The former are also the reason Churchill kept on fighting in the first place. Roosevelt was determined to act against Hitler and reacted against his every move. As soon as the war began he won the upper hand against isolationists in Congress and passed “cash and carry” legislation allowing the export of weapons to France and Britain. After summer 1940 France’s orders for American equipment were assumed by Britain. Through transatlantic aid it supplemented its lower level of mobilization relative to Germany and gradually overcame Axis production of aircraft and other war material. At the same time America began a humongous naval and aerial expansion. In September it transferred destroyers to the Royal Navy. In the following year it passed the Lend-Lease Act and began to engage U-boats at sea.
For this Britain paid a heavy price. “Cash and carry” meant it still had to pay for American weapons. Only after reaching financial exhaustion Lend-Lease began. Assets were mortgaged and bases and technology made available to America. Firm transatlantic backing gave Britain a safe position to continue the war, but at the cost of dependence.
The Anglo-American alliance was building up and would first hit through a fleet of strategic bombers. Germany was aware that the Luftwaffe would be the first arm to face the brunt of this strength. However it also correctly calculated it would take until 1942 for American shipments to become truly decisive.

While Britain had America, Germany had a number of smaller economies at its disposal. An economic bloc comprising continental Europe sans Russia would, if operating at a prewar level, have a GDP greater than either America or Britain. If colonial empires were factored in, this bloc would extend over a fifth of the world’s population and land area. Planners in Berlin soon discussed how to consolidate their sphere of influence into the long-envisioned dream of an economic “Grossraum” spanning the continent, something even Stresemann desired. The topic of either devaluating or making other currencies rise to the Reichsmark was brought up but it was not the time to decide on that. The initial effort was to form customs and currency unions, but the first country approached –Denmark- rejected the proposal. In any case, occupied economies plunged from their prewar outputs and Europe couldn’t offer much to Germany.
Their most immediate contribution was in war booty. Thousands of tanks, artillery pieces and other items were taken and were still in use by the end of the war. To alleviate the overburdened German railways, French and Benelux rolling stock was taken over. And stores of raw materials –tin, nickel, copper, and, most importantly, oil- were seized.
Surprisingly few companies in occupied territory fell under German control: only those in Alsace-Lorraine, French interests in the Balkans and those under state, Jewish or foreign ownership changed hands significantly. The limiting factor was the balance of trade: buying firms abroad involved an export of capital, like imports, and thus had to be compensated with exports. German capital could only make inroads abroad if exports were raised –thus, after the war was over.