Stalin's Turning Point

It was the first major German loss during World War Two (it significantly decreased their front line power and determination): Prior to Stalingrad the German’s had been on an immense roll since the beginning of the war, and their defeat proved to the Allies that Germany wasn’t invincible. After Stalingrad, there was not any significant German victory in the war. Hitler commented: “the God of war has gone over to the other side”(1943).

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.

“While the German army had success the first day, it was Hitler’s desire to occupy the entire city that cost him the battle” (Background). Despite being in a favorable position early on, Hitler decide to continue to push on and quickly take over the city of Stalingrad. Logically, Hitler would have been content with the position he had, and held it for some time. Despite throwing large amounts of men into the fighting the Germans only made small amounts of progress, losing absurd amounts of men and supplies to take over a single building. Once Hitler had started this push, however, he could not pull out of it. It would be a defeat in his eyes, and avoiding defeat was more important to him than the lives of his men. “Fresh divisions were thrown in and were soon ground to pieces in the inferno (a fiery hell). To Hitler [Stalingrad’s] capture was now a question of personal prestige” (Document 1). After a certain point, a victory under his name became won important to Hitler than the territory won in the battle. Especially due to the city's importance to Stalin himself, it was more of a personal battle for Hitler than a battle between nations. The Battle of Stalingrad became a test of Hitler’s prestige and what he was willing to do to protect it. The answer to that question would turn out to be too much, as the Soviets would be on the front foot for the

The battle of Stalingrad raged from August 1942 until the German surrender on 2 February 1943. Significantly, it was the first catastrophic defeat to befall the Wermacht Army who not only lost the battle but were severely humiliated. Indeed, the German Army never fully recovered from this blow to its morale. Upwards of 270,000 troops were killed and 91,000 prisoners were taken by the Red Army; included in this latter number were 23 German Generals. Conversely, morale in the Red Army soared as a consequence of Stalingrad giving the Russians increased strength and confidence. This battle represented a turning point in the Second World War.

If captured, the struggling War Machine of Germany would get the help it needed and Germany would finally stand equal with Russia. After making gains in South Russia, the Germans were closing on the city of Stalingrad. Stalingrad served as an important supply route to support the USSR’s war effort in the South but the psychological importance of the battle was huge. The city, named after Joseph Stalin (can’t believe you didn’t realize that), was ordered to be defended at all costs. ALL COSTS. When the Germans were closing in on the city, Stalin ordered the evacuation of all food in the city, not it’s people. Not one civilian was allowed to leave. His reason? To inspire Russian soldiers to defend the city, who by the way were ordered to not retreat in the now famous order that Russian soldiers wouldn’t take a step back. The battle began on July 17, 1942 when 1,000 tons of bombs were dropped over the city in less than 48 hours. This was more than what London experienced during the whole climax of the Blitz. During the beginning of the battle, more than 400,000 civilians were trapped inside the city, about twice the size of Des Moines, By January, 1943, only 10 to 60 thousand civilians were still alive. Germany struck with everything they had, 331,000 of their finest infantry versus about 1,000,000

The Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 was the major turning point in the war, which sparked the Soviet counterattack against the Germans which led to the Allied European victory. Considered to be one of the bloodiest battles in history, that in Stalingrad, more lives were lost than Great Britain and the USA fatalities both combined for the entire war. It is estimated that the Axis forces had a total of 750,000 causalities and 478,741 Soviet casualties . In August 1942, the Axis conducted an offensive attack to capture Stalingrad after their failure to capture Moscow the previous year. Stalingrad was very important to the USSR as it was Russia’s centre of communication in the south and a major manufacturing city. In early September 1942, the Germans advanced towards Stalingrad. The Soviets could not give up this city as it was named after

The prolonged battle lasted for months and was one of the most costliest battles of the war as it saw brutal urban warfare and ceaseless artillery bombing which annihilated the city. The head of the Jewish Virtual Library, Jason Levine, accounts the huge impact and aftermath the battle had claimed that “Stalingrad was also revealing of the discipline and determination of both the German Wehrmacht and the Soviet Red Army. The Soviets first defended Stalingrad against a fierce German onslaught. So great were Soviet losses that at times, the life expectancy of a newly arrived soldier was less than a day,and the life expectancy of a Soviet officer was three days… In all, the battle resulted in an estimated total of 1.7 million to 2 million Axis and Soviet casualties”(Levine). Levine details the battle as an unprecedented event as both sides suffered astronomically high casualties and highlighted the brutality of the fighting as the rate of death for Soviet soldiers was a few days. To understand the grasp of the battle; the entire four year long campaign of the American Civil War had less casualties than the singular Battle of

Then, in the winter of 1941 and beginning of 1942, extremely cold temperatures were occurring all over Soviet Russia. The Nazi Army begged Hitler to stop for the winter, but Hitler ordered them to keep going. Many Nazi and Soviet soldiers died due to the harsh conditions. However, the Soviets had the advantage. Special trained Soviets soldiers were taught to fight in the extreme cold. Stalin ordered these troops to fight the Nazi soldiers who decided to keep going. They were no match for the Soviets, and key victories at Stalingrad and other major cities were key to the Soviet Union for pushing the Nazis all the way out of their territory. For Stalin, it was a great victory, for Hitler, it was a terrible

Comrade General Secretary Joseph Stalin’s rise to power in the former Soviet Union was born in the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1917. His association and friendship with Vladimir Lenin also played an integral part in the dictator’s power grab. Stalin participated in the December 1904 oil worker strike in Baku, Georgia, which ended successfully later that month. It was the first time in Russian history that a collective bargaining agreement was signed between oil company owners and oil workers. With his newfound credibility, he wrote several popular articles speaking out against the current regime. Stalin also raised paramilitaries to spread propaganda. They were funded by raising money through bank robberies, kidnappings, and

Much of the city was composed of large four to five story buildings. The Germans likely viewed the capture of this city as a psychological advantage as well as providing an impact to Russian military manufacturing. Germany did not initially believe Stalingrad would prove difficult to occupy. The German 6th Army and elements of the 4th Panzer Army would be assigned as the lead effort to achieve this advancement known as Operation Blue. Figure 1 below is a depiction of disposition of forces during Operation Blue as well as planned assault locations.

     After the Germans failed to win the war totally in 1941, they decided to start a fresh effort, and hoped that this would lead to victory. This effort eventually led to the city of Stalingrad in 1942. Different from the the three pronged attack of the previous year, this one had two attack directions. One from Kharkov to

The battle between Russia and Germany in the summer of 1941 is known as the largest land theatre of war in history. It was the most horrific war of all time. Stalingrad was called Tsaritsyn until 1925, it was then renamed Stalingrad in honor of Josef Stalin. The cities name was changed again in 1961 to Volgograd, meaning Volga City. This monumental battle is considered a turning point in the war on the Eastern Front. The invading Gerans saw the conquering of Stalingrad as essential to their campaign in Russia, because from this strategic point on the Volga River they could launch further assaults in the Caucasus. The Russians were determined to defend the city in any way as an important industrial and transportation center. Stalingrad stretched

With nearly two million military and civilian casualties there has never been a battle in its scale of destruction. Known by its close quarters combat and direct air raid assaults on civilians. The Battle of Stalingrad is regarded as the largest and bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. The biggest defeat in the history of the German Army. Before Stalingrad, the German forces had gone through constant victories with very few setbacks. It was a battle of annihilation between two dictators who sacrificed a huge numbers of lives. The battle invalidated the Nazi propaganda and crushed the stereotypes about German soldiers who were taught they are super beings. Russians consider the battle of Stalingrad to be the greatest battle in their

One may wonder why Stalingrad was so important to Hitler. Well, Stalingrad was the capital of the Soviet Union, the heart of their industry and their largest city. As an industrial city, Stalingrad contained numerous factories that provided tanks, guns and ammunition for the Soviet war effort. Without the war supplies and the oil fields in Caucasus, nothing would be supporting the Soviet forces. And more importantly, a World War Two database describes Stalingrad as a “city [that] bore the name of Hitler’s nemesis, Joseph Stalin, [which] would make the city’s capture an ideological and propaganda coup” (http://en.allexperts.com). As both Hitler and Stalin recognized, taking Stalingrad would prove essential to their country’s propaganda, boosting their nation’s morale and destroying the others. Stalingrad was named after Stalin and thus symbolic to both sides of the war. Basically, to the Germans, taking Stalingrad meant the crushing the Soviets; taking them out of the war once and for all.

German and Finnish forces besieged Lenin’s namesake city after their spectacular initial advance during Operation Barbarossa. After a precipitous advance during summer 1941, forces of German Army Group North struggled against stubborn Soviet resistance to isolate and seize the city before the onset of winter. In heavy fighting during August, German forces reached the city’s suburbs and the shores of Lake Ladoga, severing Soviet ground communications with the city. In November, Soviet forces repelled a renewed German offensive and clung to tenuous resupply routes across the frozen waters of Lake Ladoga. Thereafter, German and Soviet strategic attention shifted to other more critical sectors of the Eastern Front, and Leningrad-its defending forces