Transitions

Abstract

The fourth chapter discusses the American intelligence shift in focus from the German atomic bomb program to the atomic research effort of the Soviet Union. Alsos scientists were eventually convinced that the German atomic bomb program was far behind that of the United States, and would not be a factor in the Second World War. However, Alsos was kept in Europe to ensure that the Soviet Union did not gain access to German atomic resources. This meant capturing German scientists, occupying German research facilities and laboratories, and capturing German raw materials and industrial centers. In some cases, when it became apparent that Allied forces would not be able to reach certain areas before Soviet forces arrived, Groves utilized the conventional forces of the U.S. Army and the covert forces of the OSS to destroy the resource to ensure it could not be of benefit to the Soviets.