Why did the Soviets make nuclear weapons?

Answer 1

The U.S developed nuclear weapons to scare the Japanese and end World War 2 for the Americans

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Wrong!

Actually the U.S. developed nuclear weapons in WW2 in an arms race with the supposed Nazi Germany project to do the same. Unknown to us, the German project soon stalled and concentrated on reactors not bombs. When Germany surrendered in spring 1945 the U.S. project continued as it was so close to finishing. In August the only 2 nuclear bombs used in war were dropped on Japan, prompting their surrender and ending the war.

They were developed to defend against a possible German threat but got used against Japan to end the war.

After the war, development slowed but was prompted by fears of the expansion of Soviet Communism. Development accelerated again after the USSR's 1949 test of their first nuclear bomb, causing an extended arms race.

Answer 2

The Soviet Union began making nuclear weapons because of the fear that the United States might use the nuclear weapons they had built and used during WW2 on the Soviet Union.

The United States began making nuclear weapons during WW2 because of the fear that Nazi Germany might be making nuclear weapons and would rapidly defeat England with them, denying access to a convenient place to mass troops for an invasion of Europe (and also use the nuclear weapons on any invading troops). There was also a fear that eventually Nazi Germany might someday use nuclear weapons on the United States.

Every country that has actually made nuclear weapons made them because of this same fear: that Another Country might have nuclear weapons and use those nuclear weapons to attack them.

The only country ever actually attacked using nuclear weapons (Japan) had no idea that the United States had nuclear weapons and their own project doing the preliminary studies of nuclear fission needed to design nuclear weapons had been stalled for many years just trying to build cyclotrons, due to the unavailability of usable high frequency high power vacuum tubes during WW2 in Japan (a problem that also limited Japan's development of RADAR systems). They were so shocked by the bombings that many Japanese scientists sent to evaluate the damage did not understand what they were seeing and the leadership of Japan initially disbelieved the reports of the scope of the damage done.

Answer 3

Fear. It is called an "arms race". There have been arms races with every weapon type ever made.