On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 08:03:29 -0500, DSK wrote:


Well, if the Germans had gotten The Bomb first, it would have doomed
England for sure, and Russia later;

I'm just wondering. Inventing the Bomb, and manufacturing it in
sufficient quantities to make a difference are two different things. If I
remember correctly, the two bombs we dropped on Japan were all we had.
Were any of the powers at that time capable of sustaining nuclear
production?

thunder wrote:


I'm just wondering. Inventing the Bomb, and manufacturing it in
sufficient quantities to make a difference are two different things. If I
remember correctly, the two bombs we dropped on Japan were all we had.
Were any of the powers at that time capable of sustaining nuclear
production?

Probably not. The US had the most money, the most manpower, and the best
access to the materials, and as you noted we only could build two.

But... if the Japanese knew we only had two, would they have surrendered when
they did? *If* either Germany or Japan had built even one atom bomb (and I
don't think they could have, given the expense and material requirement) who
would have called their bluff?

DSK