The battle of Stalingard was a harsh battle between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. The battle is famous as one of the largest, longest, and bloodiest battle in modern warfare during World War 2. The battle extended from August 1942 till February 1943. More than 2 million troops fought in the battle of Stalingard and nearly two million people were killed or injured in the fighting, including tens thousands of Russian civilians. But however, the battle of Stalingard (one of Russia’s important industrial cities) ultimately turned the tide of World War II in favor of the Allied forces.
Under the leadership of ruthless head of state Joseph Stalin, Russian forces had already successfully
rebuffed on a German attack on the western part of the country – one that he had the vast goal of taking Moscow during the winter of 1941to 1942. However, Stalin’s Red Army had suffered significant losses in the fighting, both in terms of manpower and weaponry.
Stalin and his generals, including future Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev, fully expected another Nazi attack to be aimed at Moscow. However, Hitler and the Wehrmacht had other ideas.
They set their sights on Stalingrad, because the city served as an industrial center in Russia, producing, among other important goods and artillery for the country’s troops. The Volga River, which runs through the city, was also an important shipping route connecting the western part of the country with its distant eastern regions.
Atlast, Adolf Hitler wanted the Wehrmacht to occupy Stalingrad, seeing its value for propaganda purposes, given that it bore Stalin’s name. For similar reasons, the Russians felt a special need to protect it from Hitler and Germany.
When Hitler planned that upon taking Stalingrad all of the city’s male residents would be killed and its women deported, the stage was set for a hard-fought battle between Germany and Russia. Stalin ordered all Russians strong enough to hold a rifle to take up arms in defense of the city.
The 6th Army of the Wehrmacht began their attack at Russia on August 23, 1942.
Battle of Stalingrad Begins
Russian forces were initially able to slow the German Wehrmacht’s super army during a series of brutal skirmishes just north of Stalingrad. Stalin’s forces lost more than 200,000 men, but they successfully held off German soldiers.
With a firm understanding of Hitler’s plans, the Russians had already shipped much of the stores of grain and cattle out of Stalingrad. However, the city’s 400,000-plus residents were not shifted, as the Russian leadership believed their presence would inspire troops.
Within a few days of launching its attack, Germany’s Luftwaffe air force had attacked the Volga River impassable to shipping and had sunk several Russian commercial vessels in the process. From late August through the end of the assault, the Luftwaffe conducted dozens of air strikes on the city.
The number of civilian casualties is unknown. However, it’s believed that tens thousands were killed, and that tens thousands or more were captured and forced into slave labour in camps of Germany.
By September, the Luftwaffe essentially had control of the skies over Stalingrad, and the Russians were getting desperate. Workers in the city were not involved in war-related weapons production were. Soon they were asked to take up fighting, often without firearms of their own. Women were also enlisted to dig trenches at the front lines. Yet, the Russians continued to suffer heavy losses. By the fall of 1942, Stalingrad was in ruins.
In spite of having heavy casualties and the pounding delivered by the Luftwaffe, Stalin instructed his forces in the city to not retreat, famously decreeing in Order No. 227: “Not a step back!” Those who surrendered would be subject to a trial by military tribunal and face possible execution.
With less than 20,000 troops in the city and less than 100 tanks, Stalin’s generals finally began sending reinforcements into the city and surrounding areas. Fighting raged in the streets of Stalingrad, with both sides using snipers poised on the roofs of the city’s buildings.
Russian generals Georgy Zhukov and Aleksandr Vasilevsky organized Russian troops in the mountains to the north and west of the city. From there, they launched a counterattack, which is popularly known as Operation Uranus.
Although they again sustained significant losses but russian forces were able to form a defensive ring around the city by late November 1942, trapping the nearly 300,000 German and Axis troops in the 6th Army.
With the Russian blockade there was limiting access to supplies, German forces trapped in Stalingrad slowly starved. The Russians would seize upon the resulting weakness during the cold, harsh winter months that followed.
