This is the Russian Tsar the largest, most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. `I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but Wo This is the Russian Tsar the largest, most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. `I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.` -Albert Einstein more >> <<less

Codenamed "Ivan" during its development, the Tsar Bomba was not intended for use in warfare, but rather as a show of strength. Khrushchev gave the go- Codenamed "Ivan" during its development, the Tsar Bomba was not intended for use in warfare, but rather as a show of strength. Khrushchev gave the go-ahead at a time of grave tension. The first Berlin wall was erected one month later in August 1961. Moreover, with France recently emerging as the second Western European nuclear force (Gerboise Bleue) with the United Kingdom. The USSR was about to deploy nuclear weapons in Cuba, which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The bomb was tested on October 30, 1961, in Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago in the Arctic Sea. The device was scaled down from its original design of 100 megatons to reduce the resulting nuclear fallout. more >> <<less