The narrative I was taught in school was that the United States "saved" Russia from conquest by the Nazis in WWII. I did my own study and discovered that the numbers didn't bear up that line. The Lend-Lease act allowed us to send weapons and supplies to anyone fighting against the Axis. But all Russia got was obsolete aircraft that were not considered good enough for the Army Air Corps, a little food, some armored fighting vehicles that the Army didn't want and lots of trucks. The contribution of the United States to the Soviet war effort may have shortened the war by a year, but the victory against the Axis forces was won mostly by the people of Russia defending their Rodina from Western aggression. The fact that the USSR lasted so long after the war is due to the nature of communist repression and the horrific losses suffered by the people of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Chechnia, Armenia, Georgia and the other Soviet republics that I missed. It was a horrible war on that front and the people of Russia paid the highest butcher's bill of all the United Nations.