In the Lend-Lease program, the United States provided foreign nations with military and other supplies in return for the lease of bases in the territories of the countries that received aid.
The Lend-Lease Act, formally titled "Act to Promote the Defense of the United States", was a program under which the United States began supplying food, oil and military equipment to the United Kingdom, the exiled government of Free France, the Republic of China and later to the Soviet Union and other allied nations between 1941 and August 1945. The program included warships, jets and other weapons. It became law on March 11, 1941 and was repealed in September 1945. In general, the aid was free, although some equipment (such as ships) were returned after the end of the war. In exchange for the aid, the United States received the lease of military bases and naval bases in the territory of its allied countries during the war.