The Battle of Stalingrad (one of Russia's most important industrial cities) was a brutal military operation between Russian troops and Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. The battle is notoriously one of the largest, longest, and bloodiest engagements of modern warfare: from August 1942 to February 1943, more than 2 million soldiers fought at close range — nearly 2 million killed and wounded in the battle, including thousands of Russian civilians. But the Battle of Stalingrad eventually turned the tide of World War II in favor of the Allies.
In the middle of World War II— in the spring of 1942, when the Wehrmacht occupied most of the territory of present-day Ukraine and Belarus— in the summer of that year, the Wehrmacht decided to launch an offensive against southern Russia.
Under the leadership of the head of state Joseph Stalin, Russian troops had successfully resisted the German offensive on the western part of the country in the winter of 1941–42 – with the ultimate goal of capturing Moscow. However, Stalin's Red Army suffered heavy manpower and weapons losses during the battle.
Stalin and his generals, including future Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, anticipated another Nazi attack on Moscow. However, Hitler and the Wehrmacht had other ideas.
They set their sights on Stalingrad, because the city was russia's industrial center, producing important equipment such as cannons for the country's army. The Volga River, which runs through the city, is also an important waterway connecting the western part of the country with the far eastern region.
Eventually, Adolf Hitler wanted the Wehrmacht to occupy Stalingrad because it was named after Stalin and saw value for its purpose of propaganda victory. For similar reasons, the Russians felt a particular need to protect it.
When Hitler declared the occupation of Stalingrad and all the male inhabitants of the city were killed and deported, a bloody and uphill battle began. Stalin ordered all the Russians who were strong enough to pick up their rifles to defend the city.
The 6th Wehrmacht Army began its offensive on August 23, 1942.
In a series of brutal skirmishes north of Stalingrad, Russian troops were initially able to slow the advance of the Wehrmacht. Stalin's army lost more than 200,000 men, but they succeeded in stopping the German soldiers.
With a deep understanding of Hitler's plans, the Russians had already shipped most of their grain and livestock out of Stalingrad. However, the city's more than 400,000 residents were not evacuated because Russian leaders believed their presence would inspire the army.
Within days of the attack, Luftwaffe bombing rendered the Volga river unnectable and sank several Russian merchant ships in the process. From late August until the end of the attack, the Luftwaffe carried out dozens of air raids on the city.
The number of civilian casualties is unknown. However, tens of thousands of people are believed to have been killed, and tens of thousands more were captured and forced to work in German camps.
By September, the Luftwaffe had essentially controlled the skies over Stalingrad, and the Russians had become desperate. Workers in the city who were not involved in the production of war-related weapons were soon called upon to fight, but they often did not have their own guns, and women were recruited to the front lines to dig trenches. However, the Russians continue to suffer heavy losses. By the fall of 1942, Stalingrad was in ruins.
Despite heavy casualties and heavy blows from the Luftwaffe, Stalin instructed his troops in the city not to retreat, and in the famous Order No. 227 was: "Don't retreat!" Those who turn themselves in will be tried by a military tribunal and may face execution.
With fewer than 20,000 soldiers and less than 100 tanks in the city, Stalin's generals finally began sending reinforcements to the city and surrounding areas. Fighting raged in the streets of Stalingrad, and both sides sent snipers to join the fighting.
Russian generals Georgi Zhukov and Alexander Vasilevsky organized Russian troops in the mountains north and west of the city. From there, they launched a counterattack, the famous Uranus Operation.
Although they again suffered heavy losses, by late November 1942 the Russian army was able to form a substantial defensive ring around the city, trapping nearly 300,000 Axis soldiers in the 6th Army. This achievement became the theme of the post-war propaganda film "Battle of Stalingrad".
Because the Russian blockade limited supplies, the German troops trapped in Stalingrad were in a state of hunger and cold. The Russians will seize on the resulting weaknesses in the cold, harsh winter months that follow to form a counterattack.
With the onset of the harsh winter in Russia, Soviet generals knew that the Germans would be at a disadvantage, fighting in conditions they were not accustomed to. They began to consolidate their positions around Stalingrad, strangling the German army from important supplies and essentially encircling them in a tightening noose.
As Russia won nearby battles, including rostov-on-Don, 250 miles from Stalingrad, Axis forces— mainly the Germans and Italians — were no longer able to fight. Through Operation Little Saturn, the Russians began to break through the defensive lines of the main Italian army to the west of the city.
The German general abandoned all efforts to rescue the besieged army trapped in Stalingrad, and Hitler refused to surrender, even as his men slowly starved and ran out of ammunition.
By February 1943, Russian troops had retaken Stalingrad and captured nearly 100,000 German soldiers, most of whom died in Russian prisoner-of-war camps, either due to illness or starvation.
The defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad was the first defeat in which Hitler openly acknowledged it. It put Hitler and the Axis on the defensive and strengthened Russia's confidence in continuing to fight on the Eastern Front in World War II.
Finally, many historians believe that the Battle of Stalingrad marked a major turning point in the conflict. This was the beginning of the victory of the Allies of Russia, Britain, France, and the United States.
In February 2018, Russians gathered in what is now known as Volgograd to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of the battle to destroy their city.