Lend-Lease

The Lend-Lease program was a program of the United States during World War II that allowed the United States to provide the Allied Powers with war material without becoming directly involved in the war.

Related Topics:
United States - World War II - Allied Powers - War material

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The Lend-Lease program came into existence with the passage of the Lend-Lease Act of March 11, 1941 which permitted the President of the United States to "sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government any defense article". It thus extended Cash and Carry and modified the sense of neutrality. The value of the items to be lent were not to exceed $1,300,000,000 in total. US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt approved US$1 billion in Lend-lease aid to Britain on October 30, 1941. Britain was still repaying this into the next century (see Repayment).

Related Topics:
March 11 - 1941 - United States - Cash and Carry - Neutrality - Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Britain - October 30 - Repayment

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The act is generally known as "lend-lease". In fact the term does not appear in the true title of the act, which is "Further to promote the defense of the United States, and for other purposes.". See http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq59-23.htm for the text of the act.

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More information, and images of the text, from

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http://www.ourdocuments.gov/content.php?page=document&doc=71.

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Earlier, the 1940 Destroyers for Bases Agreement had seen fifty obsolete destroyers transferred to the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy in exchange for base rights in the Caribbean.

Related Topics:
1940 - Destroyers for Bases Agreement - Royal Navy - Royal Canadian Navy - Caribbean

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Lend-lease was a critical factor in the eventual success of the Allies in World War II, particularly in the early years when the United States was not directly involved and the entire burden of the fighting fell on other nations, notably those of the Commonwealth. Although Pearl Harbor, and a German Declaration of War, brought the US into the war in December 1941, the task of recruiting, training, and equipping US forces, and then transporting them to the war zones could not be completed overnight: through 1942, and to a lesser extent 1943, the other Allies continued to be responsible for most of the fighting, and the supply of military equipment under lend-lease was a significant part of their success.

Related Topics:
Allies - World War II - Commonwealth - Pearl Harbor - 1941 - 1942 - 1943

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Even after the United States forces in Europe and the Pacific began to reach full-strength in 1943-1944, lend-lease continued. Most remaining belligerents were largely self-sufficient in front-line equipment (such as tanks and fighter aircraft) by this stage, but lend-lease provided a useful supplement in this category even so, and lend-lease logistical supplies (including trucks, jeeps, landing craft, and above all the Douglas DC-3 transport aircraft) were of enormous assistance.

Related Topics:
1943 - 1944 - Tank - Fighter aircraft - Douglas DC-3

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