# WWII...resolved, lend lease was critical to keeping the Soviets in the war **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 28, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-resolved-lend-lease-was-critical-to-keeping-the-soviets-in-the-war/820421 "2018-08-28T18:59:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-resolved-lend-lease-was-critical-to-keeping-the-soviets-in-the-war/820421/1 "2018-08-28T18:59:35Z")
This thread is based on this YouTube video ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25ACv\_4Sj7Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25ACv_4Sj7Q)), called Did the Soviets win WW2 due to US support? It’s a bit of a misleading title, since the video itself also delves into the British lend lease to the Soviets during the war. You don’t have to watch the video (or the associated video that delves into the air force aspects), so for those who don’t watch, the key points are: The timing of when, where and what was given is crucial to looking at this aspect of the war. Often people make the point that in raw tonnage the amount of supplies given to the Soviets was far less than they produced. However, you have to look at what was given and when, and what the impact was at different stages of the war. One point I’ve made in these sorts of threads in the past is that one crucial thing given the Soviets that had a major impact was logistics vehicles…trucks and jeeps. These made up the bulk of the Soviets logistic fleet, especially since those given the Soviets were far superior to those they were producing at home. In addition, the early supplies were more crucial than is generally known, since the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse in 41 through 42. They had been forced to move much of their production and had serious shortfalls and draw downs on their pre-war stocks, and the supplies coming in were what gave them time to get their production moved and back into use. The video also discusses, briefly, armored vehicles, especially British, that helped out immensely early on, before the T-34’s and KV-1’s really got into renewed production. It also talks about things like explosives that made up to 50%+ of the total for the Soviets between 41 and 45. He doesn’t really talk about food, clothing, miscellaneous accouterments and the like, which also had a major impact throughout the war, but crucially early on when the Soviets were on the ropes. Finally, the video makes the point that even Stalin admitted, privately and off the record, that western lend lease was crucial and without it the Soviets might not have survived. The video doesn’t really come down on a final verdict, just points out that it was crucial. Myself, I think that there has been a lot of folks who, for various political reasons have overplayed both the US and Soviet roles in the war at different times, stating that this one or that was the most crucial or could have done it without the others. In the last 20 years I’ve heard a lot of folks talk about how the Soviets could have won without the support of the other allies, so that’s what I wanted to address, but my take is that each of the major allies absolutely needed the other 2 in order to win. I do think it’s resolved, however, that lend lease was absolutely vital and crucial to the Soviets during the war, and personally I feel that without it the Soviet Union would have either folded sometime in 42 or been on the defensive and just fighting to survive beyond the Ural mountains, far diminished and with most of their best territory in German hands. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-resolved-lend-lease-was-critical-to-keeping-the-soviets-in-the-war/820421/2 "2018-08-28T19:30:44Z")
Once America entered the war, the Axis was mopped up relatively quickly — Italy surrendered less than two years after Pearl Harbor. (Compare this with our war against the Taliban, now 16 years and counting.) I agree with OP that Britain, America and Soviet Russia were all three essential. How the war would have played out with only two of those three isn’t clear, but early victory would not have been an option. When this question came up just a few months ago, I copy-pasted a partial list of Anglo-American donations to the Soviet war effort. Here it is again: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > … U.S. deliveries [to Soviet Union] amounted to **$11 billion [nominal dollars] in materials**: over 400,000 jeeps and trucks; 12,000 armored vehicles (including 7,000 tanks [including 4,102 M4 Shermans] 11,400 aircraft … and 1.75 million tons of food. > Roughly 17.5 million tons of military equipment, vehicles, industrial supplies, and food were shipped from the Western Hemisphere to the USSR. For comparison, a total of 22 million tons landed in Europe to supply American forces from January 1942 to May 1945. **It has been estimated that American deliveries to the USSR through the Persian Corridor alone were sufficient, by US Army standards, to maintain sixty combat divisions in the line.** > > The United States delivered to the Soviet Union from October 1, 1941 to May 31, 1945 the following: 427,284 trucks, 13,303 combat vehicles, 35,170 motorcycles, 2,328 ordnance service vehicles, 2,670,371 tons of petroleum products (gasoline and oil) or 57.8 percent of the High-octane aviation fuel, 4,478,116 tons of foodstuffs (canned meats, sugar, flour, salt, etc.), 1,911 steam locomotives, 66 Diesel locomotives, 9,920 flat cars, 1,000 dump cars, 120 tank cars, and 35 heavy machinery cars. Provided ordnance goods (ammunition, artillery shells, mines, assorted explosives) amounted to **53 percent of total domestic production**. One item typical of many was **a tire plant that was lifted bodily from the Ford Company’s River Rouge Plant and transferred to the USSR.** … > > [Britain also contributed to the Soviet effort.] > Between June 1941 and May 1945, Britain delivered to the USSR: > > 3,000+ Hurricanes > 4,000+ other aircraft > 27 naval vessels > 5,218 tanks (including 1,380 Valentines from Canada) > 5,000+ anti-tank guns > 4,020 ambulances and trucks > 323 machinery trucks > 1,212 Universal Carriers and Loyd Carriers (with another 1,348 from Canada ) > 1,721 motorcycles > £1.15bn worth of aircraft engines > 1,474 radar sets > 4,338 radio sets > 600 naval radar and sonar sets > Hundreds of naval guns > 15 million pairs of boots > [and more] I’ve highlighted a few items. Note that $11 Billion in 1943 dollars is $166 billion in 2018 dollars. Russia provided most of the actual **Soldiers’ Blood** needed for victory in Europe, but they received considerable material from the Anglophones. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-resolved-lend-lease-was-critical-to-keeping-the-soviets-in-the-war/820421/3 "2018-08-28T19:55:21Z")
As a wise man once said when asked “which of the allies beat The Nazis?” “Which one of your internal organs keeps you alive?” ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-resolved-lend-lease-was-critical-to-keeping-the-soviets-in-the-war/820421/4 "2018-08-28T20:16:46Z")
Here is the other video that delves more into just the air force assets aspect of lend lease, for anyone interested: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLTR8qeTOIs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLTR8qeTOIs)