ABSTRACT
From the beginning lend-lease to Russia was—and had to be—a special program, with a special organization and special procedures. To speed aid to Russia and fulfill the commitments made by the protocols, an organizational structure was set up that partly overlapped and largely overrode the established lend-lease administration. The procedure for lend-lease supply to non-Russian recipients split requests into military and nonmilitary categories and mandated a separate gauntlet of departments and agencies for each to run to gain approval and an eventual firm commitment. In operation, the special lend-lease program for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during World War II mirrored the deep differences between America and Russia—of ideological, economic, and political origin—that not only made their alliance "strange," as Gen. As Hitler subjugated the European continent and posed a growing threat to the British Isles and US commerce, continued isolation of the USSR seemed less and less desirable, and tentative steps were taken to improve relations.
