Originally posted by: lobadobadingdong
they wheren't really that close to developing a nuclear bomb, but they where extremely close to a deliverable radation weapon based on the same theories of nuclear fission. (they even attempted to smuggle radioactive materials to japan, the sub was intercepted)
Hey ... I saw that show on the history channel a month or two ago .... scary stuff.
Also, even if the Genmans successfully developed and launched a few nukes at the allies ... I think they would have still been clobbered in the long run. They would have run out of men eventually.
I think if they nuked Russia, they would have been able to concentrate more forces on the Western front, and the war would have taken longer. The total number of lives lost to that damned war would have probably been 15 to 20 million more is my guess. (at least 50% civilian)
If they nuked England,
England is a compact country, a large portion of the population/their resources would be affected. England is a pretty tough nation, and I don't know if they would have fallen to Germany. If somehow Germany and Russia had settled their differences, and Germany was able to concentrate 100% of it's forces on England, then maybe.
If they nuked the USA,
This country is very spread out, and early Nukes would have done some catastrophic damage, and horrible loss of life, however, the vast majority of us would have survived. It would have enraged the American population Far more then the bombing of pearl harbor. I think More Americans would have gone off to fight. More risks would have been taken, and the loss of life would be higher on both sides. Assuming Russia and England were still fighting strong (as well as the "smaller" allies such as Canada and Australia), The allies would have still most likely prevailed. Roosevelt was a smart man and he would have known better than to use Stalin's tactics. The kill/loss ratio would not be nearly as bad as the russian/german ratio in Stalingrad.
Now if they had nukes before the battle of the bulge, and they were accurate, and the germans knew exactly where the allied armies were, and they used them tacticly to wipe out entire armies, and they had more then 2, say 5 or 6, they may have had a chance at world domination. However, even still, I believe they would have had one hell of a hard fight, and the war would have dragged on for decades.
EDIT:
One additional note, the answer to the original question.
IMO, Hitler was the most atrocious, vile, detestable, pernicious, nefarious, and vicious, fanatic oppressor that this earth has ever seen.
He would have used the nukes, and he would have enjoyed the additional misery to others that it caused.
I wish everything that everyone has ever said "I wouln't wish that upon my worst enemy" would happen to hitler.
