AHC: Have as Many nuclear armed countries as possible

The challenge is to, by the modern day, have as many countries in the world be nuclear armed. They can have any number of nuclear weapons, be it 1 or 10,000. They must also have the means of delivery. A country with a weapon and no means to deliver it does not count. Also, by nuclear weapons I mean nuclear bombs/warheads with a yield of 10kt or above.
 
Here's my approach: delay the A-bomb until after Japan surrenders, but have the Korean War (or a similar conflict) start at the same time. At that point, Truman - or whoever the president is - would face irresistible pressure to use the Bomb, this war-winning super-weapon that we spent huge amounts of money to build but never got the chance to try. Only, unlike in WW2, we have dozens of the damned things by this point... And not much in the way of decent targets: there are few useful strategic/industrial targets in North Korea, and early model A-bombs are not very effective against military forces in a tactical role. Which means that North Korea does not surrender, despite atomic bombardment, and the war goes broadly as in OTL - but after a dozen or so atomic strikes, the atomic bomb has been effectively normalized as a weapon of war.
 

CECBC

Banned
What if Russia handed out free nukes just to piss off the United States? Sort of an ideology that to stop "American Imperialism" every country needs to have nuclear ICBMs capable of hitting the US. That's give an option for every country that wants nukes to get them.
 
What if Russia handed out free nukes just to piss off the United States? Sort of an ideology that to stop "American Imperialism" every country needs to have nuclear ICBMs capable of hitting the US. That's give an option for every country that wants nukes to get them.

But what country would be insane enough to house Russian nukes, knowing full well that if a nuclear war did happen, they would be hit just as much as the USSR would be...
 
Extensive use of nukes in the later stages of the Pacific, and later Korean (or at least a TTL parallel) Wars, or even the Chinese Civil War. Now many of East Asia's cities are irradiated wasteland and Nukes are just a bigger bomb that everybody has to have just not to get screwed over.
 

CECBC

Banned
But what country would be insane enough to house Russian nukes, knowing full well that if a nuclear war did happen, they would be hit just as much as the USSR would be...
I was thinking more of the Russian Federation in modern times, and they wouldn't really be Russian nukes but nukes under the full control of whatever country asked for them.

I thought of a scenario where Russia in the 90's announces that it secretly delivered their latest ICBMs free of charge to North Korea, Iran, Syria, Iraq and Libya in an effort to protect those countries from American invasion and would give out free nukes to any other country that asked. Sort of an NRA philosophy to word peace in a sense.
 
[1] Kill the NPT. There was already a distinct trend toward proliferation.
[2] Then have the MLF go ahead, so more NATO states have access to nuclear weapons technology, and widened to handle land-based tactical weapons with a common stockpile.
Switzerland, Sweden and Italy had a cooperative agreement to share development of nuclear weapons, support technologies and delivery platforms. That'll bring in Yugoslavia (and perhaps increase the status of a "Third Way" or NANA block who'll want nukes).
Without US pressure Taiwan and South Korea will join.
Israel is inevitable, without significant historical changes.
[3] Have the UK spread the costs to other Commonwealth states, so Australia and Canada also build their own weapons (possibly with US assistance depending on the relative strengths of the relationships).
Indonesia had a nuclear energy programme in the fifties, this could extend into weapons development. Especially if Australia has them.
India and Pakistan are also inevitable.
Iran under Pahlavi was interested, especially in electricity production. They were expected (OTL) to have nuclear weapons in the 1980s under the Shah. This will probably pressure other states in the region.
South Africa may progress faster given involvement in a Commonwealth programme.
Spain under Franco will be very interested, especially given the French and Italian programmes.
Germany and Japan will easily develop the capacity but will face opposition. However the greater proliferation will weaken this so inevitably they'll also develop nuclear weapons.
Egypt was interested and, with assistance, could join the club.
In South America the ABC powers will also develop nuclear weapons, Brazil first.

So that's 26. More after the USSR fragments.
 
Avoiding WWII would be a start. Let's say France stops the remilitarization of the Rhineland, causing the army to depose the Nazis. Without the war, nuclear weapons may take more time, but civil nuclear programs go faster. Britain, France and the USSR were already seriously looking into it, and could each have a reactor by 1942. The US and Italy would follow. Germany probably won't get theirs anytime soon, though I can see them having weapons by the mid-sixties. Once all great powers have their own arsenal proliferation is likely.
 
Avoiding WWII would be a start. Let's say France stops the remilitarization of the Rhineland, causing the army to depose the Nazis. Without the war, nuclear weapons may take more time, but civil nuclear programs go faster. Britain, France and the USSR were already seriously looking into it, and could each have a reactor by 1942. The US and Italy would follow. Germany probably won't get theirs anytime soon, though I can see them having weapons by the mid-sixties. Once all great powers have their own arsenal proliferation is likely.

Agree that this is a good starting point but not sure Germany would lag that far behind once the Nazis had been removed. No prejudice against Jewish physics to handicap them. Poland would want a bomb (even did ITL under the Communist regime) and had good intelligence service. Sweden and Switzerland had the technical know-how as would have the Czechs with no 1938 invasion. Hungarians and Romanians would have taken a bit longer but would have got there by the early sixties. Japan had the physicists too.
 
Agree that this is a good starting point but not sure Germany would lag that far behind once the Nazis had been removed. No prejudice against Jewish physics to handicap them. Poland would want a bomb (even did ITL under the Communist regime) and had good intelligence service. Sweden and Switzerland had the technical know-how as would have the Czechs with no 1938 invasion. Hungarians and Romanians would have taken a bit longer but would have got there by the early sixties. Japan had the physicists too.
The problem is that no German leadership would dare to remilitarize if France intervenes in 1935, and while they could probably develop a civil nuclear program, weapons are out of the question as long as France and Britain agree on keeping Germany from having them.
 
I think we would see a nuclear Middle East had Israel not bombed Iraq's reactor in the 1980's. Every nation in that region would need one.
 
The problem is that no German leadership would dare to remilitarize if France intervenes in 1935, and while they could probably develop a civil nuclear program, weapons are out of the question as long as France and Britain agree on keeping Germany from having them.

Agreed, but a bunch of physicists getting together at conferences at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (which they would be doing anyway) plus a top secret base doing some tinkering in the wilds of deepest Thuringia or at Peenemunde is a lot more difficult for foreign military intelligence to keep track of than a naval construction programme or an army mechanisation. And a Germany that couldn't remilitarise would have a lot more incentive to put some cash into a potential game changer like a superbomb. And once they have the bomb, they can have an army whatever size they want. Which might just appeal to the High Command...
 
With a nuclear wunderwaffen their back pockets, the German General Staff might be able to convince Hitler to wait another year or two before trying to invade Russia. Allowing the Wehrmacht to modernize and standardize equipment.

OTL Japan had two separate nuclear programs during WW2. The IJA tried to built weapons while IJN wanted to build nuclear-powered ships. Both programs foundered for lack of raw materials.
OTH Both South Africa and Israel developed nuclear weapons, but SADF scrapped theirs before (black) ANC took power.

OTL Canada never "officially" owned nuclear missiles, but some corners of bomb dumps - on Canadian Air Bases - were guarded by US Air Police. You figure out the connection.

ATL it is plausible for Australia, Canada, West Indies, etc. to cooperate in a Commonwealth nuclear program. In exchange for raw materials and leases on test ranges, they keep a few nuclear weapons.

OTL Iraq (under Sadam Hussein) was trying to build nuclear weapons. They bought exotic alloy pipes from West Germany and recruited rocket scientists like (Canadian-born) Gerald Bull. Which is why Iran was so happy when Israel bombed the Iraqi nuclear program back into the Stone Age!

The definite list includes: Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, Russia and the USA.

The probable list includes: Israel and South Africa.

The maybe list includes: Argentina, Brazil, several British Commonwealth nations, Chile, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, etc.

Not sure if neutral nations like Switzerland need nuclear weapons????
During both WW-1 and WW-2, Swiss merely threatened to demolish a few key bridges and tunnels. Threat was enough to convince Austria, France, Germany and Italy to respect pre-war borders. Trust the Swiss to develop "genteel" nuclear weapons, buried deep in railway tunnels, that would never release radiation to the surface.
Alternately, Swiss engineers could equally threaten to release underground aquifers (to flood tunnels) delaying invaders by months or years.
 
With a nuclear wunderwaffen their back pockets, the German General Staff might be able to convince Hitler to wait another year or two before trying to invade Russia. Allowing the Wehrmacht to modernize and standardize equipment.

OTL Japan had two separate nuclear programs during WW2. The IJA tried to built weapons while IJN wanted to build nuclear-powered ships. Both programs foundered for lack of raw materials.
OTH Both South Africa and Israel developed nuclear weapons, but SADF scrapped theirs before (black) ANC took power.

OTL Canada never "officially" owned nuclear missiles, but some corners of bomb dumps - on Canadian Air Bases - were guarded by US Air Police. You figure out the connection.

ATL it is plausible for Australia, Canada, West Indies, etc. to cooperate in a Commonwealth nuclear program. In exchange for raw materials and leases on test ranges, they keep a few nuclear weapons.

OTL Iraq (under Sadam Hussein) was trying to build nuclear weapons. They bought exotic alloy pipes from West Germany and recruited rocket scientists like (Canadian-born) Gerald Bull. Which is why Iran was so happy when Israel bombed the Iraqi nuclear program back into the Stone Age!

The definite list includes: Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, Russia and the USA.

The probable list includes: Israel and South Africa.

The maybe list includes: Argentina, Brazil, several British Commonwealth nations, Chile, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, etc.

Not sure if neutral nations like Switzerland need nuclear weapons????
During both WW-1 and WW-2, Swiss merely threatened to demolish a few key bridges and tunnels. Threat was enough to convince Austria, France, Germany and Italy to respect pre-war borders. Trust the Swiss to develop "genteel" nuclear weapons, buried deep in railway tunnels, that would never release radiation to the surface.
Alternately, Swiss engineers could equally threaten to release underground aquifers (to flood tunnels) delaying invaders by months or years.
You forgot North Korea. I don't think there's any doubt about the Israeli and South African nuclear weapons.
As for Switzerland, they initially planned to construct 100 weapons, a mix of artillery shells and SRBM warheads and later planned for 250 weapons, a mix of SRBMs, MRBMs, free-fall and stand off aircraft weapons and a small number of mines.
Despite not constructing nuclear weapons the country possessed sufficient plutonium for 4-6 bombs for several decades along with 15-20 tonnes of enriched uranium.
 
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