The influence of Lend-Lease in 1941–1942 on the military situation of the Anglo-American Alliance and the opening the Second Front
https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6339-2025-1-166-184
Abstract
The article describes the way Lend-Lease influences the preparation for the opening of the Second Front. The authors make an assessment to Lend-Lease at the initial stages of the Great Patriotic War and the Pacific War, calling attention to the impact of military equipment supplies to the USSR on the ability of Great Britain and the United States to effectively to resist the fascist bloc. The authors argue that the Lend-Lease supplies to the USSR did not cause significant damage to the Western Allies, this damage being fully justified by the successes of the Red Army in repelling Nazi aggression. The United States and Great Britain suffered much more damage due to their incorrectly chosen strategies and methods of warfare. To give evidence to this, the authors give the examples of the defensive operations of the British Empire and the United States in Southeast Asia, arguing that Lend-lease for the USSR had a negative effect within specific theaters of military operations because of the poor strategic decisions taken by the American and British command. On the other hand, the authors consider Lend-Lease as a huge contribution of the American people to overcoming the crisis of the Anti-Hitler Coalition in 1941–1942.
About the Authors
G. G. Popov
Presidential Academy Moscow
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Grigorii G. Popov, Cand. of Sci. (Economics)
bldg. 1, bld. 84, Vernadsky Av., Moscow, Russia, 119606
S. G. Davydov
Presidential Academy Moscow
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Stanislav G. Davydov, Dr. of Sci. (History), professor
bldg. 1, bld. 84, Vernadsky Av., Moscow, Russia, 119606
References
1. Blair, C.J. (1975), Silent victory. The US submarine war against Japan, Lippincott, Philadelphia, USA.
2. Burnes, J. (1971), Roosevelt. The oldier of freedom, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, UK.
3. Bystrova, I.V (2019), Lend-liz dlya SSSR. Ekonomika, tekhnika, lyudi (1941–1945) [Lend-lease for the USSR. Economics, technology, people (1941–1945)], Kuchkovo pole, Moscow, Russia.
4. Chevtaev, A.G. (2011), “Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill. Political strategies of the Big Three from Barbarossa to Terminal”, Izvestiya Ural’skogo gosudarstvennogo un-ta. Seriya 1: Problemy obrazovaniya, nauki i kul’tury, vol. 86, no. 1, pp. 135–143.
5. Chubaryan, A.O., Kimball, W.F. and Reynolds, D. (1995), Soyuzniki v voine: 1941–1945 [Allies in the war 1941–1945], Nauka, Moscow, Russia.
6. Cline, R.S., ed. (1951), Washington command post. The operations division, GPO, Washington, USA.
7. Coombs, B. (2018), “British tank production and the war economy, 1934–1945. Important considerations for industry”, History of Global Arms Transfer, no. 5, рр. 3–18.
8. Davydov, S.G. and Popov, G.G. (2023), “The importance of allied supplies of arms and automotive equipment during the Great Patriotic Wara’, Voennyi akademicheskii zhurnal, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 61–70.
9. Douglas, R. (1981), From war to Cold war. 1942–1948, St Martin’s Press, New York, USA.
10. Dunlop, G. (2006), British army logistics in the Burma campaign 1942–1945, PhD, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
11. Efremov, S.A., comp. (2012), Konvoi PQ-16: khronika shestidnevnoi bitvy [Convoy PQ-16. Chronicle of the six-day battle], OAO IPP “Pravda Severa”, Arkhangelsk, Russia.
12. Folly, M. (2006), “Friends of a kind. America and its allies in the Second World War”, Journal of American Studies, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 633–644.
13. Folly, M. (2012), “ ‘A long, slow and painful road’. The Anglo-American alliance and the issue of co-operation with the USSR from Teheran to D-Day”, Diplomacy & Statecraft, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 471–492.
14. Folly, M. (2018), “British attempts to forge a political partnership with the Kremlin, 1942–1943”, Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 53, iss. 1, pp. 185–211.
15. Gus, M. (1951), Amerikanskie imperialisty – vdokhnoviteli myunkhenskoi politiki [The American imperialists – the inspirers of Munich politics], Gospolitizdat, Moscow, USSR.
16. Hancock, W.K. and Gowing, M.M. (1949), British war economy, H. M’s Stationery office & Longmans, London, UK.
17. Hastings, М. (1989), Operatsiya “Overlord”: Kak byl otkryt vtoroi front [Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy], Progress, Moscow, USSR.
18. Israelyan, V.L. (1964), Antigitlerovskaya koalitsiya: Diplomaticheskoe sotrudnichestvo SSSR, SShA i Anglii v gody Vtoroi mirovoi voiny [The anti-Hitler coalition. Diplomatic cooperation between the USSR, the USA and England during the Second World War], Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya, Moscow, USSR.
19. Jackson, W. (1978), “Overlord”. Normandy, 1944, Davis-poynter, London, UK.
20. Klinek, E.W. (2014), The army’s orphans. The United States army replacement system in the European campaign, 1944–1945. A dissertation submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board, The Temple University, Philadelphia, USA.
21. Kulish, V.M. (1965), Raskrytaya taina: Predystoriya vtorogo fronta v Evrope [The revealed secret. The prehistory of the second front in Europe], Nauka, Moscow, USSR.
22. Lebedev, N.I. (1959), “ ‘Balkan version’ of the Anglo-American strategy during the Second World War”, Novaya i noveishaya istoriya, no. 5, pp. 41–60.
23. Leighton, R.M. and Coakley, R.W. (1955), Global logistics and strategy, 1940–1943, GPO, Washington, USA.
24. Maiskii, I.M. (1958), “Problem of the Second Front in English and US historiography”, Voprosy istorii, no. 1, pp. 62–84.
25. Mal’kov,V.L. (2011), Velikii Ruzvel’t: Lis v l’vinoi shkure [Great Rooswelt. A fox in a lion’s skin], Eksmo, Moscow, Russia.
26. Minaev, V. (1943), Put’ na Berlin s Yuga? (Vtoroi li eto front.) [Way on Berlin from the South (Can we name this as the Second Front?)], Azerneshr, Baku, USSR.
27. Ogorkiewicz, R.M. (1970), Armoured forces. A history of armored forces and their vehicles, Arco Publishing Company, New York, USA.
28. Piehler, G.K. and Sidney, P., eds. (2010), The United States and the Second World War. New perspectives on diplomacy, war, and the home front, Fordham University Press, New York, USA.
29. Playfair, I.S.O. (1960), The Mediterranean and the Middle East, vol. 3: British fortunes reach their lowest ebb, Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, London, UK.
30. Postan, M.M. (1952), British war production, Cambridge University Press, London, UK.
31. Popov, G.G. and Kazenkov, O.Yu. (2021), “Japan vs the USA (1941–1945). People and machines”, Elektronnyi nauchno-obrazovatel’nyi zhurnal “Istoriya”, vol. 12, no. 12-2 (110), available at: https://history.jes.su/s207987840015908-7-1 (Accessed 1 March 2024).
32. Reutov, G.N. (1970), Pravda i vymysel o Vtoroi mirovoi voine [The truth and fiction about the Second World War], Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya, Moscow, USSR.
33. Reynolds, D. (2005), In command of history. Churchill fighting and writing the Second World War, Random House, New York, USA.
34. Roof, M.A. (2014), The empire at sunset. Production, finance, and British grand strategy, 1941–1942. A thesis submitted to the faculty of graduate studies in partial fulmilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy department of history, Alberta, Calgary, Canada.
35. Samsonov, A.M. (1975), Krakh fashistskoi agressii: 1939–1945 [Collaps of fascist aggression, 1939–1945], Nauka, Moscow, USSR.
36. Schofield, B. (2003), Arkticheskie konvoi: Severnye morskie srazheniya vo Vtoroi mirovoi voine [The Russian convoys], Tsentrpoligraf, Moscow, Russia.
37. Sekistov, V.A. (1970), Voina i politika [War and politics], Voennoe izdatel’stvo Ministerstva oborony SSSR, Moscow, USSR.
38. Sekistov, V. and Korotkov, G. (1972), “The Secon fron in Europe”, Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal, no. 7, pp. 43–49.
39. Smith, M. (1984), World War II. The European and Mediterranean theatres, Garland, New York, USA, London, UK.
40. Stoler, M. (1977), The politics of the Second Front, Greenwood press, London, UK.
41. Stoler, M. (2006), Allies in war. Britain and America against the Axis Powers, 1940–1945, Oxford University Press, New York, USA.
42. Suprun, M.N. (1997), Lend-liz i severnye konvoi [Lend-lease and northern convoys], Andreevskii flag, Moscow, Russia.
43. Tolchenov, M.P. (1953), Amerikano-angliiskie fal’sifikatory Vtoroi mirovoi voiny [American- British forgers of the Second World War], Znanie, Moscow, USSR.
44. Trukhanovskii, V.G. (1965), Vneshnyaya politika Anglii v period Vtoroi mirovoi voiny [British foreign policy during the Second World War], Nauka, Moscow, USSR.
45. Vol’skii, Yu.I. (1958), “The question of creating the Second Front in Europe in British foreign policy (1941–1943)], in Voprosy novoi i noveishei istorii [The question of creating a second front in Europe in British foreign policy (1941–1943)], Moscow, USSR. (Uchѐnye zapiski AON pri TsK KPSS; № 33)
46. Weinberg, G.A. (1995), World at arms. A global history of World War II, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
47. Willmott, H.P. (1983), The Barrier and the Javelin, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, USA.
48. Woodburn, K. (1958), The war against Japan, vol. 2, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, UK, British Information Service, New York, USA.
49. Yakovlev, N.N. (1961), SShA i Angliya vo Vtoroi mirovoi voine [The United States and Britain in World War II], Uchpedgiz, Moscow, USSR.
50. Zemskov, I.N. (1961), “The diplomatic history of the Second Front”, Mezhdunarodnaya zhizn’, no. 8, pp. 68–78.
Review
For citations:
Popov G.G., Davydov S.G. The influence of Lend-Lease in 1941–1942 on the military situation of the Anglo-American Alliance and the opening the Second Front. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin Series "Political Science. History. International Relations". 2025;(1):166-184. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6339-2025-1-166-184
Views:
27
Email this article 