11th March marks an important anniversary relating to the Allied victory in WW2, the signing into law in 1941 of the Lend-Lease Act by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt (and no, this event has nothing to do with the modern Lend Lease Group, a multi-national property and infrastructure company. Just a similarity of name. Funny how names can used and re-used over time).
In an earlier blog (Hiroo Onoda – Man out of Time – Part 3), I asserted that a major contributor to Allied victory in WW2 was ‘its possession of overwhelming economic and population resources – not just the inherent virtues of liberal democracy.’
What did I mean by this?
The Lend-Lease Act made possible the loaning (without necessarily the expectation of return) of billions of dollars’ worth of military aid by the US to Britain and the other Allied nations – $USD50.1 billion at 1940s values (or $USD760 billion at current values). Without this aid, the Allied nations would have been unable to continue the war against the Axis powers. In the case of Britain, having survived the ‘Battle of Britain’ in 1940, it was facing bankruptcy in 1941. The insufficiency of money, not the weight of German bombs, may have been the final straw for the British government.
In Part 2 (of this 10 Part series), I will place the economic aspects of WW2 into its political and military contexts – the road to war in the 1930s, and the European campaigns of 1940.
Yes, I did say that this will be a 10 part series. Some of you might think I am crazy, and not just because I want to discuss economic history. But stick with me. The Lend-lease scheme changed history.
 Source: U.S. Department of State. Accessed March 2014. http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2010/05/20100518114619zjsredna0.3529736.html#axzz2v2wv4wtE