70 GERMANY TRIUMPHANT 1939–1941
GREECE
LIBERIA
POLAND
ROMANIA
N O R W A Y
ICELAND
FRANCE
UNITED
KINGDOM
USSR
UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA
CENTRAL
AMERICA
EGYPT
IRAN
INDIA
ETHIOPIA
IRAQ
SAUDI
ARABIA
TURKEY
C A
N A D A
S
O
U
T
H
A M E R I C A
A T
L A
N
T
I
C
O C
E
A
N
I N D I A N
O C E A N
P A C I
F I C
O C E A
N AUS
TR
A
L
IA
E U R O P E
A F R I C A
C
H
I N
A
Siberia
DUTCH EAST INDIES
A R C T I C^ O C E A N
Panama Canal
Petropavlovsk
Nikolayevsk
Vladivostok
Beijing
Chongqing
Novosibirsk
Archangel
Leningrad
Murmansk
Moscow
Stalingrad
London
Liverpool
Baku Tashkent
Tabriz
Algiers
Cairo
Dakar
Takoradi
Recife
Georgetown
Miami
New York
Seattle St. John’s
Anchorage
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Lagos
Khartoum
Rasht Bandar Shah
Bushehr
Dinjan
Melbourne
Auckland
Perth
Kunming
Calcutta
Bombay
Savannah Baltimore
Jacksonville
Wilmington
Panama
City
Houston
New
Orleans
Brunswick
Providence Paris
Mobile
South
Portland
Antigua
St. Lucia
Trinidad
Exuma
Jamaica
Portland
Richmond
Vancouver
Sausalito
60
320
1700
Ascension
Island
Spitsbergen
(Nor)
PACIFIC
OCEAN
To^
USSR
To^ USSR
To^ Aus
tralia
Fr
om
U
Fr SA
om
U
SA
To Australia
From
USA
From USA
Following neutrality legislation in 1937, US companies could not
export military goods to warring nations. However, President
Roosevelt was committed to helping the fight against Fascism by
all means short of war, and this sentiment underpinned policies
such as the 1940 Destroyers for Bases Agreement, in which the US
transferred destroyers to the British in exchange for land for US
military bases. Lend-Lease was another such policy, under which
the US could loan war matériel to the Allies. Roosevelt justified its
implementation with a simple analogy—if a neighbor’s house
was on fire it was simply common sense to lend him a garden hose.
Lend-Lease unlocked a wealth of supplies for the Allies, ranging
from ordnance, oil, aircraft, tanks, and ships to tooth powder and
salt cellars. The policy helped to save Britain, which was running
desperately short of food and fuel in 1941. At first, the recipients
were Britain and the Commonwealth countries, but within a year,
Lend-Lease was providing aid to the Soviet Union and China. From
1942, it became increasingly significant as the war extended to the
Pacific following the events of Pearl Harbor (see pp.110–111). By
the end of the war, over $49 billion of American aid had been
transported around the world to 40 countries.
US ISOLATIONISM IN WORLD WAR II
“We defend and we build a way of life, not for
America alone, but for all mankind.”
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, MAY 1940
The US was determined to stay
neutral in 1939. The country had
suffered significant casualties in
World War I, and debts owed by
the Allies had caused resentment.
There was little desire to become
embroiled in another “foreign
affair.” However, knowing that
the war threatened America’s
security, President Roosevelt
worked to weaken the Neutrality
Acts of the 1930s. With Lend-
Lease, he hoped America could
arm the fight for democracy while
avoiding direct conflict.
LEND-LEASE
The Lend-Lease Act, passed by the US Congress in
March 1941, provided assistance to Britain’s war effort
while allowing the US to maintain its neutrality. The
policy ensured a flow of food, fuel, and matériel to
Allied forces that the Axis powers could not match.
Sep 1941–1945 Liberty
Ships are produced for use
by the US, Soviet Union,
and Britain to transport
Lend-Lease supplies.
1942 More than 50
percent of USSR
Lend-Lease aid goes via
the Alaskan Highway.
May 1943 Canada establishes
its Mutual Aid program,
providing Britain and the
Commonwealth with $2
billion worth of matériel.
SUPPLYING THE ALLIES
The millions of dollars of aid provided by the US through Lend-Lease
reached across the world, providing the Allies with an enormous
economic and logistical advantage over the Axis powers.
KEY
RECIPIENTS OF LEND-LEASE AID
Britain/Commonwealth:
$31.385 billion
USSR: $10.982 billion
France/empire: $3.224 billion
Central/South America:
$501 million
China: $1.627 billion
Others: <$0.5–250 million each
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946
2
3
4
5
1
TIMELINE
THE OIL ADVANTAGE
AUGUST 1941–1945
Throughout the war, access to oil was a major
concern for Germany; its tanks frequently
ran out of fuel and its industries struggled from
a lack of oil. When the British occupied Iran in
August–September 1941, they not only secured
the Persian corridor to the USSR, but also
gained control of the region’s substantial oil fields.
Meanwhile, America’s vast supplies of oil fueled
wartime production and Allied transportation.
5
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
signing the Lend-Lease Act
Annual oil production
(million barrels)
Other major
60 sources of oil
1942 Lend-Lease comes under
scrutiny in the US when US forces
ask that war matériel production is
prioritized for them.
US_070-071_lend_lease.indd 70 20/03/19 12:45 PM