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→The United States Lent to Britain without Payment
====Americans opposed involvement in World War II====
[[File:469px-Wickes_class_destroyers_before_transfer_to_the_UK_1940.jpeg|thumbnail|left|250px|US Wickes Class Destroyers before transfer to UK under the Destroyers for Bases Agreement]]
Marshall and others, therefore, argued that U.S. national security would be better served by reserving military supplies for the defense of the Western Hemisphere. American public opinion also limited Roosevelt’s options. Many Americans opposed involving the United States in another war. Even though American public opinion generally supported the British rather than the Germans, President Roosevelt had to develop an initiative that was consistent with the legal prohibition against the granting of credit, satisfactory to military leadership, and acceptable to an American public that generally resisted involving the United States in the European conflict.
====The United States Lent to Britain without Payment====
Instead, the United States would “lend” the supplies to the British, deferring payment. When payment eventually did take place, the emphasis would not be on payment in dollars. The tensions and instability engendered by inter-allied war debts in the 1920s and 1930s had demonstrated that it was unreasonable to expect that virtually bankrupt European nations would be able to pay for every item they had purchased from the United States. Instead, payment would primarily take the form of a “consideration” granted by Britain to the United States. After many months of negotiation, the United States and Britain agreed, in Article VII of the [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0092BR2EK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0092BR2EK&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=cc04c003fc32fb0c4005c64f990d1298 Lend-Lease agreement ] they signed, that this consideration would primarily consist of joint action directed towards the creation of a liberalized international economic order in the postwar world.
The United Kingdom was not the only nation to strike such a deal with the United States. Over the course of the war, the United States contracted Lend-Lease agreements with more than 30 countries, dispensing some $50 billion in assistance. Although British Prime Minister Winston Churchill later referred to the initiative as “the most unsordid act” one nation had ever done for another, Roosevelt’s primary motivation was not altruism or disinterested generosity.
====Conclusion====
Lend-Lease was designed to serve America’s interest in defeating Nazi Germany without entering the war until the American military and public was prepared to fight. At a time when the majority of Americans opposed direct participation in the war, Lend-Lease represented a vital U.S. contribution to the fight against Nazi Germany. Moreover, the joint action called for under Article VII of the Lend-Lease agreements signed by the United States and the recipient nations laid the foundation for the creation of a new international economic order in the postwar world.
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* Republished from [https://history.state.gov/| Office of the Historian, United States Department of State]
* Article: [https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/lend-lease| Lend-Lease and Military Aid to the Allies in the Early Years of World War II]
[[Category:US State Department]] [[Category:Wikis]][[Category:United States History]] [[Category: World War Two History]] [[Category:20th Century History]] [[Category:Political History]] [[Category:Diplomatic History]]
