[VadeRetro]

If I'm not mistaken, the Germans were pretty close to developing an atomic weapon.

Barely started, and pretty much shut down for lack of resources before the end of the war in Europe.

[Steve Eisenberg]

If I'm not mistaken, the Germans were pretty close to developing an atomic weapon.

Barely started, and pretty much shut down for lack of resources before the end of the war in Europe.

True. But look how quickly the Russians, enormously helped of course by spies, got the A and then H bomb after WWII. If Eisenhower and company had failed, everything would have been different. Germany and Russia might eventually have reached a truce and cooperated once again.

[Burkeman1]

Hitler was aware of the theoretical possibility of the atom bomb even before the war. He had his famous "heavy water" facility in Norway. But once that program was sabotaged he never came close to devolping a nuke and that was in 1940 or 41 I think!