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Did USSR pay us back for the materials we supplied during their intital war effort? Or was it just part of some agreement between the countries after the war?
During the initial war effort supplies where practically irrelevant. They spiked during 1943 through 1945.
Out of all that, weaponry itself was a minor percentage. Tanks, heavy artillery, airplanes were in approximately 10-13% of actively used in battles. Highest supplies where automobiles, steam trains and raw materials.
Ships and factory equipment were over 20%.
Here's example: airplane supplies
Other supplies pretty much followed same trand.
So to speak about "initial effort" is rather irrelevant. It was little to none.
Not to forget. War was lost by Germany in December of 1941. Blitzkrieg was based on 2-3 months campaign. Germany simply had NO sufficient supplies to run such extensive time taking campaign as it turned out to be. From early 1942 it was slow agony for Wermacht.
Feeding people and making sure they can feed themselves is a way to avoid war.
Correct - The US did not want a repeat of the disastrous Treaty of Versailles, which instigated the mad Austrian Corporal to start WWII.
Given the bleeding the Russians & Allies did to crush the Nazis, I don't think they should've had to repay one dime. As stated above, it was a great investment for all concerned... except for Adolph.
Here is the total numbers for all the machines & supplies the US sent (gave) to the USSR during the Lend Lease program of WWII - it makes me wonder how much more difficult it would've been for the Soviets to overwhelm the Germans from the East if they didn't have all that material help:
From Wikipedia:
In total, the U.S. deliveries through Lend-Lease amounted to $11 billion in materials: over 400,000 jeeps and trucks; 12,000 armored vehicles (including 7,000 tanks, about 1,386 of which were M3 Lees and 4,102 M4 Shermans);[ 11,400 aircraft (4,719 of which were Bell P-39 Airacobras) 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, 94% coming from the US. 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 gave 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.
The 1947 money value of the supplies and services amounted to about eleven billion dollars.
And I would add, the 400,000 Jeeps & Trucks (plus the food) were probably the most useful things we sent the Russians. They made plenty of tanks, artillery, small arms, & ammo themselves.
And I would add, the 400,000 Jeeps & Trucks (plus the food) were probably the most useful things we sent the Russians. They made plenty of tanks, artillery, small arms, & ammo themselves.
And the most critical supply of all:
Quote:
Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev wrote, "Without SPAM we wouldn't have been able to feed our army."
First, the UK took until 2006 to pay off Lend-Lease because the interest rate was so good there was no reason to make any more than the minimum payment.
Second, you suggest that the Marshall Plan was only for Germany. It wasn't - (West) Germany got approximately $1.45 billion in aid under the plan, while the United Kingdom got $3.30 billion (they were the largest recipient of that aid).
Third, I haven't the foggiest idea why you think the Marshall Plan or Lend-Lease has anything to do with the EU in 2016. As mentioned above, the repayment plan was hardly onerous - the final installment to the United States in 2006 was $83 million, out of a British budget that year that was nearly 600 billion. Note: it also took until 2006 for the UK to pay off its debt to Canada (though since there's usually no anti-Canadian ax to grind, this is rarely mentioned). As for your comment that this somehow explains U.S. policy opposing the Brexit, I have no idea how present American policy devolves out of either the Marshall Plan or the repayment of the Anglo-American Loan that was concluded ten year ago.
It is an urban myth that the loan paid off in 2006 was Lend Lease. It was a U. S. taxpayer subsidized loan made in 1946 before the Marshall Plan went into effect, and its repayments were suspended during bad economic periods in Britain. Lend Lease was all written off or counted as paid under such pretexts as rent for use of military bases during the war.
It is an urban myth that the loan paid off in 2006 was Lend Lease. It was a U. S. taxpayer subsidized loan made in 1946 before the Marshall Plan went into effect, and its repayments were suspended during bad economic periods in Britain. Lend Lease was all written off or counted as paid under such pretexts as rent for use of military bases during the war.
Well, the other poster mentioned 2006 - I wasn't going to quibble with the details. But in the part of my post that you quoted, I did specifically reference it as the Anglo-American Loan, its proper name.
At the same time POWs became an important source of labor for the Soviet economy deprived of manpower." ...
As a side note some of that labor was used on the black market. I read one account by a Soviet citizen who related that highly skilled German carpenters, electricians and masons (at least the brick laying kind ) were in big demand for private projects.
These POWs could be "hired" via paying their guards.
His girl friend's family used a group of POW carpenters to repair the foundation and flooring of their home. Likewise, decades after the war, Soviet apartment managers would charge extra rent in the form of bribes if the building in question had been constructed by POWs as they were known to have better build quality.
I think the reality is that FDR never really expected repayment from the USSR even though that may have been part of the program. Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, commented years later about Lend Lease. He basically said the following:
1. He acknowledged the very real assistance the USSR got from America. He addressed comments from other Russians that aid from the USA was not much more than "spam". Khrushchev rejected this and mentioned the many tanks, armored vehicles, and aircraft the Soviets received. He also said even "spam" should not be diminished as aid. He stated there days during the war when he literally had nothing else to eat. Spam can taste pretty good when you have no other food available.
2. He mentioned something that I don't disagree with. He said the United States paid "in dollars" to fight the war. The USSR paid "in blood". Morally, Khrushchev was simply stating that, his view, the USSR had repaid its debts through the fighting it did and its loss of life. Its estimated the Russians lost somewhere between 20,000,000 and 26,000,000 soldiers and civilians in World War II. The USA lost 400,000 servicemen and women.
Nazi Germany made a shambles out of the western part of the USSR. I can imagine how repaying this debt would have interfered with Russia's ability to get back on its feet after the war had ended.
And, of course, the Cold War was a major reason the USSR chose not to repay debts under Lend Lease.
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) were in big demand for private projects. 
