More Soviet soldiers died in the five-month battle than Americans in the entire war. But by February 2, , when the Germans trapped in the city surrendered, it was clear that the momentum on the Eastern Front had shifted. The Germans would never fully recover. A Soviet soldier waves the Red Banner near the central plaza of Stalingrad, Fourteen months before Stalingrad began, Hitler had launched Operation Barbarossa, the largest military offensive in human history.
At first, their prediction seemed correct: the attack in June caught Stalin unawares, and the Red Army unprepared. By December, the Red Army had suffered nearly five million casualties. But despite enduring staggering losses, the Red Army continued to resist. In August , senior members of the Wehrmacht began growing increasingly uneasy.
Has been underestimated by us…. At the start of the war we reckoned with about enemy divisions. Now we have already counted … When a dozen have been smashed, then the Russian puts up another dozen. But as the weather grew bitterly cold, the German offensive ground to a halt, and was then pushed back by a Soviet counteroffensive.
The front line froze in place some two hundred kilometers west of Moscow — and kilometers east of Berlin. A German reconnaissance photo of Stalingrad after bombing from the air in October Bundesarchiv. During the bitter winter months, the OKH began planning for a renewed counteroffensive in the spring, hoping to achieve the decisive victory that had evaded them in Thus was born Operation Blue, an attack to seize the oil fields of the Caucasus, and then drive on to the Volga.
Launched in June , it caught the Red Army off-guard, as they had expected a renewed push towards Moscow. Within two weeks, the Wehrmacht advanced more than miles. Hitler, increasingly directing military operations in Berlin, decided to shift his offensive in early August. For both symbolic and strategic reasons, he ordered the Sixth Army under General Friedrich von Paulus to advance towards the city of Stalingrad.
By August 23, the Germans were in the suburbs, where fighting turned ferocious. Hitler ordered that Paulus should fight to the last bullet, and to encourage Paulus, he promoted him to field marshal. However, by the end of January , the Germans could do nothing else but surrender. Paulus surrendered the army in the southern sector on January 31st while General Schreck surrendered the northern group on February 2nd, The failure of the German Army was nothing short of a disaster. A complete army group was lost at Stalingrad and 91, Germans were taken prisoner.
With such a massive loss of manpower and equipment, the Germans simply did not have enough manpower to cope with the Russian advance to Germany when it came. Despite resistance in parts — such as a Kursk — they were in retreat on the Eastern Front from February on. Hitler commented:. German Army Russian Army Led by Paulus Led by Zhukov 1,, men 1,, men 10, artillery guns 13, artillery guns tanks tanks 1, planes 1, planes.
I can only hold my mug with my thumb and little finger. The best thing I can do with the little finger is to shoot with it. May 2, It was seen as one of the major turning points in World War 2. Explanation: The German attack on the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa after initial success, had slowed down by Related questions How do I determine the molecular shape of a molecule? What is the lewis structure for co2? What is the lewis structure for hcn? How is vsepr used to classify molecules?
Thanks to Russian gains in nearby fighting, including in Rostov-on-Don, miles from Stalingrad, the Axis forces — mostly Germans and Italians — were stretched thin. Through Operation Little Saturn, the Russians began to break the lines of mostly Italian forces to the west of the city.
At this point, German generals abandoned all efforts to relieve their beleaguered forces trapped in Stalingrad. Still, Hitler refused to surrender even as his men slowly starved and ran out of ammunition. By February , Russian troops had retaken Stalingrad and captured nearly , German soldiers, though pockets of resistance continued to fight in the city until early March. Most of the captured soldiers died in Russian prison camps, either as a result of disease or starvation. The loss at Stalingrad was the first failure of the war to be publicly acknowledged by Hitler.
In the end, many historians believe the Battle at Stalingrad marked a major turning point in the conflict. It was the beginning of the march toward victory for the Allied forces of Russia, Britain, France and the United States. In February , Russians gathered in what is now known as Volgograd to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the conclusion of the battle that had ravaged their city.
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