The Lend-Lease Program During The First World War

Brian Bonnema – Harry Hopkins

The Lend-Lease Program The Lend-Lease Program began as an effort to assist the countries that the United States of America supported without actively participating in the war. As the war progressed and the Americans joined the fight, the effort morphed into a massive undertaking to sustain armies low on supplies and countries low on capital. Active to this day, the program will continue as long as the fight does, and will always be a testimony to the collective unity of the Grand Alliance.

For the first two years of the war, the United States sought to support the Allied effort. Congress was unable to do so, due to the Neutrality Act, passed after an expensive fight in the First World War. This act, which

Additionally, the British Government, running low on funds, requested additional aid, while the other Allies did not utilize the cash and carry program, due to minimal funds or other political reasons (Kaufman 527). On December 17, 1940, President Roosevelt laid out the Lend-Lease Act, establishing the Unites States as an “Arsenal of Democracy”, and officially ending American neutrality in the war (Ushistory.org). The Act, passed in early 1941, allowed the nation to lend or lease war supplies at greatly diminished prices. Production of items necessary for war was ramped up production, and the government initiated a massive peacetime draft. While not contributing any troops at the time, the United States sustained the other countries thoroughly (Lend-Lease Act).

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the following year, and the subsequent declaration of war on the United States by Germany, the operations only expanded. Public morale supported the undertaking more than ever before. Even as the country supported its own war effort, it continued substantial deliveries of war supplies to its Allied brothers, continuing throughout the war effort, to this very day

Millions of tons of food, vehicles, and other equipment, valued at $11 billion, have been delivered via multiple routes to the Soviet Union. To Great Britain, a close ally, the United States has sent more than $31 billion worth of goods. Considerable resources were also sent China and France. In total, the United States has distributed materiel valued at just over $50 billion to more than 30 countries (U.S. Government Printing Office). The United States’ has provided support throughout war. Without these deliveries, armies of many nations would have been left effectively defenseless against the tough Axis powers. Not only would troops have run of food and other supplies, but also, nations would have run out of resources and funding to produce and transport more of those very supplies. At the most crucial times, special deliveries can mean the difference between victory and defeat, and between the furtherance of freedom, and the success of an oppressive, corrupt