The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 killed over 100,000 people and resulted in many more burn and radiation casualties. Nuclear and hydrogen bombs have not been used in war since, but the threat potential has remained, most recently in Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine.
Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, only the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain are allowed to possess nuclear weapons. India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea are also nuclear powers.
According to estimates, 20 nuclear bombs are still stored in Germany, controlled by the USA. In an emergency, the U.S. would have sole command of them, while the airdrop – delivery systems, bases, aircraft and personnel – would be within the purview of the Bundeswehr.
Disarmament is the best response to the nuclear weapons threat, according to the goal of the German government. Germany first participated as an observer in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2022.
J. Robert Oppenheimer, head of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, is considered the “father of the atomic bomb.” His name is currently on everyone’s lips thanks to Christopher Nolan’s magnificent film. After the drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he warned against further nuclear armament and emphasized the need for worldwide understanding about it:
If atomic bombs are to be added as new weapons to the arsenals of a warring world, or to the arsenals of nations preparing for war, then the time will come when mankind will curse the names of Los Alamos and Hiroshima. The people must unite or they will perish.
J. Robert Oppenheimer, November 1945