The Battle of Stalingrad (August 23, 1942 – February 2, 1943) was a major confrontation of World War II, in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought with the Soviet Union for control of the southern Russian city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd).
The Battle of Stalingrad was also one of the bloodiest battles in history. The city of Stalingrad was of vital strategic importance to both Nazi Germans and Soviet troops. The city, named after Stalin, also made Hitler's goal of capturing it irresistible.
Combat is characterized by continuous close-quarters combat, initially an air-raid direct attack. The battle was considered the largest and bloodiest battle in the history of the war, with nearly 2 million military and civilian casualties. The Russians called it the greatest battle of the Great Patriotic War. Many historians call it the greatest battle in the entire conflict. It prevented Nazi Germany from advancing into the Soviet Union and marked a shift in the tide of the war in favor of the Allies.
The Battle of Stalingrad ended in the catastrophe of Nazi Germany, when Soviet troops defeated some 265,000 men of the Wehrmacht, their Axis allies, and Sives. Of the 107,000 Captured Axis soldiers, only 6,000 survived captivity and returned home in 1955.
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Stalingrad, famous T-34 tank
Soldiers of the German 6th Army traveled to Stalingrad in 1942
Battle on the Streets of the City, Stalingrad, November 1942
Commanded by General Vasily Trikov, known as the "Man of Iron Will" or "Stone", was a Soviet commander during the Battle of Stalingrad
In the fall of 1942, German soldiers cleared his rifles between battles in Stalingrad
German soldiers in Spartanovka, on the outskirts of Stalingrad
German soldiers in the Battle of Stalingrad in the battle of the city
In 1942, German squads looked for cover at the Red October Factory in Stalingrad and prepared to advance into battle
Red Army Battle Positions, Stalingrad, 1942
During the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet rockets were fired at German positions
In November 1942, in Stalingrad, Soviet soldiers fought in the streets of the city
Soviet troops fighting in the ruins of the "Red October" factory in Stalingrad in October 1942
Stalingrad, autumn 1942
Two Soviet soldiers evacuated a wounded comrade from the factory building
Wehrmacht soldiers eat roast chicken outside Stalingrad, 1942
Wehrmacht soldiers in Stalingrad
Stalingrad, 1943
A Soviet soldier presents cigarettes to German prisoners of war captured in the Battle of Stalingrad
German soldiers who died after the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943
The frozen corpse of the Germans, Stalingrad
Piles of German corpses outside Stalingrad in February 1943
Stalingrad after the war, 1943
Two German soldiers froze to death in Stalingrad
On 31 January 1943, Stalingrad, German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, Major General Arthur Schmidt and Paulus's aide-de-camp, Colonel Wilhelm Adam, surrendered
On January 31, 1943, German General Friedrich Paulus was made a prisoner of war
German prisoner of war, Stalingrad
In February 1943, a Russian boy in Stalingrad holds a captured German machine gun
Stalingrad city center after liberation, February 2, 1943
The "Sword of Stalingrad" was a gift from Britain to the Soviet Union. This is a tribute to the Russian soldiers who fought and won the Battle of Stalingrad
In 1945, young people in a Soviet sports parade imitated the recently rebuilt Barmaley Fountain in Stalingrad nearby