease or otherwise dispose of arms" and other supplies needed by any country whose security was vital to the defense of the United States. First protocol period from October 1, 1941, to June 30, 1942 (signed October 7, 1941), Second protocol period from July 1, 1942, to June 30, 1943 (signed October 6, 1942), Third protocol period from July 1, 1943, to June 30, 1944 (signed October 19, 1943). After the war, it was transferred to civilian aviation, carrying passengers over the frozen tundra above the Arctic Circle. Actual military production was achieved by sacrificing the civilian economy for short-term gain (and likely by burning up pre-existing stockpiles of raw materials). According to Biriukovs service diary, the first 20 British tanks arrived at the Soviet tank training school in Kazan on October 28, 1941, at which point a further 120 tanks were unloaded at the port of Archangel in northern Russia. Officially the "Special Committee on Investigation of the Munitions Industry". Of these, 99 Hurricanes and 39 Tomahawks were in service with the Soviet air defense forces on January 1, 1942, out of a total of 1,470 fighters. I don't want $15I want my garden hose back after the fire is over. Nikita Khrushchev offered the same opinion. The British Military Mission to Moscow noted that by December 9, about ninety British tanks had already been in action with Soviet forces. "It was not just some piece of scrap metal. Reverse Lend-Lease to the United States totalled $7.8 billion. 2009. . President Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease bill into law on March 11, 1941. "Western Aid for the Soviet Union During World. [29] After a decade of neutrality, Roosevelt knew that the change to Allied support must be gradual, given the support for isolationism in the country. [45], Joseph Stalin, during the Tehran Conference during 1943, acknowledged publicly the importance of American efforts during a dinner at the conference: "Without American machines the United Nations could never have won the war."[46][47]. Interested in U.S. History? [49], Roosevelt, eager to ensure public consent for this controversial plan, explained to the public and the press that his plan was comparable to one neighbor's lending another a garden hose to put out a fire in his home. 5-6. [38] With the outbreak of war these plants switched from civilian to military production and locomotive production ended virtually overnight. Borodin said he wished to honor and show gratitude to the United States and its veterans who rendered aid to the Soviet Union during World War II. Britain wished to retain some of this equipment in the immediate post-war period. The U.S. government never published detailed reports on what and how much was sent under the Lend-Lease program to the USSR. ", "Address Is Spur To British Hopes; Confirmation of American Aid in Conflict is Viewed as Heartening, A joining of interests, Discarding of Peace Talks is Regarded as a Major Point in the Speech.". On September 20, 1945, all Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union was terminated. The legislation is modeled off the World War II-era Lend-Lease Act that allowed the US to arm the Soviet Union, Britain, and other allies prior to its entry into the war. 1776, 55 Stat. [6], After the Fall of France during June 1940, the British Commonwealth and Empire were the only forces engaged in war against Germany and Italy, until the Italian invasion of Greece. "What do I do in such a crisis?" Franklin D. Roosevelt had committed the United States in June 1940 to materially aiding the opponents of fascism, but, under existing U.S. law, the United Kingdom had to pay for its growing arms purchases from the United States with cash, popularly known as cash-and-carry. Stalin needed trucks and was provided with Studebaker trucks on a massive scale. [53] Soviet Ambassador Maxim Litvinov significantly contributed to the Lend-Lease agreement of 1941. "[10] As the President himself put it, "There can be no reasoning with incendiary bombs."[11]. Most went to Britain, but the Soviet Union received more than $11 billion. Totaling $11.3 billion, or $180 billion in today's currency, the Lend-Lease Act of the United States supplied needed goods to the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945 in support of what Stalin described to Roosevelt as the "enormous and difficult fight against the common enemy bloodthirsty Hitlerism." 400,000 jeeps & trucks; 14,000 airplanes In December 1940, President Roosevelt proclaimed the United States would be the "Arsenal of Democracy" and proposed selling munitions to Britain and Canada. The Strange Alliance, The Story of Our Efforts at Wartime Co-operation with Russia. 4, 48. [75] Reciprocal contributions included the Austin K2/Y military ambulance, British aviation spark plugs used in B-17 Flying Fortresses,[75] Canadian-made Fairmile launches used in anti-submarine warfare, Mosquito photo-reconnaissance aircraft, and Indian petroleum products. Large quantities of undelivered goods were in Britain or in transit when Lend-Lease terminated on September 2, 1945. But in order to sustain the war effort all the way back to Germany, Lend-Lease was decisive. The Red Army was a force to be reckoned with and was willing to sustain unlimited casualties. The Lend-Lease program also sent tons of factory equipment and machine tools to the Soviet Union, including more than 38,000 lathes and other metal-working tools. Dear h, I don't doubt the word of the old gent seeing USA on "Soviet" equipment. It needed all the available resources to pressure Germany on the lands far from Moscow, where Germany was getting a degree of home advantage. They Say He Burned Down the Reichstag. Recd 11/12/41. Under Lend-Lease, the United States provided more than one-third of all the explosives used by the Soviet Union during the war. The United States and the British Commonwealth provided 55 percent of all the aluminum the Soviet Union used during the war and more than 80 percent of the copper. [80], The final payment of $83.3million (42.5million), due on December 31, 2006 (repayment having been deferred in the allowed five years and during a sixth year not allowed), was made by Britain on December 29, 2006 (the last working day of the year). A total of 22,800 armored vehicles were delivered to the Red Army during World War II, of which 1,981 were lost in dangerous Arctic convoys. To: The War Office. 4, 48/Maslov MA Bomber PE-8. The British Eighth Army under Gen. Bernard Law Montgomery employed U.S. planes, guns and tanks when they whipped Rommel's Afrika Korps at El Alamein. [55], The Pacific Route opened in August 1941, but was affected by the start of hostilities between Japan and the U.S.; after December 1941, only Soviet ships could be used, and, as Japan and the USSR observed a strict neutrality towards each other, only non-military goods could be transported. Much of the meaning of Lend-Lease aid can be better understood when considering the innovative nature of World War II, as well as the economic distortions caused by the war. [18], The vote in the Senate, which occurred on 9 March, revealed a similar partisan difference: 49 Democrats (79 percent) voted "aye" with only 13 Democrats (21 percent) voting "nay". And it is a salient point that over 80% of the aid was received after June 1942, when the tide of the war had already turned against the Germans on the Eastern Front. And Soviet forces would have been much more poorly coordinated with a constant lack of radio equipment. Agricultural issues were also compounded when the Soviets were on the offensive, as areas liberated from the Axis had been devastated and contained millions of people who needed to be fed. Particularly important for the Soviets in late 1941 were British-supplied tanks and aircraft. As the war continued, however, the United States and Great Britain provided many of the implements of war and strategic raw materials necessary for Soviet victory. In practice, most equipment was destroyed, although some hardware (such as ships) was returned after the war. Some of these shipments were intercepted by the Germans. [22], In February 1942, the U.S. and Britain signed the Anglo-American Mutual Aid Agreement[23] as part of a greater multilateral system, developed by the Allies during the war, to provide each other with goods, services, and mutual aid in the widest sense, without charging commercial payments. How important was Lend-Lease for the Soviet war effort? "It should be remembered that during World War I, the transportation crisis in Russia in 1916-17 that did a lot to facilitate the February Revolution [which lead to the abdication of the tsar] was caused by a shortage in the production of railway rails, engines, and freight cars because industrial production had been diverted to munitions," Sokolov wrote. Mackenzie, Hector. Under the Lend-Lease Act, the United States sent enormous quantities of war materiel to the Soviet Union, which was critical in helping the Soviets withstand the Nazi onslaught. Lend-Lease's precise significance to Allied victory in WW2 is debated. Known today as Lend-Lease. Payment was to be stretched out over 50 annual payments, starting in 1951 and with five years of deferred payments, at 2% interest. It is an indication of the extent to which the British have been able to pool their resources with ours so that the needed weapon may be in the hands of that soldierwhatever may be his nationalitywho can at the proper moment use it most effectively to defeat our common enemies.[76]. Lend-Lease kept the Soviet home front going through the winter of 1941 and throughout 1942. In fact, for a brief period during December 1941, the relative importance of British aid increased well beyond levels planned by the Allies as a result of American reaction to the outbreak of war with Japan; some American equipment destined for the Soviet Union was actually unloaded from merchant vessels and provided to American forces instead. 28, 30, 31, harvnb error: no target: CITEREFHardesty1991 (, Soviet Supply Protocols. Ordnance goods (ammunition, artillery shells, mines, assorted explosives) provided amounted to 53 percent of total domestic consumption. For example, in the 4 Ottawa Protocol (July 1, 1944, to June 30, 1945) the USSR requested 240 B-17 bombers and 300 B-24 bombers, none of which were supplied. Just 446 locomotives were produced during the war,[39] with only 92 of those being built between 1942 and 1945. At the end of 1941 there were greater numbers of the MiG-3, but the plane was considered difficult to fly. The records constitute the primary policy and subject files on World War II Lend-Lease to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Supplies that arrived after the termination date were sold to Britain at a large discount for 1.075billion, using long-term loans from the United States. During Nikita Khrushchevs rule in the late 1950s and early 1960s, there was a window of greater frankness and openness about the extent of aid supplied from the West under the Lend-Lease Actbut it was still clearly forbidden for Soviet authors to suggest that such aid ever made any real difference on the battlefield. New Orleans. Collection. Without the machines we received through Lend-Lease, we would have lost the war.". "The Museum of the Allies and Lend-Lease is a unique, one-of-a-kind museum," said Borodin. Allen (1946) p 252. By the end of the war, the United States had extended over $49 billion in Lend-Lease aid to nearly forty nations. In addition, almost half of all the rails used by the Soviet Union during the war came through Lend-Lease. The convoy was the first of many convoys to Murmansk and Archangelsk in what became known as the Arctic convoys, the returning ships carried the gold that the USSR was using to pay the US. According to research by a team of Soviet historians, the Soviet Union lost a staggering 20,500 tanks from June 22 to December 31, 1941. But according to . The British Commonwealth and, to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union reciprocated with a smaller Reverse Lend-Lease program. James Phinney Baxter III (Official Historian of the Office of Scientific Research and Development), Wolfgang Schumann (et al. [82] In June 1942, SSPort Nicholson was sunk en route from Halifax to New York, allegedly with Soviet platinum, gold, and diamonds aboard; the wreck was discovered in 2008. "[50] To which Senator Robert Taft (R-Ohio), responded: "Lending war equipment is a good deal like lending chewing gumyou certainly don't want the same gum back. A monument in Fairbanks, Alaska, to the American pilots who flew almost 8,000 U.S. planes to Alaska and to the Soviet pilots who flew them on to Siberia as part of Lend-Lease. From 1941 and onwards, the RKKA used extensive numbers . U.S. Citizens with emergencies, please call +(7) (495) 728-5577, Outside of Office Hours, contact: +7 (495) 728-5000. The Lend-Lease program also provided more than 35,000 radio sets and 32,000 motorcycles. I believe that lend lease to the USSR was a massive mistake that led directly to the cold war and all the issues associated with it. Championed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Lend-Lease Act authorized the transfer . In fact our armed forces in Britain, ground as well as air, receive as reverse lend-lease, with no payment by us, one third of all the supplies and equipment they currently require, Britain furnishes 90% of their medical supplies and in spite of her food shortage, 20% of their food.[78]. In the meantime, Great Britain was running out of liquid currency and asked not to be forced to sell off British assets. Extrapolating from available statistics, researchers estimate that British-supplied tanks made up 30 to 40 percent of the entire heavy and medium tank strength of Soviet forces before Moscow at the beginning of December 1941, and certainly made up a significant proportion of tanks available as reinforcements at this critical point in the fighting. -8. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1982, Bd. [33], The program was gradually terminated after V-E Day. Lend-Lease also sent aviation fuel equivalent to 57 percent of what the Soviet Union itself produced. How important was lend lease to Soviet Union? "During World War II, only the supplies brought in by Lend-Lease prevented the paralysis of rail transport in the Soviet Union.". Totaling $11.3 billion, or $180 billion in today's currency, the Lend-Lease Act of the United States supplied needed goods to the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945 in support of what Stalin described to Roosevelt as the "enormous and difficult fight against the common enemy bloodthirsty Hitlerism." For foreign citizens who want to live permanently in the United States. The Lend-Lease Act was signed into law on March 11, 1941, and ended on September 20, 1945. In turn, this would have allowed the German commanders to escape at least some encirclements, while forcing the Red Army to prepare and conduct many more deliberate penetration attacks in order to advance the same distance. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. But it cannot be denied that the Americans sent us materiel without which we could not have formed our reserves or continued the war. This was agreed upon before the signing of the first protocol on October 1, 1941, and extension of credit. Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union officially ended in September 1945. Britain got of their arms and ammunition from this Act. On April 23, 1947, this C-37 was forced to make an emergency landing with 36 people on board near the village of Volochanka on the Taimyr Peninsula. In particular, it shows that British Lend-Lease assistance to the Soviet Union in late 1941 and early 1942 played a far more significant part in the defense of Moscow and the revival of Soviet fortunes in late 1941 than has been acknowledged. It permitted him to "sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government [whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States] any defense article." Such assessments, however, are contradicted by the opinions of Soviet war participants. by Robert Beckhusen Key point: If the West had not invaded Europe and provided equipment, it would have. [6], In 1939 howeveras Germany, Japan, and Italy pursued aggressive, militaristic policiesPresident Roosevelt wanted more flexibility to help contain Axis aggression. When the war ended, almost 33 percent of all the Red Army's vehicles had been provided through Lend-Lease. Stettinius. Additionally, many of the British tools arrived in early 1942, when Soviet tool production was still very low, resulting in a disproportionate impact. The pact was terminated when Germany launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union. 19329 posts. [32] In September 1943, he was promoted to Undersecretary of State, and Leo Crowley became director of the Foreign Economic Administration, which was given responsibility for Lend-Lease. Much of the American fuel was added to lower-grade Soviet fuel to produce the high-octane fuel needed by modern military aircraft. It provided Britain and the Soviet Union with limited war materiel beginning in October that year. The body of the captain, Maksim Tyurikov, was found by local hunters about 120 kilometers from the wreck in 1953. The agreement was that all temporary construction for the use of American forces and all permanent construction required by the United States forces beyond Canadian requirements would be paid for by the United States, and that the cost of all other construction of permanent value would be met by Canada. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein. BM-13N Katyusha on a Lend-Lease Studebaker US6 truck, at the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow, In June 1941, within weeks of the German invasion of the USSR, the Anglo-Soviet Agreement was made and the first British aid convoy set off along the dangerous Arctic Sea route to Murmansk, arriving in September. And now they are saying that we had plenty of everything on our own.". The total amount that Canada agreed to pay under the new arrangement came to about $76,800,000, which was some $13,870,000 less than the United States had spent on the facilities.
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