Posted on 04/13/2005 6:24:31 PM PDT by Yasotay
Sixty years ago, the US Ninth Army had two bridgeheads across the Elbe River. One was crushed and the other secured. The sixty year old question remains: Should and could we have beaten the Soviets into Berlin?
http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=nd02norris provides a listing of nuclear weapons in stockpiles since their first public development in 1945.
To wit:
Global nuclear stockpiles, 1945-2002 |
||||||
Year | U.S. | Russia | U.K. | France | China | Total |
1945 | 6 | 6 | ||||
1946 | 11 | 11 | ||||
1947 | 32 | 32 | ||||
1948 | 110 | 110 | ||||
1949 | 235 | 1 | 236 | |||
1950 | 369 | 5 | 374 | |||
1951 | 640 | 25 | 665 | |||
1952 | 1,005 | 50 | 1,055 | |||
1953 | 1,436 | 120 | 1 | 1,557 | ||
1954 | 2,063 | 150 | 5 | 2,218 | ||
1955 | 3,057 | 200 | 10 | 3,267 | ||
1956 | 4,618 | 426 | 15 | 5,059 | ||
1957 | 6,444 | 660 | 20 | 7,124 | ||
1958 | 9,822 | 869 | 22 | 10,713 | ||
1959 | 15,468 | 1,060 | 25 | 16,553 | ||
1960 | 20,434 | 1,605 | 30 | 22,069 | ||
1961 | 24,111 | 2,471 | 50 | 26,632 | ||
1962 | 27,297 | 3,322 | 205 | 30,824 | ||
1963 | 29,249 | 4,238 | 280 | 33,767 | ||
1964 | 30,751 | 5,221 | 310 | 4 | 1 | 36,287 |
1965 | 31,642 | 6,129 | 310 | 32 | 5 | 38,118 |
1966 | 31,700 | 7,089 | 270 | 36 | 20 | 39,115 |
1967 | 30,893 | 8,339 | 270 | 36 | 25 | 39,563 |
1968 | 28,884 | 9,399 | 280 | 36 | 35 | 38,634 |
1969 | 26,910 | 10,538 | 308 | 36 | 50 | 37,842 |
1970 | 26,119 | 11,643 | 280 | 36 | 75 | 38,153 |
1971 | 26,365 | 13,092 | 220 | 45 | 100 | 39,822 |
1972 | 27,296 | 14,478 | 220 | 70 | 130 | 42,194 |
1973 | 28,335 | 15,915 | 275 | 116 | 150 | 44,791 |
1974 | 28,170 | 17,385 | 325 | 145 | 170 | 46,195 |
1975 | 27,052 | 19,055 | 350 | 188 | 185 | 46,830 |
1976 | 25,956 | 21,205 | 350 | 212 | 190 | 47,913 |
1977 | 25,099 | 23,044 | 350 | 228 | 200 | 48,920 |
1978 | 24,243 | 25,393 | 350 | 235 | 220 | 50,441 |
1979 | 24,107 | 27,935 | 350 | 235 | 235 | 52,862 |
1980 | 23,764 | 30,062 | 350 | 250 | 280 | 54,706 |
1981 | 23,031 | 32,049 | 350 | 274 | 330 | 56,034 |
1982 | 22,937 | 33,952 | 335 | 274 | 360 | 57,858 |
1983 | 23,154 | 35,804 | 320 | 279 | 380 | 59,937 |
1984 | 23,228 | 37,431 | 270 | 280 | 415 | 61,624 |
1985 | 23,135 | 39,197 | 300 | 360 | 425 | 63,417 |
1986 | 23,254 | 40,723 | 300 | 355 | 425 | 65,057 |
1987 | 23,490 | 38,859 | 300 | 420 | 415 | 63,484 |
1988 | 23,077 | 37,333 | 300 | 410 | 430 | 61,550 |
1989 | 22,174 | 35,805 | 300 | 410 | 435 | 59,124 |
1990 | 21,211 | 33,417 | 300 | 505 | 430 | 55,863 |
1991 | 18,306 | 28,595 | 300 | 540 | 435 | 48,176 |
1992 | 13,731 | 25,155 | 300 | 540 | 435 | 40,161 |
1993 | 11,536 | 22,101 | 300 | 525 | 435 | 34,897 |
1994 | 11,012 | 18,399 | 250 | 510 | 400 | 30,571 |
1995 | 10,953 | 14,978 | 300 | 500 | 400 | 27,131 |
1996 | 10,886 | 12,085 | 300 | 450 | 400 | 24,121 |
1997 | 10,829 | 11,264 | 260 | 450 | 400 | 23,203 |
1998 | 10,763 | 10,764 | 260 | 450 | 400 | 22,637 |
1999 | 10,698 | 10,451 | 185 | 450 | 400 | 22,184 |
2000 | 10,615 | 10,201 | 185 | 470 | 400 | 21,871 |
2001 | 10,491 | 9,126 | 200 | 350 | 400 | 20,567 |
2002 | 10,600 | 8,600 | 200 | 350 | 400 | 20,150 |
Seems pretty clear to me that the US build-up was such that nukes were not our "first line of defense" until 1959 at the earliest.
It's not just my imagination that tells me that in 1945 we did not have a major nuclear warhead production line ready. We didn't have it in 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1950. It's 1951/52 when production was ramped up to nearly 400 per year.
USSR was a mighty big country ~ it would take a whale of a lot of nukes to take them out. There simply were not enough of them back in the immediate post war period.
If you ever see him again and you talk about the subject, you should remind him that he is lucky that we let him live.
I doubt I ever will. But if I do I will...
Maybe it is, but I sure did not know about Manchuria, but it makes sense.
That's also the site where most of their atomic scientists were located.
Although today we think of Japan as an highly industrialized nation, back before WWII Japan's main islands were kept fairly free of heavy and polluting industries ~ those went to the colonies!
Their scientists may have been somewhat in advance of our own since the way they handled their R&D in this field took due consideration of radiation problems. In contrast, we started up the first fissionable pile at Soldier Field in roughly the middle of America's second largest city.
It was clear that allot of Japanese heavy industry went to Korea. I have not studied enough of Japanese industry in China to comment accurately.
Luckily for the U.S. the Manhattan team was able overtake the Japanese (even though they thought the Germans were the real threat)
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