Should the US have nuked Russia in 1946?
The problem with that idea is the simple fact that America, and the rest of the world, just ended the bloodiest war the world has yet seen. Prior to the close of WW2, U.S. citizens were dreading the fact that American soldiers would have to eventually invade the Japanese mainland to subdue a fanatical enemy that dragged America into 4 years of heavy fighting. Analyst calculated that the price to force a Japanese surrender would cost another 500,000, or more, American lives. President Truman knew that no one would put up with such high loses that would double American deaths for the entire war. He decided that dropping the atomic bomb would save more live, in the end. The point is that the American people had no more tolerance for another war. However, if General Patton was in position to make the call, he would have rolled over Berlin and headed straight for Moscow. Also, Russia's army was massive by the end of 1945. They surely outnumbered America under every category, except navel forces. Our allies also would not get involved or they would have declared war on Russia at the outbreak of WW2. The allies singled out Germany because that was a victory within their grasp. For America to defeat Russia they would have had to expect another 3 plus years of heavy fighting with no guarantee of victory. If the allies wanted communism removed they would have allied with Nazi Germany and the kicked the crap out of Stalin. Maybe Fascism would have made a better ally than Communism, they were both equally malicious. Another factor to consider is that Russia successfully deployed spies into America's deepest secrets. The USSR had a more promising spy ring than America, in the sense that they were able to steal secrets from the Manhattan Project. If we were a war with Russia, they would have built an atomic bomb at a faster pace than if it was made during peace time. The conclusion is America and Russia blow each other and the world. America would look like a big asshole to the international stage, "America picks up where Hitler left off."