The Russo-American nuclear war and an Oppenheimer

When Rome was burning, Nero was playing the fiddle—there is some doubt about the truth of this proverb. But while nuclear bombs were dancing a dance of destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, US President Harry Truman was smiling in victory. It was so grotesque that he didn’t hesitate for a moment to insult Oppenheimer, the head of their nuclear bomb project.

Renowned filmmaker Christopher Nolan made a film about Oppenheimer a few years ago. The film is also titled ‘Oppenheimer’. In it, Oppenheimer is portrayed alongside the Greek mythological god Prometheus, who defied Zeus and taught mankind how to light fire. Why is Oppenheimer compared to Prometheus?

Oppenheimer was the head of the Manhattan Project. He, along with a group of scientist friends, gave mankind the first atomic bomb. But neither Zeus nor God forbade Oppenheimer from making nuclear bombs, so why was he given the title of Prometheus?

Behind this lies a deep, secret geopolitical game, one of whose key players was then-Soviet President Joseph Stalin and a group of communist spies. During World War II, the Soviet Union was the main uh force of the Allies. Possibly the strongest as well. But with the Hiroshima-Nagasaki incident, the final defeat of the Germany-Japan-Italy axis was confirmed. That was the beginning of a new war. A Cold War began between the US, chanting about democracy, and the Soviet Union, carrying the banner of socialism. A contest of strength ensued. In that contest, the US took control of Japan. Meanwhile, the seeds of socialism were spreading in some Asian countries. The newly independent North Korea fell into the socialist sphere from Japan's hands. Even with Stalin’s support, they attacked South Korea. The aim was to unite the two Koreas. That didn’t happen in the end. But the whole world was then divided into two camps. Although the US-aligned countries were more numerous, there was a tendency for Marxist movements to spread worldwide, fuelled by the Soviets. In China, Mao Zedong’s Communist Party was nearing power. Wrinkles of concern appeared on America's forehead. Those wrinkles deepened with the Soviet dominance in East Germany. The US in West Germany. The city of Berlin itself was divided into two by the two superpowers. Soviet soldiers were not allowing US soldiers with food supplies into West Germany. Tensions peaked.

2.
Renowned Israeli writer Yuval Noah Harari made a global impact with his book ‘Sapiens’. As he explored the scientific history of mankind, he also wove his philosophical perspective into the pages of the book. From pre-civilisation to today’s technology-driven human civilisation—its rise and fall, violence, love, art and culture—which topic did he not touch? The war-driven politics of mankind today is actually something humans carry in their genes from generation to generation. He also illustrated human transformation through the lens of evolution. Evolution says the environment forces humans and animals to change their behaviour. Violence, conflict—these have been carried within humans for ages, and these are what helped humans survive. At one time, to survive, humans became fratricidal—humans’ hands are stained with the blood of kin like Neanderthals, Erectus, Denisovans, Homo Naledi, Floresiensis, and Heidelbergensis. But there was a reason then. In those primitive times, when “kill or be killed” was the rule of survival—to ensure sufficient food, to stay alive, sapiens became fratricidal. That crime of our ancestors may be forgiven. But today, why are our hands stained by our own kind? One of the main principles of evolution is that instincts which are needed or regularly practised by a species never get eliminated. War, violence, the tendency for killing—humans have never stopped practising these. That’s why such instincts have never been eradicated through evolutionary processes. However, through long effort and perseverance, humans have cultivated a sense of refinement within themselves. So, while one group sounds the drums of war, another speaks of peace, of humanity. As a result, some balance is created. Still, nuclear weapons cannot be countered by talking peace. That’s why the world now believes in the policy—make your own nuclear bomb to stay safe from nuclear bombs. So, if Stalin, after seeing the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, took the initiative to build nuclear bombs, he cannot be blamed. Today, the reason India and Pakistan do not engage in large-scale war is this nuclear balance. Similarly, though Israel, supported by the US, attacked Iran, it retreated—or even a crippled North Korea is not provoked by the mighty American forces—also due to nuclear weapons. Therefore, Harari noted in his book ‘Sapiens’ that the scientists who worked on the nuclear bomb project, including Oppenheimer, should have been awarded the Nobel—not in physics, but in peace. Because, according to him, the fear of nuclear weapons is why a third world war hasn’t yet broken out.

You may or may not agree with Harari’s statement. Even though a large-scale world war hasn’t broken out, the entire world is now in a warlike posture. Harari’s own country Israel has created a war-like situation across the Middle East for decades. However, it is true that if Palestine, Libya, Iraq, Syria had nuclear bombs, the situation might have been different. So in a sense, Harari is right.

3.
In 1945, rumours surfaced that the Soviet Union was about to build nuclear bombs. At that time, American scientists and security officials scoffed at the idea. Because they knew the Soviet Union’s capabilities in physics—they were so behind that it would take at least ten more years. But a US spy plane in 1949 brought a dramatic twist to the situation. That year on 29 August, the US spy plane B-29 was travelling from Japan to Alaska. Siberia was very close. The radiation detection device in the US spy plane suddenly gave a signal. It detected an excessive level of radiation in the air. Where was it coming from?

An investigation revealed that the Soviet Union had detonated a nuclear bomb in Kamchatka, Siberia. The US was stunned. Manhattan scientists Leslie Groves and Robert Oppenheimer had said that the Soviets couldn’t possibly own a nuclear bomb before 1957! Then how did they get the bomb formula by 1949? Even the US itself had taken three years to build a nuclear bomb!

The situation became even more dire when the US found out that the bomb detonated in Kamchatka was an exact replica of the one used in Hiroshima. The FBI launched an investigation. An unpleasant truth was revealed. It was their own country’s scientists who had done it. That meant the Russian spy network was embedded in their dream project—the Manhattan Project. The FBI started the investigation. But where was the proof?

Finally, some clues were found in 1950. While decoding an encrypted letter sent from New York to Moscow during World War II, the cat was let out of the bag. It was discovered from that letter that the design of the US nuclear bomb had been stolen and sent to the Soviet Union. And one of the culprits was Klaus Fuchs, a key scientist involved in the Manhattan Project.

Later, Fuchs himself went to a warehouse in London and confessed to stealing and smuggling the design. He surrendered voluntarily. And he also stated that he didn’t do it out of greed or under pressure. He did it out of love for communism. He had always been devoted to communism. That’s why he became an enemy in Hitler’s eyes. So, like many top scientists, he moved to the US. After Fuchs’ surrender, many scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project came under suspicion of espionage. And the most interesting name among them was Robert Oppenheimer—the head of the Manhattan Project.

4.
It was the early 1950s. A socialist wind was blowing across the world. Though most countries were in favour of democracy, when two massive countries like China and Russia were under the same roof, along with North Korea, Czechoslovakia, East Germany—by then half of the world’s population was under the shadow of Marxism. Hence, the US was deeply worried. Those who had built nuclear bombs dreaming of becoming the sole superpower were now being threatened by the Soviets, who had stolen their designs! So something bigger had to be done. Scientists had already learned of a weapon more terrifying than the uranium-based nuclear bomb. The hydrogen bomb. It too was a nuclear bomb, but many times more powerful than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At the threshold of bomb and counter-bomb creation, the world witnessed a new kind of war between the two superpowers—called the Cold War. Although the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, that Cold War has recently flared up again. On one side are modern-day Russia, China, and North Korea; on the other, the US and its allies.

The horror of Hiroshima mentally devastated Oppenheimer. He was against building even more destructive bombs. Therefore, suspicion also fell on him. The most vocal critic was US Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy from Wisconsin. This Republican leader was staunchly anti-communist. He essentially declared war against communists. He raised his voice to remove communists from government positions. The first director of the FBI was John Edgar Hoover. He too was anti-communist and believed the administration needed to be purged of communists. He personally led the investigation.

The crackdown mainly fell on Jewish scientists. Because at that time, many Jews were communist supporters. Hoover even launched an investigation against Albert Einstein himself, prepared a draft report. Yet Einstein didn’t believe in any formal religion. But was this investigation simply because he was born into a Jewish family?

The anti-Jewish and anti-communist sentiments of McCarthy and Hoover also stirred public opinion. As a result, in the 1952 elections, the long-ruling Democrats lost, and Republican leader Dwight Eisenhower came to power. Consequently, the McCarthy-Hoover duo became even stronger.

Meanwhile, William Liscum Borden, executive director of the US Congress’s Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, added fuel to the fire. He wrote a letter to Hoover, stating that Oppenheimer was possibly a Soviet spy. That was it! The man was already opposing the hydrogen bomb project, and now his past was in question. He once had close ties with various communist organisations. Still had many communist friends. On top of that, though not religious, he was born into a Jewish family. So everything added up and an investigation was launched against him.

The FBI found no direct evidence of espionage for the Soviet Union. But because of his communist connections, Oppenheimer was framed. A mock trial was staged. Every possible link to communists was dug up. Even the judges on the panel were eager to punish Oppenheimer. His former colleague, scientist Edward Teller, gave false testimony that cornered him even more. Teller had personal differences with Oppenheimer and seized the opportunity to trap him. He himself became the head of the hydrogen bomb project.

On the other hand, the hydrogen bomb project pushed world peace further down, and the Russo-American Cold War intensified. However, the balance of nuclear power kept that extreme conflict from turning into another world war—that much can certainly be said. So, when Yuval Noah Harari said Oppenheimer and his colleagues should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration.