Battle Of Kursk Analysis

On the whole, this is the most significant point that will be discussed because simply, the Eastern Front is where the war was won and it also facilitated the landing of the allied troops in Normandy – D-Day. Stalin had been longing for the opening of the second front to draw German tanks and infantry away from the Eastern Front. The crucial aerial bombing meant that Germany had to withdraw anti-tank guns from the Eastern front and instead, use them to fight the British bombers in the sky. This was evident with the AA Defence System (88mm tank guns) which could no longer inflict damage upon the Red Army and the Soviets. Similarly, the Germans had to divert money and manpower (infantry) to provide a significant enough opposition to discourage the Allies from continuing with their long range offensives. As well as diversion of resources, the priority of the German manufacturers shifted greatly whereby the number of fighters increased on the German front from 1405 to 1650 in 1943-44, but decreased on the Eastern Front from 445 to 425 in 1943-44. The switch of bombers to fighters meant that troops on the front line did not have a protective air force. This, along with the minimalised production of weapons, reduced the war effort served by the Germans on the Eastern Front. The only fight which the Germans could put up there was defensive which inevitably, gave

The Battle of Stalingrad marked the end of Germany’s advances into Eastern Europe and Russia. After Germany's failure to take Stalingrad, their Eastern front army was practically destroyed and they were forced to flee outside of the Soviet Union. This became a turning point for World War Two as it put the Russians on the offensive. Consequently, this directly aided in the destruction and conquering of Germany by the Allied Forces throughout 1944 and 1945. Germany was, essentially, surrounded with the Americans and British in the West, and the Russians in the East.

Most historians are wrong when they say all of that. The German tanks could take them out from a distance that was unheard of at the time. The German tanks could not be penetrated by most of the allied tanks because the tanks guns lacked the penetration to get through the Germans front

They were relying on the capture of the Russian oil fields to supply their army with fuel after their stockpiles had run out. Their lack of fuel is evident even in this battle as Friedrich Von Paulus, who was commanding the sixth army’s assault on Stalingrad, advance towards the city was very slow due to the fuel rations and at one point his army was even brought to a complete halt outside Kalach, as they had completely exhausted their fuel supply. The outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad exacerbated the Germans shortage of fuel, limiting the vital supply for their planes and tanks. Without fuel, the German panzer tanks and the mighty German Luftwaffe would be useless, thus rendering two of Germany’s greatest assets worthless. The Germans could not win the war without a reliable source of fuel. Therefore, the Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in World War Two because it stopped the German advance into Russian thus denying them access to the Caucasus oil wells, exacerbating Germany’s fuel crisis and crippling the German army.

As Germany advanced on the city of Stalingrad, Hitler decided to rush the battle and try to finish it quickly. Because of this mindset, his army was severely underprepared to fight a drawn out battle in the Russian winter. German general Blumentritt recalled “The railheads (train tracks) were as much as 200 kilometers behind the front, and the bare nature of the countryside meant that there was little timber (wood) available for constructing defenses. There were no proper trenches or fixed positions” (Document 3). The Soviets had a major advantage over the Germans of the aspect of being resupplied. While they could receive support from nearby or within the city, Germany had to rely on supplies coming from a long way out. If supply shipments were cut off by the Soviets, the Germans were forced to continue fighting with limited resources. Also, the Battle of Stalingrad is a prime example of how much changed between the first and second world war. The vast majority of World War I was fought out of trenches, with soldiers moving very little. World War II was fought in the style of urban warfare, surrounded by streets and buildings, nearly the polar opposite of trench warfare. The Germans were not trained to fight an urban style battle, and thus struggled upon reaching the city of Stalingrad. When the cold Russian winter came, German suffering reached an all time high. A soldier named Wilhelm

Other than causing the liberation of France and the establishment of a new battlefront, the invasion also relieved the Soviet Union’s pressure. Before the Invasion, Germany had over two million troops fighting against the Red Army in the Eastern Front, and many of Soviet’s cities were captured. The Russians fought desperately to protect their cities. However, after the invasion, with the launch of a new major battlefront in the West, Hitler had to transport many of his forces to the West in order to defend his own country. Without as many troops to fight against, the Soviet army was able to push through Czechoslovakia, Poland and eventually penetrate into Germany; the Soviet Union’s progress greatly sped up the endof the war. (Naval History and Heritage- D-Day, the Normandy Invasion, 6 - 25 June 1944)

The battle of Stalingrad was a very intense battle for the Russians as the Germans closed in on them with support from the sixth panzer division and bombings from the Luftwaffe. This battle lasted from April to February, and was mostly house to house fighting. The Germans managed to push the defending Russians back to the Volga River. The Russians were desperate, so they formed the idea of “Project Uranus”. This was a plan to surround the Germans on two sides with the Mongolians and the Romanians. Finally, in February, the attacking German forces were repelled and Stalingrad was held. If the Germans had taken Stalingrad, they could attack the Russians on two

Reality quickly set in for the Germans that they were in a stalemate on the Western Front, so they decided to shift many of their fighting forces to the Eastern Front to try and finish off the Russians. This left them with an army along the Western Front that could hold the line, but would have a hard time gaining any ground.

During the attack on the morning of December 16th, there were approximately 80,000 United States Army Soldiers in the Ardennes Forest. The Allied Forces had fewer than 250 pieces of armor and nearly 400 artillery guns laid across the 75-mile front. German forces were comprised of a combination of battle-hardened veterans who had fought along the Eastern Front and units filled with inexperienced young men and Soldiers who would usually be considered too old for service. Approximately 250,000 German Soldiers advanced along a 50-mile-long front of Allied Forces with the support of 100,000 tanks and assault guns, including the new 70-ton Tiger II tanks and 1,900 artillery guns. Germany’s 2,000 aircrafts would remain ready for deployment when permitted by weather.

On September 3rd, 1942, Germans reach the outskirts of Stalingrad expecting not much of a fight. Russia, however brought a bigger fight than Germany was expecting. During the winter, as Germany blew Stalingrad to rubble, they were running short on food and ammunition. Germans were also freezing as well as hungry. Approximately, 150,000 Germans were killed during this battle.

The Germans brought in planes and tried to take over a yard that supplied the Allied Forces. At that point, the Germans advanced over 60 miles and they were completely out of fuel. The troops were forced to keep fighting without their vehicles. That winter was tremendously cold, and many soldiers got frostbite and trench foot. The Allied Forces and Germans fought intensely during this period because both sides had much to lose. The Germans knew that they must either keep fighting or retreat. On December 26, 1944, U.S General George Patton's troop defeated the Germans. They caught the Germans unaware and insured the allies’

The German Army was badly depleted. Their amount of equipment and the condition of their equipment was no comparison to the Soviets. The only remaining forces were Waffen-SS divisions, Volkssturm, and the Hitler Youth Members. Most of the German forces were untrained and disorganized, but mostly they were inadequately equipped. Almost all the equipment the Germans had was in dire need of repair.

Also, during the Battle of Stalingrad about 1.5 million Axis troops were killed, wounded or captured. Another tragedy was the death tolls where that more than 40,000 Soviet Union civilians died in the suburbs around and in Stalingrad in just a single week of aerial bombing as the German military advanced to the city. The fighting within the Stalingrad was intense close quarter combat where Soviet troops positioned their lines as close to the Germans as possible in an attempt to reduce casualties, as it was often the safest place from German artillery and air raids. As the casualty numbers grew, Germany found it more and more difficult to replace their loses as the Soviets used their larger population to their advantage, costly reinforcing the city, often faired across the Volga River under fire by German machine guns. The Soviets, despite their heavy losses, managed to constantly hold a part of the city and stop the Axis from taking total control.

This battle took place from June 22 to December 5, 1941 and demonstrates how Germany broke their pact with Russia. This opened up the Eastern front, meaning the German’s would have to fight on two fronts instead of one. Hitler made an mistake attacking Russia in the first place, but to make it worse, he gave Stalin enough time to build his defences during Hitler’s decision to not eliminate the British during the battle of Dunkirk. His strategy of invading Russia was over before the two forces even fought. There was no reason for the pact between Germany and Russia to break as Russia was not a threat to Germany at this point. Hitler’s greedy, anti-communist views overpowered him when he realized he had conquered most of Europe. Hitler did not think that the other democratic countries would side with Russia. He rushed his plans and it resulted in a defeat. He would have ultimately been better off breaking the pact when he conquered the other empires who were more of a threat to the Germans first. This is another example of how unqualified Hitler was as a

During World War II, the battle of Stalingrad began in the city of Stalingrad, Russia and was fought between August of 1942 and February of 1943. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad It is still considered today to be one of Russia’s greatest battles in which the Russian army defended itself from invasion by the German army. This battle essentially stopped Germany’s determined advance into Russian territory. This marked a huge turning point in the war for the Allies. It was a very important war because it crippled the German offensive as well as destroying much of its army.