The effects of Lend-Lease on the Ostfront

[B0LSHEVIK]

I was reading the thread posted by comrade Mengistu, "The German Destruction Of The Soviet Union." And it struck me as odd, that, although unrelated somewhat, I had never contemplated American assistance to Russia during the war. Ive known about it, but just never connected the dots. Exact numbers are hard to come by (simply by searching the web lol), but from what I can make out, Stalin received nearly 20,000 American trucks, as well as 11,000 rail cars 15000 aircraft (16% of the soviet airforce).

Is that true? For some reason I find it doubtful, and the numbers are probably inflated. But does anyone have any good sources on the subject?

And on a side note, I took a GE history class where the Professor asked us to write an essay on how the Soviets helped the allies win the war. I mentioned that his question should've been worded how the allies helped the soviets win the war, only because its more honest. He wasnt too pleased to say the least. hehe.

[WeAreReborn]

Well no one can argue that the USSR took most of the actions and had the highest causalities but the thing is they did join later. Not saying they should have joined earlier or anything but since they joined late it is debatable if they should be considered help or the actual main player in the war. Either way I'm not sure if America helped them out but I doubt it...

[B0LSHEVIK]

Well no one can argue that the USSR took most of the actions and had the highest causalities but the thing is they did join later. Not saying they should have joined earlier or anything but since they joined late it is debatable if they should be considered help or the actual main player in the war. Either way I'm not sure if America helped them out but I doubt it...

Yea, word on the most action/casualites. Hitler thew 70% of his Wermacht into Russia. Of the 59 million dead in WWII, nearly half were Russian. There is no doubt that the Soviet proletariat stopped the fascist invasion. And for a time before Barbarossa, there was no fighting. Luftwaffe bombings of England maybe, but there was no acutal front. Unless you call the Balkans and Greece a separate front, I dont, for many reasons. So in a way, WWII really did re-start in June of 41.

Im with you on the American aid. I mean there is no doubt that allied bombing of war industry production in Germany indirectly helped the Soviets. But I doubt the US of A actually provided 20k trucks and 15k aircraft.

[ComradeOm]

But I doubt the US of A actually provided 20k trucks and 15k aircraft.Probably a lot more than that. One of the most succinct summaries of US aid, and its impact, is from Mark Harrison (very good on the economic and statistical side of WWII) in The Economic Transformation of the Soviet Union:

...Allied aid did not matter very much until after Stalingrad. Eventually, however, it acquired a massive scale. Aid to the USSR amounted to roughly $10 billion; nearly three-fifths of which arrived in the eighteen months from mid-1943 to the end of 1944...

Through the war as a whole, up to the beginning of 1945, one in six combat aircraft supplied to the Soviet front, and one in eight armoured fighting vehicles, came from the West. The Soviet Union supplies its own guns and ammunition, but its mobility and communications came to rely upon American trucks and jeeps, field telephones, tinned and concentrated goods. This confirms that the Soviet firepower that denied victory to Germany in 1941-42 was home produced. But the defeat of Germany in 1943-45 was significantly aided by foreign supply, and the Soviet capacity to chase the retreating armies thousands of kilometres from Stalingrad to Berlin depended on imported means of mobility

This is, incidentally, paying little attention to the vast material, agricultural and industrial resources provided from the West. Putting actual numbers to this is exceptionally difficult. Most works deal in percentages, and even these were played up/down during the Cold War, but if you really want exact figures, or attempts at such, then you may be best checking out some specialist works. Harrison would be a good place to start