Lend-Lease in the Structure of Soviet-American Relations

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to try to objectively establish the role of Lend-Lease in providing military and economic assistance to the Soviet Union and to clarify the settlement issue under this program. The problem of receipt and further use of military equipment, facilities, raw materials, etc., especially during the post-war confrontation and the Cold War, was at the epicenter of various assessments of this assistance in the victory over the Third Reich and its allies. Regulation issues of returning of equipment and the repayment of loans under the Soviet Union's post-World War II program also requires objective coverage. The research methodology is based on the use of general scientific principles: historicism, scientificity, verification and a systematic approach in the analysis of historical processes under consideration. Such special historical methods as problematic-chronological, comparative-historical, descriptive, historical-systemic proved to be effective, which created the necessary conditions for unprejudiced coverage of the tasks. The scientific novelty of the research is that an attempt was made to comprehensively analyze historiographical narratives to comprehensively develop the theme of the role of Lend-Lease and debt payment under this aid program, which the totalitarian model tried to distort. Researchers tried to analyze the theoretical aspects and provided material on the formation of the Soviet Union's reputation of «invincibility», as well as covered the changing of historical stereotypes. Conclusions. The analysis of the historiographical and source base of the research problem showed how contradictory were the fundamental differences in positions and judgments about the role of Lend-Lease for the Soviet Union, which became the springboard from which the liberation of Europe began. The victory was achieved by joint efforts, and therefore it is essential to give a true and objective assessment of the events of that time. In the post-war period onset of a new conflict and the formation of a bipolar world between the USSR and the USA, funds and unused machinery and equipment were not fully returned to the States, as provided for in the aid program due to the Soviet Union's constant bidding and payment disruptions.