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WW2: The Resource War - 2: Lend-Lease - Extra History (Patreon)

Published:
2016-04-12 15:15:45
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

The situation in Europe looks dire, but the US does not want war. Yet there are other ways to help.

Files

Previews only

WW2: The Resource War - II: Lend-Lease - Extra History

*Sponsored* Hearts of Iron IV comes out on June 6! Check out the game: http://pdxint.at/hoi4_coming_soon After Germany's early push, the situation looked dire in Europe. The United States had resources to help out, but initially clung to an isolationist policy. Gradually, measures like Cash and Carry and the Lend-Lease Act expanded their involvement. --- (Episode details below) Support us on Patreon! http://bit.ly/EHPatreon Grab your Extra Credits gear at the store! http://bit.ly/ExtraStore Subscribe for new episodes every Saturday! http://bit.ly/SubToEC Watch the WW2: Resource War series! http://bit.ly/1PRaI22 Play games with us on Extra Play! http://bit.ly/WatchEXP Talk to us on Twitter (@ExtraCreditz): http://bit.ly/ECTweet Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/ECFBPage Get our list of recommended games on Steam: http://bit.ly/ECCurator ____________ Why doesn't this series use the Nazi swastika symbol? James explains: http://bit.ly/1Pzy1k5 ____________ Germany's blitzkrieg had been largely successful. France fell early, and Great Britain appeared on the verge of collapse. Europe needed more resources to sustain their resistance, but the United States was bound by the Neutrality Act which established a policy of isolationism and forbade the US from supporting foreign wars in any way. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt skirted those restrictions. He lobbied Congress to reinstate a provision in the law called Cash and Carry, which would allow other nations to buy US war materiel with cash and transport it themselves into the warzone. He also established an agreement which allowed him to place American military bases on British colonies in exchange for destroyer ships, thus safeguarding the far reaches of the United Kingdom from possible Axis invasions. When it turned out that the English won the Battle of Britain and successfully staved off the attempted Nazi conquest, America decided to support them in a more substantial, long term way. Thus the Lend-Lease Act was signed: the US would loan equipment to their strategic partners (who were not the Allies yet). Though supposedly the equipment had to be returned, it was pretty obvious that war materiel would not come back in the same shape if at all, so this was really the largest donation of war supplies ever. But it wound up benefiting the US in turn, since the increased production galvanized an economy that had been stagnant since the Great Depression. It also kickstarted the involvement of the US Merchant Marine, who were among the earliest US citizens to give their lives in World War II and suffered the highest casualty percentage of any branch of the service. These unarmed ships navigated U-boat infested waters to bring much needed supplies to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Despite this, their service has gone largely unrecognized and unrewarded as they are still denied many veterans' benefits and were not even formally thanked by Congress until 2012. ____________ ♫ Get the intro music here! http://bit.ly/1EQA5N7 *Music by Demetori: http://bit.ly/1AaJG4H ♫ Get the outro music here! http://bit.ly/23isQfx *Music by Sean and Dean Kiner: http://bit.ly/1WdBhnm

Comments

Dmitry

Love it! A fantastically written episode with a fresh perspective on seemingly well known events. Thank You so much for all your research, animation, voicing and the hard work! It really shows. One comment though. Not sure if calling The Land Lease a "donation" is appropriate. It was just that - a lease, wasn't it? With a 2% annual interest. The Brits kept paying off until 2006, not to mention sharing technology, giving up bases and surrendering much decision making in the post-war politics. So did the Soviets, grudgingly. Kept paying off until 2011, I believe. With gold, platinum, rare earth metals and industrial diamonds.

ExtraCredits
>>1639432

On the one hand, calling it a donation when there were costs associated is indeed overstating it. On the other hand, 2% interest is about as small an interest rate as you can hope for, and it came with a 50 year payment plan plus options for deferments. Likewise, the USSR was basically allowed to barter most of their debt in precious resources, and even when they did agree on a payment plan with the US it was far, far less than the nominal value of the materials they received. So - yes, donations is stretching it, but considering how generous the terms of the lease were, I'm personally okay with using donation as a short-hand explanation of what just took me a paragraph to summarize (and I'm still missing details)!

Moses Lambert

Wrong flag for Nazi Germany - somewhere in the late 1930s, the German flag became the red one with a swastika on it.

ExtraCredits
>>1639961

We don't use the swastika in our videos because of censorship restrictions. There's a law in Germany which prohibits the display of swastikas outside of an educational context, and while our shows are educational, YouTube doesn't know that so we get caught in the filters. It doesn't always happen, but it has happened to us before (when our Twitch VODs on Castlevania got banned in Germany for having a small swastika appear). We decided we'd rather just ensure that people, especially teachers, in Germany will be able to access and use these videos if they choose, so we substituted an Iron Cross and the flag of Germany pre-1935. James made a video about it last time we covered WW2!

ExtraCredits
>>1639432

It would be, but we don't do Lies for sponsored series. Even though it's just James in front of a camera, those take a lot of work to make!

Stephen

I'd be extremely curious on your source for Britain certainly falling without Lend/Lease being implemented - most analysis I've seen leans towards Germany, at least in the short-medium term, not being able to invade Britain following the failure of the preconditions for Project Sea Lion to emerge due to the outcome of the Battle of Britain... Without US economic support I think it's generally acknowledged that being able to launch a counter-offensive being unfeasible, but not actually succumbing to invasion.

paul staber

Czechoslovakia didn't so much fall as get thrown under the bus by the allies. which is all the sadder because without the divisions of superior Czech tanks and mountains of small arms (and factories to make more) conveniently chambered for the same 7.92mm round that was used by Germany and Poland I find it hard to believe that Germany would have had a snowballs chance in hell to take France let alone all of Europe. though you could say the Germans might have just postponed going to war a few years until they were ready 1942 maybe, but by then the allies bay have improved there positions as well in which case maybe ww2 might have been avoided entirely, of course without WW2 all those Fascist governments wouldn't have been toppled and might have hung on to this day for all I know, so there is that.

paul staber
>>1641459

Even if Germany had "won" the battle of Britain the german navy just wasn't up to the task while the Kriegsmarine was in the middle or a rearmament program (called plan Z of all things) the goal of witch was to build a navy equal t that of the UK it wasn't planned to be completed until 1948 and when war broke out only 4 battleships and 1 aircraft carrier where ready everything else was cancelled and only 2 of the battleships had guns big enough to really slug it out with British BB's.

barefoot James

Thank you for recognizing the service of the merchant marine. My father served in the merchant marine during WW2 and, fortunately for his family, survived the sinking of four liberty ships. After the war ended and he turned 17 he enlisted in the Navy.

RMS Oceanic
>>1641482

The Munich Agreement and the sentiment of "Western Betrayal" is one of the most depressing preludes to WW2. Basically Hitler bluffed and the Western Allies folded even though their hand was way better.

Nessf
>>1639432

Those James catching nets are expensive dangit!