Klaus Fuchs: The Nuclear Spy

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The release of the hit film Oppenheimer has led to increased public interest in the true story of the Manhattan Project, the effort of a combined team of American and British scientists to create the atomic bomb during World War II. The film accurately shows the conflicted emotions those scientists had about their work, which resulted in the development of the most destructive weapon mankind has ever known, as well as efforts from the Soviet Union to acquire the secrets of the bomb for themselves through the use of spies.

The USSR’s chief spy in the Manhattan Project was also instrumental in its creation: Klaus Fuchs (Author’s Note: Pronounced FEWKS). Fuchs was considered one of the UK’s top scientific minds, and was recruited to work on the atomic bomb project almost from the very beginning of it. Exiled from his native Germany by the rise of Hitler, Fuchs was happy to work on the bomb project because he believed it was necessary to defeat the Nazis. What not even his closest friends and associates realized, however, was that Fuchs was also a devoted Communist who was passing on all the nuclear secrets he was learning to Soviet agents.

Unlike other spies, Fuchs wasn’t motivated by money: he was a true believer in the effectiveness of the Communist system to heal society’s ills, and also that the Western Allies shouldn’t have a monopoly on the atomic bomb: if world peace was to be maintained, a balance of power was required. He continued passing information to the Soviets until he was caught in 1949, much to the embarrassment of the British security services, who had identified him as a possible security risk for years but done nothing about it. His information accelerated the progress of the USSR’s own bomb project, making him, potentially, one of the most consequential spies in history.

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Further Reading:
Atomic Spy: The Dark Lives of Klaus Fuchs by Nancy Thorndike Greenspan, Penguin Random House 2020
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Some might say he really Fuchs'd them over 😎

omerto
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Wow! Keeps really works!! Hair is looking great Simon but maybe a few side effects?

peter-radiantpipes
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2:30 - Chapter 1 - Early life
5:25 - Chapter 2 - Tube alloys
8:00 - Chapter 3 - Manhattan project
10:10 - Chapter 4 - Trinity
12:10 - Chapter 5 - Harwell
13:50 - Chapter 6 - Soviet spy
16:20 - Chapter 7 - Confession
19:10 - Chapter 8 - Aftermath
21:10 - Conclusion

ignitionfrn
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With a name like Klaus Fuchs you'd think someone with some genre awareness would raise a brow at least. Guy sounds like a Bond villain.

valkordarkmoor
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How long did all of you take to spot the cat in the shelf for the first time?

otaconz
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Thank you. I am so grateful it's you narrating this biographic. Putting the kettle on now. Be right back!

DigitalLazarus
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IIRC he also gave secrets to the British too.

max
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Never heard of that "Veronica Project".... must have been running alongside Verona : }

jwindeezee
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@4:05
He says September 1993 but meaning to say September 1933.

Istandby
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Simon, your hair grew back! You're also a different person in this video.

Saphykitten
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Suggestions for a future biographics video: George Westinghouse, Chester A. Arthur or Frances Perkins

hakeemfullerton
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So the Isle of Man is in Canada now, you guys are hilarious

niallsheehan
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20:21 Makes sense since he was hanging out there during that time frame.

willekln
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Thanks For this eric! Suggestion: Charles XIV of sweden

danielsantiagourtado
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So, which ones are they? July 1945 or 1949? And the 'Veronica Project' or 'Venona Project'?

JoeThornhill
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Alamogordo has an “r” in it. It’s not whatever the heck was said in this video.

HarperGamble
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Even though I'm Canadian, I had no idea until today that there was an Isle of Man in this country.

dereks
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"I joined the Communist Party because I felt I had to be in some organization."

-- Klaus Fuchs

Jayjay-qeum
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Totally off topic but some people to consider covering! I'm Canadian so I will admit this is super biased. If I list someone that's already been covered I apologize.

Alexander Graham Bell
Sir Frederick Banting
Tommy Douglas
David Suzuki
Jean Chretien
Sir John A. Macdonald
Louis Riel
Billy Bishop
Terry Fox
John Diefenbaker
Pierre Trudeau
Lester B Pearson
Sir Wilfrid Laurier
MacKenzie King
Brian Mulroney
Kim Campbell
Jack Layton
Jacques Cartier
Chris Hadfield

Just a list of ideas for you guys!

slackerofhell
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I can understand his desire for a balance of power, but even if his desire was to support communism, there is difference between supporting communism and supporting the Soviet Union, specially under Stalin. it maybe that communism made the Soviet Union corrupt as communism tends to put more power in the hands of fewer people, thus making them more corrupt as too much power tends to do. I believe all governments eventually become corrupted as power hungry people can sometimes be creative and intelligent enough to find the kink in the armor of any type of government.

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