Did britain need nuclear weapons
...other countries. Therefore, all the research that Britain had done with America was taken to Chicago where American physicists took over. This was a huge disappointment for Britain as they did have a status and did not have to fear other countries like Russia as a deterrent. UK was worried about USA going back into isolation. The withdrawal from the nuclear weapon project showed them this is a possibility. Britain felt they needed nuclear weapons as communism was spreading. America was isolating themselves so Britain was on their own. Britain was thought to be leading world powers in1939 but by 1945 Britain were no longer one. They had been overtaken by Russia, America and later Japan and Germany. Britain had a huge empire in 1939. India was part of it, but in 1947 due to financial problems, India was given its independence. Due to this nationalism was growing especially in Malaya. Britain’s economic superity had now gone, they were still wealthy in the worlds terms but not as they once were. It was felt that in order to gain back a world power status was the development of nuclear weapons. After world war two, Britain was in severe economic problems making the research of nuclear weapons out of their financial capability. Britain was financially outstretched having to spend funds on NHS and other domestic projects. Rebuilding due to destruction that world war two, supporting Greece the empire and Germany. Therefore, Britain had all these costs and there was no room for nuclear research unless commitments were exposed of. Due to the forming of NATO in 1949, Am...