As we all know (well, if you're an atomic history enthusiast like I am), you're likely familiar with the results of Tube Alloys, the British atomic bomb project which benefitted strongly from assistance from the Western Allies, most notably the Americans. American capital, resources, manpower, and scientists all merged with Canadian resources and manpower along with the rest of the great minds of the free world to make the single greatest mistake in all of human history.
Or, well, it's at least debatable.
They gave Britain the atomic bomb. The Merlin test at Maralinga, in South Australia, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after Hitler's suicide, and the UK's refusal to give up its nuclear information to its ally, the United States (leading to a later project, though the bomber gap between the US and British Empire has never been a close race) and the UK's consistent efforts to keep the Empire the only atomic state led to the peculiar situation of a junior war partner suddenly succeeding in asserting power over its former senior partner.
After a failed Atlee government and a general inability to disassemble the empire in such a way to satisfy everyone, the militarists took office once more, especially facing the threat of the Soviet Union, and a slightly more decentralized empire was established. This began the Second Great Game, during which the British Empire and its increasingly alienated comrade the United States would face off against the Soviet Union.
The militarizing effect this would have on the British Empire is hard to overestimate, of course, especially given their often belligerent foreign policy from the very late 40s to the 50s to the present day. In fact, should the Soviet Union fall, many suspect that the Empire and Union might turn on one another.
Orwell, his books largely banned in his homeland by this point, wrote this: War is peace. It's oddly applicable to the current state of the Empire.
But what if Tube Alloys was in American hands? How might that change history?
Or, well, it's at least debatable.
They gave Britain the atomic bomb. The Merlin test at Maralinga, in South Australia, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after Hitler's suicide, and the UK's refusal to give up its nuclear information to its ally, the United States (leading to a later project, though the bomber gap between the US and British Empire has never been a close race) and the UK's consistent efforts to keep the Empire the only atomic state led to the peculiar situation of a junior war partner suddenly succeeding in asserting power over its former senior partner.
After a failed Atlee government and a general inability to disassemble the empire in such a way to satisfy everyone, the militarists took office once more, especially facing the threat of the Soviet Union, and a slightly more decentralized empire was established. This began the Second Great Game, during which the British Empire and its increasingly alienated comrade the United States would face off against the Soviet Union.
The militarizing effect this would have on the British Empire is hard to overestimate, of course, especially given their often belligerent foreign policy from the very late 40s to the 50s to the present day. In fact, should the Soviet Union fall, many suspect that the Empire and Union might turn on one another.
Orwell, his books largely banned in his homeland by this point, wrote this: War is peace. It's oddly applicable to the current state of the Empire.
But what if Tube Alloys was in American hands? How might that change history?