The Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad is known as one of the most decisive battles fought during World War II. Throughout the initial stages of war, Hitler had focused on Western Europe including Poland, France, and Great Britain as the main targets. However, by 1941 Hitler began to divert his attention to Russia. Because of failed campaigns in the North, Hitler turned his focus to the Southern part of Russia. Against the advice of German commanders, Hitler waged a long and bloody battle with Stalin’s troops along the Volga at Stalingrad from August of 1942 to February of 1943.

The battle started on August 23, 1942 when German bombing squadrons dropped several thousand incendiary bombs on the heart of the city and in the outer stretches of the suburbs. On the same day German panzers and a German army group arrived at the suburbs of Stalingrad. Immediately separate, small battles erupted creating a pretty strong resistance against the Nazi army by the Red Army. Not only the Red Army but patriotic civilians as well were involved in the resistance against the Germans. Throughout the battle the Russians were heavily outnumbered, but because of the determination and fear of being captured as a POW, many Russians literally fought to the death. Initially fighting was very harsh and both sides did not make much gain with territory. One German general was quoted saying, “The mile, as a measure of distance, was replaced by the yard at Stalingrad…” This emphasized the importance that both felt about this city by the aggressiveness by both sides. Hitler believed that with the fall of the city, Russia would collapse and he would get his hands on the oil fields in Caucasus. Stalin on the other hand believed that since the city bore his name it was a personal and symbolic matter to push the Nazis out.

Continuously the German Luftwaffe strafed and bombed the city until there were hardly any buildings standing to target. General Chuikov(at the bottom of the picture on the left) of the Russian Red Army ordered his troops to remain as close to the German forces as possible in order to endanger the Germans in higher odds of getting hit by friendly fire. By the time any reinforcements arrived, the Germans surrounded the entire city. The only way for the Russian reinforcements to enter was across the Volgo River of which was under constant fire by German infantry and planes. Because of the closeness of the battle by the two sides many times hand to hand combat was used resorting in the use of knives and bayonets. One German Lieutenant stated, “Stalingrad is no longer a town. By day it is an enormous cloud of burning, blinding smoke; it is a vast furnace lit by the reflection of the flames…Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure.” Because of events in Egypt that involved the defeat of German General Rommel and the threatening Allied forces landing in Morocco and Algeria, Germany was put under pressure to finish off the Russian forces and capture Stalingrad. While the pressure began to mount for Germany, General Zhukov unleashed a reserve force on the already tired and beaten down German flank forces. This plan, known as Operation Uranus, completely caught the Axis forces totally off guard. On November 19^th 1942 a Russian force attacked and overran the Romanian Third army that exposed the left flank of the German Sixth Army. Over the next few days Russian forces continued surprise attacks on the German and Romanian armies. This resulted in the German Army High Command in pleading with Hitler to allow for a temporary retreat by separate German divisions in order that they might regroup and re-supply. At one point in the battle the Luftwaffe Chief Herman Goering claimed that he would be able to fly in 500 tons of food, materials, and ammunition to the surrounded Sixth Army. Hitler agreed to this and on November 22^nd he ordered the divisions that had retreated before to regroup with the Sixth Army. However because of miscommunication, the divisions did not reinforce the Sixth Army and resulted in leaving it at the mercy of the Russians and the cold winter. Because of the lack of supplies and the frigid elements the Russians demanded the Germans to surrender. Finally on February 2^nd, 1943, The Germans surrendered over 110,000 prisoners. This defeat, which claimed the lives of 400,000 Germans brought with it the end of the German campaign in Russian and showed that the Germans could be beat at their own strategies.

Though the blitzkrieg tactics had worked at first, it failed when combined with urban fighting like in Stalingrad. Because of the close proximity of the large city, the maneuverability of tank was impossible and not effective. The Germans instead had to enter the city and fight a long and bloody battle with the Soviet army and her people. The lack of supplies, harsh elements, and stubborn Soviet resistance eventually led to the defeat of the German Army. The Soviets responded with an offensive of their own of which eventually led to Germany’s defeat in World War II.

Bibliography

Doughty, Robert A. American Military History and the Evolution of Western Warfare

D. C. Heath and Company. Lexington, MA. 1996.

Maps, photos, and information from www.stalingrad.net. 2003.