How Did Klaus Fuchs Build The Atomic Bomb

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Imagine a world where one country was in charge of the world. Now, this may be a bit of an exaggeration but with the threat of an atomic bomb being held over every country it could easily be possible. The United States atomic research program was the first to create a working atomic bomb. At the time, there was no other country that was even close. Klaus Fuchs was a German Physicist who worked for Great Britain and the United States and spied for the Soviet Union. Fuchs was an extremely smart guy who made the decision to commit espionage towards Great Britain and the United States. He grew up in Germany but as the Second World War started he moved from Great Britain to the United States. His scientific findings helped immensely to create the …show more content…

in Physics. He later went to University of Edinburgh where he earned his Ph.D. in Science and worked under Max Born. Fuchs was unable to receive British citizenship before the war was declared therefore he was put into an internment camp in Canada as a German Refugee. Luckily, Professor Max Born had Fuchs released from the internment camp to resume working at the University. Soon after being released, Fuchs was recruited to be on the British Atomic Research team code named Tube Alloys. Almost immediately after joining the committee, Fuchs contacted the Soviet Military Intelligence agency and began providing covert information about British research on the atomic bomb. …show more content…

Four years after the war ended the Secret Intelligence Service -- which was United States Army Based -- was able to decrypt codes from the Soviets that revealed Fuchs as a spy. Sadly, there was not enough information to arrest Fuchs for espionage. MI5 was set on the case. “[Fuchs’s] telephones were tapped and his correspondence intercepted at both his home and office. Concealed microphones were installed in Fuchs's home in Harwell. Fuchs was tailed by B4 surveillance teams, who reported that he was difficult to follow. Although they discovered he was having an affair with the wife of his line manager, the investigation failed to produce any evidence of espionage.” (Simkin) MI5 then interviewed Fuchs several times before he gave a confession. He had decided it was in his best interest to plead guilty. Fuchs was then sentenced to 14 years in prison. Which was the maximum prison sentence for espionage. Of the 14 years he served 9. Fuchs’s testimony lead to the arrest of Harry Gold along with 3 other spies that worked in Los Alamos. After being released from prison, Fuchs went to East Germany where his family had been living since the war ended. Fuchs received the Karl Marx Medal of Honor (which was the highest degree of significance in the German Democratic Republic at the time). Fuchs received the medal 20 years after being released from prison in 1959. Fuchs got married to a childhood

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