Alliedassault - View Single Post

Ketil · 01-06-2002, 05:58 AM

The Neutrality Acts of the mid - 1930's had forbidden trade in armaments with any nation at war no matter the justice of its cause. The first breach in the wall of this isolationist legislation came immediately after the outbreak of war in September 1939 when a special session of the Congress approved "cash and carry" amendments which allowed the Allies to purchase war supplies-provided that they paid cash and used their own ships to carry them back to Europe. Following the fall of France in June 1940, American opinion shifted more decisively in favor of "all aid short of war" for embattled Britain. Rather than urge repeal of the Neutrality Acts, internationalists belonging to the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies suggested another half - way measure. The idea was to "trade destroyers for bases." On his own authority in September 1940, President Roosevelt agreed to provide Great Britain with 50 overage US destroyers for convoy duty in the North Atlantic. In return, the US was granted 99 - year leases for American naval and air bases in British possessions-from Newfoundland to British Guiana-in the Western Hemisphere. Initially, the deal was of little military significance because it took time for the British to refit the ships and train crews to operate them. Politically, however, it helped neutralize isolationist opposition by allowing the Roosevelt Administration to argue that the US had made "a shrewd bargain" strengthening Western Hemisphere defenses. It also provided a precedent and opening for an even greater departure in 1941.

2. Lend - Lease

On December 17, 1940, Prime Minister Churchill informed the US that Britain would soon run out of financial resources to buy desperately needed war material under the "cash and carry" provisions. Twelve days later, President Roosevelt delivered a "fireside chat" explaining to the American people why he wanted "to eliminate the dollar sign" from the Anglo - American relationship. He used this famous illustration: "Suppose my neighbor's house catches fire and I have a length of garden hose four or five hundred feet away. If he can take my garden hose and connect it up with his hydrant, I may help him put out the fire....I don't say to him before that operation, 'Neighbor, my hose cost me fifteen dollars; you have to pay me fifteen dollars for it.' No, I don't want fifteen dollars-I want my garden hose back after the fire is over." To help the Allies "put out the fire" of Nazi aggression, Roosevelt introduced on January 10, 1941, the Lend - Lease Bill authorizing the President to lend or lease armaments with no repayment in cash or kind expected until after the war. On March 11th, Congress approved the program with an initial $7 billion appropriation-that Churchill called "the most unsordid act in the history of any nation."

3. Aid to Britain

It took six months for Lend - Lease to really come "on line, " and such aid accounted for only 10f the arms and munitions used by Britain during the whole of 1941 during which food and fuel shipments from the US were more important. From 1942 on, however, Lend - Lease supplies to Britain ultimately totaling over $20 billion-were critical to the United Kingdom's war effort.

We started selling to the Brits in 1939, I have found no records of an agreement not to sell materiels to countries fighting Germany.
Nice reply by the way, profanity is the last argument of the weak mind.

	(#54)
Ketil is Offline Junior Member Posts: 7 Join Date: Jan 2002	01-06-2002, 05:58 AM The Neutrality Acts of the mid - 1930's had forbidden trade in armaments with any nation at war no matter the justice of its cause. The first breach in the wall of this isolationist legislation came immediately after the outbreak of war in September 1939 when a special session of the Congress approved "cash and carry" amendments which allowed the Allies to purchase war supplies-provided that they paid cash and used their own ships to carry them back to Europe. Following the fall of France in June 1940, American opinion shifted more decisively in favor of "all aid short of war" for embattled Britain. Rather than urge repeal of the Neutrality Acts, internationalists belonging to the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies suggested another half - way measure. The idea was to "trade destroyers for bases." On his own authority in September 1940, President Roosevelt agreed to provide Great Britain with 50 overage US destroyers for convoy duty in the North Atlantic. In return, the US was granted 99 - year leases for American naval and air bases in British possessions-from Newfoundland to British Guiana-in the Western Hemisphere. Initially, the deal was of little military significance because it took time for the British to refit the ships and train crews to operate them. Politically, however, it helped neutralize isolationist opposition by allowing the Roosevelt Administration to argue that the US had made "a shrewd bargain" strengthening Western Hemisphere defenses. It also provided a precedent and opening for an even greater departure in 1941. 2. Lend - Lease On December 17, 1940, Prime Minister Churchill informed the US that Britain would soon run out of financial resources to buy desperately needed war material under the "cash and carry" provisions. Twelve days later, President Roosevelt delivered a "fireside chat" explaining to the American people why he wanted "to eliminate the dollar sign" from the Anglo - American relationship. He used this famous illustration: "Suppose my neighbor's house catches fire and I have a length of garden hose four or five hundred feet away. If he can take my garden hose and connect it up with his hydrant, I may help him put out the fire....I don't say to him before that operation, 'Neighbor, my hose cost me fifteen dollars; you have to pay me fifteen dollars for it.' No, I don't want fifteen dollars-I want my garden hose back after the fire is over." To help the Allies "put out the fire" of Nazi aggression, Roosevelt introduced on January 10, 1941, the Lend - Lease Bill authorizing the President to lend or lease armaments with no repayment in cash or kind expected until after the war. On March 11th, Congress approved the program with an initial $7 billion appropriation-that Churchill called "the most unsordid act in the history of any nation." 3. Aid to Britain It took six months for Lend - Lease to really come "on line, " and such aid accounted for only 10f the arms and munitions used by Britain during the whole of 1941 during which food and fuel shipments from the US were more important. From 1942 on, however, Lend - Lease supplies to Britain ultimately totaling over $20 billion-were critical to the United Kingdom's war effort. We started selling to the Brits in 1939, I have found no records of an agreement not to sell materiels to countries fighting Germany. Nice reply by the way, profanity is the last argument of the weak mind.