(August 6, 2015 at 10:24 am)abaris Wrote: The soviets were officially excluded from the research right from the get go. That they already had an efficiennt spy network established is a different matter. That's also the reason why Stalin was less than impressed when Truman mentioned the successful test at Potsdam. Stalin's own scientists were already busy recreating the bomb, using the materials gathered by their agents.
I haven't fully thought this through, but perhaps those that died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki did humanity a great service. Considering your point that Stalin was less than impressed, creating craters in the desert may not have been enough to ensure the detente of the Cold War. With the examples in Japan, there was absolutely no misapprehension regarding mutually assured destruction in the event of a nuclear war.
I don't consider this justification for dropping the bombs, just considering an unintended consequence.
