Table of contents:
- What prompted the development of the Charioteer plan
- 8 bombs - for Moscow, 7 - for Leningrad
- How many days did the Americans plan to bomb the USSR
- Why the Chariotir nuclear blitzkrieg failed
Video: How the USA planned to destroy the communists and how many nuclear bombs they wanted to drop on the USSR: Plan "Chariotir"
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Having become the owner of atomic weapons in 1945, the United States remained the only nuclear power in the world until 1949. The possession of a significant military advantage was not in vain: plans were born to destroy America's main political enemy - the USSR. One of these plans - "Chariotir", was developed in mid-1948 and in the same year, after revision, was renamed "Fleetwood". According to him, the attack on the Soviet Union with the help of massive nuclear bombings was to take place on April 1, 1949.
What prompted the development of the Charioteer plan
The post-World War II Cold War turned recent allies into potential enemies. The reason for the tensions was the strengthening of pro-Soviet forces, both in Europe and beyond. Communists came to power in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania. Even in faraway China, the ruling Kuomintang party under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, participating in the Civil War, was losing its former positions, yielding to the Communist Party of Mao Zedong.
In such conditions, simple observation of the development of events threatened to result in the loss of political, and with it, economic influence in a number of important countries for America. It was necessary to take concrete steps to counter Soviet influence. To this end, a meeting of the US National Security Council was held in March 1948: it determined the main task - to defeat the forces of world communism led by the USSR., in order to undermine their growing power. " These theses became the basis for the developers of the project called "Chariotir", which took on its final form just a few weeks after the said meeting.
8 bombs - for Moscow, 7 - for Leningrad
Plans for an attack on the Soviet Union have been drawn up by Britain or the United States since 1945. And each time, the scale of the operations described in them acquired an ever greater scope. So, if in the first project "Totality" it was said about the bombing of 20 settlements, then in "Chariotir" it was already about the destruction of 70 cities. Only at the first stage of the attack did the Americans plan to use 133 atomic explosive devices against the civilian population of the USSR.
Such cities as Moscow and Leningrad were supposed to be razed to the ground by dropping on them - in the first case, eight bombs, in the second - seven. The rest of the nuclear weapons were intended to strike at the government, political, administrative and industrial centers of the country, as well as important strategic enterprises, including the defense and oil industries.
At the same time, the enemy's patriotism, his dedication and ability to fight in extremely difficult conditions were taken into account. By striking the selected targets, it was conceived not only to destroy the industrial capacities of the USSR, but also to inflict a powerful psychological blow that could destabilize the population and eliminate the danger of resistance.
The Americans expected to attack the Soviet Union suddenly, using British territory and military bases in Greenland, the Pacific Ocean, and Hawaii to send bombers. The Pentagon estimated its losses from the use of air defense by the USSR at a maximum of 25% of the total number of aircraft used.
How many days did the Americans plan to bomb the USSR
After the attack without a declaration of war, at the first stage of the operation, the Soviet Union was planned to be bombed within 30 days. Having destroyed all important targets during this period, it was not planned to stop the strikes - after a month of massive bombing, it was time for the second part of the operation. At this stage, the Americans planned to use several hundred thousand tons of standard explosives and an additional 200 nuclear bombs.
Author of the 1988 book American War Plans 1945-1950, Stephen Ross wrote of Chariotir: “The plan emphasized the importance of a nuclear attack - its advantage over conventional bombs. This was the core of American strategy, and the developers of this project were firmly convinced that only with the help of an atomic war could Russia be defeated. Other methods, due to lack of funds and people, were ineffective, and could not provide protection if the conflict with the USSR would affect the advanced positions of Europe."
Why the Chariotir nuclear blitzkrieg failed
Operation Charioteer did not materialize for two reasons: firstly, even after massive atomic bombings, it would not have been possible to exterminate the entire population of the country. The further situation required the presence of ground forces on enemy territory. And this, taking into account the inevitable partisan war and the resistance of the remnants of the regular Soviet units, would lead to a protracted conflict and considerable casualties among American soldiers. The United States did not seek to become participants in a long war, therefore a preemptive air strike, without a subsequent ground operation, simply lost its meaning.
The second reason was a consequence of the first and consisted in finalizing the idea of "Chariotira", that is, America did not abandon the attack, but somewhat changed the original plan. The new project, dubbed "Fleetwood", almost came true - the pilots even managed to get navigation charts for the flight to the USSR - but it was canceled and sent back for revision. In 1948, despite the abundance of attack options among the Americans, none of them was considered suitable to start a war with the USSR.
The dates were postponed as often as projects were renamed, until Dropshot was born in 1949. Unlike the previous ones, this plan stood out for its detailed details and a large-scale number of goals, however, it was not realized, remaining only on paper. This happened due to the protracted preparation for the attack: by the time it was supposed to happen, the Soviet Union had already created its own nuclear bomb. The Americans did not count on a retaliatory strike, therefore, although the plans for the attack were developed in the future, the threat of their actual implementation dropped to almost zero.
Cooperation between countries has known great times as well. Especially during World War II. Then British pilots defended the Russian North, conducting Operation Benedict.
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