Question by Damon: How did the Soviet Union get information to make nuclear weapons?
When the U.S was working on the Manhatten Project, were there Soviet Union spies in America? How did Joseph Stalin learn about the atom bomb at the same time as Harry Truman?
Answers and Views:
Answer by What The Duck???
I’d like to know the answer too. I’d like to think that there were Soviet spies in america, that’s the most likely explanation.
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thebigm57 says
Yes there were Soviet spies in the US and they had infiltrated the Manhattan Proj. Additionally, at the end of the war w/the division of Germany many scientists that had worked on such Nazi projects (yes the Germans were very close to having nukes) went over to the Soviet side furthering their knowledge of the technology. Of course the US got it's share of the German scientists to but went a different direction w/it…Missiles and Space.
Duskman says
By implanting listening devices in the steel wires within the US embassy in Moscow. NO LIE.
t-bone says
it was a German invention,
when the war ended the Russian and the Americans captured all Germans top nuke team
Warner Van Brown was one of the best the atomic bomb was not invented in America it was German invention the was stolen by the us, thank goodness americans developed it first, the German already had the rockets ready to fire on europe and America in a very few month from the end of the war. the Ali es kept them busy with bombing and at taking their supplies and hard water factories but Germany was well on its way far more than we could have ever believed.
A M Frantz says
There definitely were Soviet spies in the US, including a man named David Greenglass who was part of the Manhattan Project and did smuggle relevant information back to the USSR. However, it isn't clear that the espionage was a major factor in the Soviet nuclear program. After the war ended, Stalin understood how important nuclear weapons would be in the new era and devoted massive resources to the project, and he had many very capable scientists available.
bluearmychickenwings says
The Soviets did indeed have spies in the US contributing to their own nuclear ambitions. The Rosenbergs, perhaps America's most famous traitors, were convicted of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians (granted this was in the 50s after the A-Bomb had already been deployed, but the Soviets hadnt yet achieved the H-bomb). If you read about the Venona Project, you will also learn just how deeply Soviet spies had penetrated our government just before the Cold War.
J Re says
The nuclear physicists who were working on this project at different times in their careers worked with each other. Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg and others were all very close in the race towards nuclear power. As far as I know, it was mainly chance that the Russians discovered the big bomb so close to the time we did.
Trudy J says
The Germans and the Soviets were working on the bomb as well as the U.S., we got to Germany before them and got all of the best minds, so they were behind but not left out