ABSTRACT
Despite the vital role that Anglo-American co-operation had played in winning the war, the partnership was not entirely a happy one. America seemed to have come out of the war rich and strong, Britain battered and poor. The British economy had been distorted by the war effort, massive losses had been sustained by bomb damage, a third of the merchant fleet had been sunk and overseas investments had been severely depleted. Lend-Lease-the provision of interest-free American loans-had been abruptly terminated once the war ended and though a $3,750 million loan had been negotiated by the end of 1945 there was considerable resentment at the terms on which it was offered. As the Economist commented:
Our present needs are the direct consequences of the fact that we fought earliest, that we fought longest and that we fought hardest. In moral terms we are the creditors; and for that we shall pay $140 million a year for the rest of the twentieth century. It may be unavoidable; but it is not right.2
