The Collaborative International Dictionary
lend-lease \lend-lease\ n. the temporary transfer of goods and services to an ally to aid in a common cause; as, lend-lease during World War II was extremely generous.
Syn: lease-lend.
WordNet
n. the transfer of goods and services to an ally to aid in a common cause; "lend-lease during World War II was extremely generous" [syn: lease-lend]
Wikipedia
The Lend-Lease policy, formally titled "An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States", was a program under which the United States supplied Free France, the United Kingdom, the Republic of China, and later the USSR and other Allied nations with food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and August 1945. This included warships and warplanes, along with other weaponry. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941 and ended in September 1945. In general the aid was free, although some hardware (such as ships) were returned after the war. In return, the U.S. was given leases on army and naval bases in Allied territory during the war.
A total of $50.1 billion (equivalent to $ today) worth of supplies was shipped, or 17% of the total war expenditures of the U.S. In all, $31.4 billion went to Britain, $11.3 billion to the Soviet Union, $3.2 billion to France, $1.6 billion to China, and the remaining $2.6 billion to the other Allies. Reverse Lend-Lease policies comprised services such as rent on air bases that went to the U.S., and totaled $7.8 billion; of this, $6.8 billion came from the British and the Commonwealth. The terms of the agreement provided that the materiel was to be used until returned or destroyed. In practice very little equipment was returned. Supplies that arrived after the termination date were sold to Britain at a large discount for £1.075 billion, using long-term loans from the United States. Canada operated a similar program called Mutual Aid that sent a loan of $1 billion and $3.4 billion in supplies and services to Britain and other Allies.
This program effectively ended the United States' pretense of neutrality and was a decisive step away from non-interventionist policy, which had dominated United States foreign relations since 1931. (See Neutrality Acts of 1930s.)
Usage examples of "lend-lease".
Lend-Lease, which will stand forth as the most unselfish and unsordid financial act of any country in all history.
Anticipating even then the loss of lower Burma, even before the Japanese had crossed the border, the Chinese formally requested Lend-Lease material to construct a road from Ledo in Assam across the mountains, forests and rivers of north Burma to tie in with the Burma Road on the Chinese side at Lungling.
Vera had her own boyfriend, a navigator in a Boston A-20 one of the Lend-Lease bombers from America based on the northern shoulder of the Kursk pocket.
The British air attache, whomhe had known in Berlin, finally took him in hand and pointed out the building where Yevlenko had not long ago given him a red-hot dressing-down, over the diversion of forty Lend-Lease Aircobra fighters to the British forces in the North African landings.
He would push the Bush administration to sell military and industrial equipment to Osama bin Laden on a special lend-lease deal.
Here he sits on his ditty box, the grand high mucky-muck of Lend-Lease, never gets a look-see at what's really happening and here you come along, and go might out and get the dope.
Soviet ships plying the Lend-Lease run through Jap waters with impunity, though Germany's defeat was bound to drag down Japan.
Molotov started to gripe to me about Lend-Lease at a foreign ministers' meeting.