WEBVTT

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We are now in the year of 1945;

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atomic bombing of Germany,

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probably one of the most spectacular

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scenarios in the exhibition.

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But how realistic was an atomic bombing of Germany?

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The starting point there are two statements by General Groves,

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the head of the later atomic bomb project in the U.S.,

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who recounts two conversations with President Roosevelt

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in late 1944 up to early 1945.

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Where Roosevelt asks him if it would be possible

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to drop an atomic bomb on Germany.

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This is surprising, because at this point

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the war was actually decided.

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But in December 1944, the German Wehrmacht tried to

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regain control and launched an offensive in the west,

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the so-called Ardennes Offensive,

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to retake the port of Antwerp.

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This was an important port for Allied supplies.

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Had this succeeded, the Allied advance would have been

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delayed by several weeks, if not months.

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Then, in the end, the use of nuclear weapons would have been

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quite realistic.