Posted: 2/17/2004 8:49:12 AM EDT
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Howdy, If the Germans had been successful with the Battle of the Bulge and WW2 in Europe had dragged out past May '45 would the US used the A-bomb on Germany? A lot of historians say no or that the US would have bombed a mountain top or island to show what kind of damage the A-bomb could do and not dropped it on a city. |
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I could be mistaken but IIRC, wasn't "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" the only two A-Bombs we had enough radioactive material to make at the time, (other than the material used for the initial testing). Think this fact and the fact they didn't/couldn't know for certain that it would work was why they scrapped the DEMO idea. Somehow, even if we had more, I think the US would NOT have used them in Europe, too many of THEM (whatever ya want to call them, the real folks who orchestrated the war in the first place, reaped the profits and pulling the strings of FDR, Stalin, Churchhill or Hitler), call Europe home. For references read: Fourth Reich of the Rich, by Des Griffin War is a Rackett, by Smedley Butler Mike |
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Somehow, even if we had more, I think the US would NOT have used them in Europe, too many of THEM (whatever ya want to call them, the real folks who orchestrated the war in the first place, reaped the profits and pulling the strings of FDR, Stalin, Churchhill or Hitler), call Europe home. Mike, I think you have a valid point. I also think that's just a nice way of saying "The USA would never nuke white people" On the other hand, if The US had to invade Japan they who have upwards of a million US solders killed and four or five time the number of Japanese soliders and cilvians. |
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I think not. Atleast by the reasoning they gave, (I tend to agree) the death toll would have been way too high if he had to invade Japan. Although the war would have lasted longer I don't think the death toll in Europe would have been as terrible as expected in Japan. First one dropped (Little Boy I think) was a one shot only deal. They didn't even test this one. He had enough material for one bomb. They weren't even sure if it would work. Fat Man was the result of the Trinity test. |
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...wasn't "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" the only two A-Bombs we had enough radioactive material to make at the time, (other than the material used for the initial testing). |
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I would say No for an entirely different reason. The number of nukes would not be a factor. The Westersn allies were intent on allowing the Russians bleed themselves white taking Berlin and finnishing off the Reich. No need for the Americans to waste a valuable bomb. Besides, the Allies were already on the ground in Europe, a much different situation than an amphibious landing on a hostile home island. The Americans were also pre-occupied with the "Southern Redoubt". Not knowing where the NAZI leaders were, and with most major cities already bombed to the point where industry was a non-existant would create a problem of target selection. There was also much less "revenge factor" involved with the Germans as well, and they were seen as more civilized than the Japanese. The Battle of the Bulge was really an insignificant battle, doomed to failure from the start. It never could have worked. I have visited the graves of the German soldiers, the [b]average[/b] age was 15!!!!! Operation Northwind shortly afterwards would have been much more devistating, and it damn near worked. Even then, the Russians would not have stopped, and could not have been stopped, maybe delayed for a few months until the weather was nicer, then the final kill would have been bloodier for both the Germans and the Russians. |
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The reprecussions of such a bomb being used so close to our allies may have been a condition on not dropping a bomb in Europe. However, the tenacity of the Japanese during the battle of Okinawa showing their devout loyality to the Emperor made it clear that an invasion of Japan proper would be a bloody encounter for the U.S. The potential loss of our soldiers lives is one of the reasons we did not push through to Berlin. I believe potential loss of life was the driving factor in dropping the bombs in Japan. The Battle of the Bulge did little but squander the last remaining resources the Germans had. In the end the Soviets would have still taken Berlin. It was just a matter of time. edit: If I waited for a few more minutes I would not needed to post as obershutze916's reply pretty much stated what I believe |