During the Cold War the threat of nuclear war was held in check by a perilous doctrine dubbed ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’. The idea behind this was that, because both sides maintained huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons, neither would dare attack the other, for to do so would be suicidal.
Rather aptly, this theory was abbreviated to ‘MAD’.
Despite the principle behind MAD, numerous cold war bunkers were still built across London and other parts of the country as a last resort in order to protect the government in the event of war.
Incredible as it may sound, the key theory that sparked the development of these terrifying weapons occurred one damp morning in London’s leafy, central area of Bloomsbury; conceived within the great mind of a 1930s Bloomsbury resident called Leo Szilard.
The early life of Leo Szilard
Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1898, Leo Szilard (pronounced as “sil-ahrd”) was a brilliant Jewish physicist and inventor who excelled at mathematics from an early age.
Towards the end of the Great War Leo was enlisted in the army. Before seeing action however he contracted influenza. In hindsight this likely saved his life as most of the soldiers from his battalion were killed.
After WWI Leo had ambitions of studying engineering. However, he was barred from doing so due to anti-Semitic policies.
This led him to move to Berlin where he turned his mind to physics and befriended Albert Einstein.
Leo moves to Bloomsbury, London
Leo flourished in Germany during the era of the Weimar Republic but immediately recognised the danger when Hitler gained power in 1933. He quickly made plans to flee the country and encouraged fellow Jews to do so too. Leo made a home for himself in London.
When Leo arrived in London he had sufficient funds to support himself. However, he didn’t forget his friends and colleagues and he helped to establish the Academic Assistance Council (now known as the Council for At-Risk Academics) which helped to secure work and accommodation for Jewish refugees at Burlington House, Piccadilly.
Leo meanwhile lodged at various hotels around the city and in the summer of 1933 he checked into the Imperial Hotel on Russell Square, Bloomsbury.
This choice was based on Leo’s philosophy that “there is no place as good to think as a bathtub” and, back then, the Imperial was famed for its steaming Turkish baths.
Sadly these were demolished when the Imperial was rebuilt in the 1960s, although a ghost sign for the baths can still be spotted in the pavement at the end of Guildford Street, outside a branch of Pret a Manger.
Leo's Eureka Moment in the Heart of Bloomsbury
On the morning of September 12th 1933 Leo breakfasted and took his customary bath before heading to the Imperial’s lobby where he obtained a copy of The Times.
In the newspaper, he found a report on a scientific conference which had taken place the day before where renowned scientist Ernest Rutherford had rubbished the idea that power could be gained from atoms, stating that anyone who believed so was “talking moonshine.”
This opinion bothered Leo; he was sure Rutherford was wrong and decided to go for a walk to chew the idea over.
Just outside the Imperial Hotel, on the junction of Russell Square and Southampton Row, Leo paused at a set of traffic lights. As they turned green his Eureka moment came:
“It suddenly occurred to me that if we could find an element which is split by neutrons and which would emit two neutrons when it absorbs one neutron, such an element, if assembled in sufficiently large mass, could sustain a nuclear chain reaction.”
Leo had effectively worked out the basis for creating nuclear energy, a concept which would soon change the world. As historian Richard Rhodes would later describe:
“The stoplight changed to green. Szilard stepped off the curb. As he crossed the street time cracked open before him and he saw a way to the future, death into the world and all our woes, the shape of things to come.”
A dreadful secret
Although Leo knew his theory would prove Rutherford wrong, he was also bitterly aware that the concept he’d envisioned could be weaponised.
His mind therefore had suddenly been laden with a dreadful burden. The thought of such knowledge being leaked to the Nazis horrified him and he initially opted to keep his breakthrough to himself.
Leo busied himself with study and, in 1934, took up a post at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, West Smithfield where he conducted experiments with radioactive isotopes.
As the 1930s progressed however and the Nazis continued to gain strength, Leo decided to patent his chain reaction theory, an action which technically granted him copyright on the atomic bomb.
To ensure it remained secret however, he entrusted this patent- which described “neutron induced chain reactions to create explosions” to the British Admiralty.
Leo's theory becomes reality
In the late 1930s Leo moved to the United States where, growing ever more concerned of the Nazi’s suspected scientific advances, he wrote an urgent letter to President Roosevelt warning of a “new phenomenon” which could “lead to the construction of bombs.”
This was signed by Leo’s friend Albert Einstein and received by Roosevelt in August 1939, just one month before WWII erupted in Europe.
This correspondence led to the formation of the ‘Manhattan Project’; the USA’s top secret programme to build the atomic bomb.
Although Leo worked worked on the project the idea of dropping these weapons on cities horrified him and he implored President Truman to demonstrate their power before unleashing them.
His pleas were ignored and in August 1945 the nuclear flashes over Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed at least 129,000 people in an instant, bringing the theory that had occurred to Leo on Russell Square 12 years before to its disturbing climax.
After WWII Leo became a dedicated peace campaigner, speaking out against the weapons he had reluctantly helped to create.
Leo also pioneered modern chemotherapy techniques which he successfully tested upon himself after contracting bladder cancer. He passed away in 1964, aged 66, his incredible discovery that day in Bloomsbury having changed the world forever.
Read the rest of my Cold War London series:
Part one: London’s Cold War Spy Locations
Part two: The Umbrella Assassination
Part three: London’s Cold War Bunkers
And make sure you check out my top picks from the National Archives’ excellent exhibition: ‘Protect and Survive: Britain’s Cold War Revealed’
Great blog Rob fascinating story ,I can remember back in early 60s or it could have been late 50s a program on the television that my parents watched called the Brains trust I was about 15 /16 at the the time and did not take to much interest spent most of the time in going out with my mates but I do remember watching one about the “Bomb ” and I’m sure it was with Malcolm Mugggeridge, Jacob Bronwski , think spelt that right and I have a feeling Edward Teller and we all sat round getting frightened out of our wits . On a different subject been reading your book and studying the routes and it set me thinking back when I was saving up to get married I worked in Halfords Fore Street Edmonton it was just like a small high street shop back then and a easy walk from home in Westerham ave one day the area manager called in to see me to ask if I would work in their shop in Station road Harrow for a few months the firm would pay my travel expenses and I could start late and leave early,I jumped at it thought it would be great sitting on the tube like a city gent did this for a few weeks and thought if I got a cheap push bike I could cycle to work and save the expenses the manager agreed so got a second hand bike from them it had three gears and that was about it no licra shorts or bash hat for me just bike clips and a cape for when it rained lol off course my dad said you will never keep it up I’ll give you a week well had to prove him wrong did it for 18months and saved the deposit for a bungalow in Norfolk now to the reason to telling you all this I have been trying to writing the route as you do in the book but struggling with the last part got as far as Staples corner and I remember I used to turn right there but can’t remember the name of the road so going into Norwich this week to get A to Z and if I get it done I’ll let you know so your book has inspired a Old 75 year old to get his brain working thanks Rob and keep it hope you can make sense of all this.
Kind regards Bill Catherall
Hello Bill, thank you so much for the lovely comment! So pleased my book has encouraged you to give your brain a workout; best of luck with it! Thanks again, your kind support means a great deal to me.
Great history, Rob. On an architectural note, I always hated that rebuilt Imperial Hotel. It is an unattractive, soulless building that spoils the square for me.
Best wishes, and happy new year to you.
Pete.
Thanks for a fascinating history of Russell Square Rob. I worked in London for most of my working life and approx 45 years ago I quite often sat in the Square eating my lunchtime sandwiches. (It was not as smart then as it is today – no cafeteria or coffee). If I had known this history then I would have taken more notice of my surroundings !
There are surely many more interesting but little known stories about London’s recent history and I look forward to your future postings.
Very best wishes for 2020.