Nuclear Arms and WWII

Nuclear weapons are popularly regarded as the horror of the twentieth century. Yet, many argue that they promoted peace through the cold war. To examine the effect of nuclear weapons on international politics, this essay explores how nuclear arsenals could have stopped WWII or made it all the more horrifying. This essay first explains the relevant understanding of the use of nuclear force. It then constructs a thought experiment in which Germany, France, Britain, Russia, and the US, have nuclear weapons in 1933. It will examine the perceptions and motivations that led to German aggression under Hitler and show how nuclear weapons would amplify or negate those causes. This essay will conclude that nuclear weapons would not likely have restrained the lunatic Hitler from taking Poland or Czechoslovakia, but would have left the response of France or Britain either the same or more timid. It will also conclude that while the German army would then have been deterred from attacking the nuclear powers, Hitler would not have. Europe would only have been saved from a nuclear holocaust by a successful German Coup d'etat during the sitzkrieg.