"The cost of the Lend-Lease program has been calculated at between $42 and $50 billion in both goods and services. Great Britain and its dominions received about half of this aid, with the Soviet Union getting the second largest share, estimated at $11 billion. Free France, led by de Gaulle, received about $3.5 billion and China more than $2 billion. In all, more than 40 nations benefited from Lend-Lease aid.

Was Lend-Lease a success? Most would agree it was, especially in the case of Great Britain, where the aid was greatly appreciated and recognized. In 1944, America provided the British with over one-quarter of their military equipment. However, the role of Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union is less clear, and little recognized by the Soviets, despite the incredible quantity of supplies involved.

In addition to almost 15,000 aircraft, most fighters or bombers, Russia received over 400,000 motor vehicles, many being medium or heavy military trucks. American-built trucks and other vehicles made up 60 percent of the Soviet’s total vehicle fleet by 1945. In addition, America supplied 2,000 locomotives 11,000 freight cars and 540,000 tons of rail for Soviet railroads. Late in the war, Stalin did make some public statements praising the American aid received under Lend-Lease, but after the defeat of Nazi Germany, Americans began to grow wary of their Soviet ally. Plans to continue Lend-Lease as part of a post-war reconstruction program died with Roosevelt, as the new president Harry Truman ended all Lend-Lease aid on Aug. 15, 1945 – the day the Japanese surrendered.

Truman demanded that the Soviets repay the U.S. for many non-military supplies, including cargo ships, worth more than $2.5 billion. The Cold War that followed effectively ended any such hopes of repayment, until it finally thawed in the late 1980s with the outbreak of glasnost. In June of 1990, to qualify for U.S. loans and credits under the still active Johnson Debt-Default Act, Russia negotiated an agreement for repayment of her WWII debts.

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