Germany

Romania Italy Hungary

U.S.S.R
Introduction
• The Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point of the most
important as that of the Second World War and is considered the
the most bloody and largest battle in the history of mankind. The battle was
marked by brutality and a lack of care for the civilian population,
manifestations from both sides involved in the conflict. The battle includes
bombing campaign of the city of Stalingrad (now renamed)
Volgograd) from southern Russia, the German ground attack on the city,
the battles within the city itself and the Soviet counteroffensive which, in
In recent days, they surrounded and destroyed the German forces and those of others.
allies from the Axis within the city and the district of the city. The total number of
The losses are estimated at approximately 3 million. Lack of data.
the exact reason is due to the refusal of the Soviet government at the time to
calculate the losses due to fears that the sacrifices would have seemed too
Mari and would have demobilized the war efforts. The Axis forces have lost.
approximately a quarter of the total strength on the eastern front and not
they never recovered from this defeat. For
the Soviets, the victory at Stalingrad marked the beginning of the liberation of the homeland,
the fight that ultimately led to victory in 1945 over Germany
Nazis
 b) The beginnings of the battle
The beginning of Operation Blue was planned for the end of May.
1942. A number of German and Romanian units that were to participate in the attack,
erau înca angajate în cucerirea Sevastopolului, oras fortificat si port în
Crimea Peninsula. Delays caused by determined Soviet defense have made it so that
the start of the attack to be postponed several times until the end of June.
smaller scale attacks were undertaken, blocking the Soviet forces in a
Harkov fair, on May 22.
The attack began late, on June 28, 1942, when the Southern Army Group
advanced in southern Russia. The German offensive started well. The Soviet forces have
they put up weak resistance in the vast Russian steppes and retreated in disorder towards
Since several attempts to establish a defensive line have failed, the German troops
they pierced through, surrounded, forming two wide pouches, the first destroyed on 2
June in the northeast of Kharkiv, and the second around the locality of Millerovo, region
Rostov, a week later. In the meantime, the Hungarian 2nd Army and the 4th Army
A Panzer launched the attack on Voronezh, conquering the city on July 5, 1942.
 The success of the initial advance was so great that Hitler intervened and ordered the 4th Army.
Panzers are to join Army Group South (A). A terrible traffic jam resulted when the army of
tanks caught up with the 6th Army, both armies being stopped until it was achieved
fluidization of traffic. The delay was unexpectedly long, it was estimated that at least one was lost.
week. In the face of this first partial failure, Hitler changed his mind, deciding that again, the Army
the IVth Panzer to join the attackers of Stalingrad.
By the end of July, the Germans had forced the Soviets to cross the Don River in a defensive manner.
an allied alignment formed by the Romanian, Italian, and Hungarian armies. The 6th Army
Germany is located just a few dozen kilometers from Stalingrad, and the 4th Panzer Army, now present
on the southern flank, it changed its attacking direction again to the north to help with the conquest
of the city. In the south, Group A advanced towards the Caucasus, but its progress was slowed down, the forces
spreading over distances too great and not having a connection with Group B.
At this moment, the German intentions have become clear to the Soviet commanders who, in July, were making
plans for the defense of the city. The troops retreating from the Germans were stopped in the city.
Fresh troops were brought from behind the front to the other side of the Volga. A new one was formed.
army, the 62nd, under the command of Vasili Chuikov, who had the mission to defend the city at all costs.
 c) The battles in the city
By the end of August, the Southern Army Group (B) reached the line of the Volga River north of
Stalingrad. Following the advance southward, towards the city. Until September 1, the Soviets could no longer...
supplies the troops only with the help of river vessels, which engaged in dangerous crossings of the river
Volga. On August 23, the Germans carried out a large-scale air raid, which caused a fire.
devastator in the city, killing thousands of civilians and turning the city into a sea of debris and burning ruins.
Eighty percent of the city's residential areas have been destroyed. The 62nd Soviet Army has established its lines.
defensive prints in ruins, with points of resistance in the ruins of houses and factories.
The fight for the city was ruthless and desperate. Stalin ordered that all soldiers who retreated without
Let them be executed. 'No step back' has become the slogan of the defenders. Throughout the fighting period, the forces
The Ministry of Internal Affairs has executed or sent over 13,000 military personnel to disciplinary battalions for
"laziness" or desertion. Over 300,000 people have been sent back to their units or have helped to
the completion of others. In contrast, the Germans attacked indifferent to losses. Soviet reinforcements were brought with
the ships on the eastern bank of the Volga, the convoys being constantly attacked by artillery and aviation
German. The life expectancy of the newcomers was only a few hours. Fierce battles were fought for each.
street, factory, house, basement and stairs. The Germans, who called this unprecedented urban war Rattenkrieg
("war of the rats"), joking bitterly that they have conquered the kitchen, but are still fighting for
the conquest of the living room.
Luptele pentru Kurganul Mamaev, un delusor înmuiat în sângele miilor de
soldiers killed, were particularly devoid of any kind of mercy. The height of
was conquered multiple times by each belligerent in turn. In one of the
the attacks for the recapture of the hill, the Soviets lost in battle a
the entire division, approximately 10,000 soldiers, in a single day. At the same
time, in the battles in the wheat silo that lasted for several weeks,
the combatants were so close to each other that they could hear each other
respiration. Elsewhere in the city, a residential building protected by a platoon
The command of Iakov Pavlov has been transformed into a fortress.
impregnable. The building, later called Pavlov's House, provided
the supervision of a market in the city center. The soldiers have been planted all around
around my fields, they have positioned machine gun nests at the windows and
they built an underground communication network by breaking through the walls
subsoil.
Wanting to end the battles victoriously, the Germans began to transfer to
area with increasingly more heavy artillery, including giant 600 mortars
Soviet artillery has kept the German positions under continuous fire from locations.
from the left bank of the Volga. The Soviets successfully used the resulting ruins
following the bombings for the defensive battles. The Soviet snipers have
using the same ruins to hide, causing great losses
the Germans, at the same time undermining their morale. The most famous snipers
it was "Zikan", to whom 224 Germans killed until the 20th were attributed.
November 1942, and Vasily Grigorievich Zaitev, who was credited with 149
the achievements. Throughout the duration of the battles, the German tanks became useless in
the debris piles up to 8 meters high. If they still tried to
advancing, they became easy prey for the anti-tank hunters, who opened
the fire on the rooftops.
 For both Stalin and Hitler, the battle of Stalingrad became a problem.
capital. The Soviet command began to move reserves from the Moscow area.
to the Lower Volga region and transferred all available planes from across the
they were in the same area. The stress the military commanders were subjected to was immense:
Paulus developed an uncontrollable twitch in his eye, while Ciuikov developed an eczema that
he forced her to fully bandage her hands.
In November, after three months of battles with many human losses, with advancements
Slowly, the Germans managed to reach the right bank of the Volga, conquering 80% of the city.
transformed into ruins, splitting the Soviet forces into two pockets squeezed between the river and
atacatori. Pentru ca situatia aparatorilor sa fie si mai grea, pe Volga au început sa
curved slopes, making it almost impossible to supply them. Despite these things,
the violent battles did not cease for a moment, neither on the slopes of Mamaev Kurgan, nor in
industrial zone in the north. The battles for the October Red Tractor Factory and for
The Baricada factories have become famous all over the world. While the soldiers defended the positions.
from the ruins, the workers were repairing the faulty weapons in the immediate vicinity of the front
or even on the battlefield
 During the entire siege, there were pressures.
upon the General Staffs of the Axis troops.
efforts to reach the riverbank, neglecting
defense of the flanks. Thus, the 2nd Hungarian Army,
mainly composed of poorly trained units and
the team was assigned the defense of 200 kilometers
the north of Stalingrad. This led to a weak line, in
some sections, front portions of 1-2 km being
single-platoon unit. Soviet forces
they held several bridges in the southern area of
front, any competent military commander
considering them serious threats. Hitler was both
to focus on the city itself, that any
request for reinforcement of flanks and destruction
the heads of the Soviet bridge were rejected. The chief
of the German High Command (OKW), the general of
Army Chief Franz Halder expressed concern
for the attention given by Hitler exclusively to the city,
drawing attention to the poorly defended flanks of
Germans. Inconvenienced by Halder's observations,
Hitler replaced him in October with General Kurt.
Zeitzler.
 During the autumn, when the battles continued violently in the city, Soviet General Gheorghe
Jukov, who took over the task of strategic planning in the Stalingrad area, began to
massive Soviet forces concentrated in the steppes to the north and south of the city. The northern flank was in
special vulnerability, being protected by the Romanian and Hungarian troops, less equipped and with
a low morale. Zhukov's plan was to pin the German forces inside the city and then
to break through the enemy's weak flanks and to encircle him in the city transformed into
trap. The operation was codenamed Uranus and was launched simultaneously with the Operation
Mars, which targeted the Central Army Group. On November 19, 1942, the Red Army launched
Operation Uranus. The Soviet units, under the command of General Nikolai Vatutin, were
consisting of three complete armies: the First Guard Army, the 21st Army, and the 5th Army
of Tanks, all having a total of 18 infantry divisions, 8 tank brigades, 2 brigades
motorized, 6 divisions of cavalry and an anti-tank brigade. Preparations for the attack could have been
requested by the Romanians, who have continuously asked for reinforcements, but were refused again. Poorly equipped
if you complete the numeric, the 3rd Romanian Army was simply obliterated by the massive attack
Soviet after a fierce one-day battle, leaving the flank of the 6th German Army exposed.
On November 20, a second Soviet offensive was launched south of Stalingrad, in the area
4th Romanian Army. This army, composed mainly of units of
Cavalry surrendered almost immediately. Soviet forces continued their advance to the west.
in a enveloping movement, making the junction near the city of Kalaci after two days, encircling
let the Axis forces escape. Approximately 250,000 German, Romanian, and Italian soldiers, as well as
several Croatian units and a series of auxiliary volunteer units were caught in this
encirclement. Alongside them were also Soviet civilians and several thousand fallen Soviet soldiers.
prisoners in the battles with the Germans. Not all Germans were surrounded, approximately 50,000 have
branches outside the bag
 Hitler gave a speech on September 30, in which he stated that the Germans would not leave
never the city. The German generals had a different opinion, they proposed a quick withdrawal.
to the west and the establishment of a defense line west of the Don. Hermann Göring stated in
change as the Luftwaffe can supply encircled armies through an 'air bridge'. This
it would have been allowed for the encircled to resist until a relief force could have been
It was established. Such a plan had already been used a year ago in the encirclement at
Demiansk, on a smaller scale, with a corps, not with a whole army. In addition,
The 6th army was the largest in the world, nearly twice the size of one.
usual, alongside the infantry being caught in encirclement and four tank corps.
For everyone, it was evident that for aviation it was an impossible task. The capacity to
the Luftwaffe had not been rebuilt after the Battle for Crete, the 300 tons on
which could have transported them daily being much less than the 500 tons of
supplies as much as would have been needed daily. However, once the commitment was made, it had to be carried out
fulfillment, and Hitler supported Göring's plan, reiterating his order given to the troops
surrounded by not being handed over.
The air supply missions failed almost immediately. The weather conditions
unfavorable and very effective Soviet anti-aircraft made it impossible to maintain a
airborne pod. Only about 10% of the requested supplies could be delivered to their destination.
The planes that managed to land transported the sick and wounded from the besieged enclave.
The soldiers of the 6th Army were suffering from hunger and, at one point, the pilots were shocked to
the soldiers designated to unload the transport planes were too weakened to
maneuver the supplies.
During this time, the Soviet forces were able to consolidate their positions around Stalingrad.
Shortly, violent battles began to restrict the bag. An attack (Operation
Winter storm - "winter storm") carried out by a German group that also included the Division
1 Romanian armored vehicles and other Romanian units that escaped encirclement for breakthrough
Soviet positions in the southern area of the pocket and the release of those captured within it.
successfully repulsed by the Soviets in December, the Axis forces reaching approximately
50 km from a high. The surrounding was impenetrable. At the same time, at the blows
the cruel Russian winter was added to the Soviets. An ice bridge formed on the Volga,
allowing the Soviets to easily supply their forces from the city. Forces
germane princes encircled quickly ran out of fuel for heating and
without medical supplies, thousands of them dying from frostbite, hunger, or illness.
 In January, the Red Army launched a new offensive,
Operation Saturn, in an attempt to break through
Italian defense on the Don and the liberation of Rostov.
The purpose of the attack was to block the remnants of the Group of
Southern Armies in the Caucasus, which would have been a total disaster
for the Germans. The Germans, however, have put into practice a
mobile defense, in which small units defended the cities
until the tank armies came to their aid. Although
the Soviets did not manage to conquer Rostov, the battles have
forced von Manstein to withdraw his forces from the Caucasus and
to restore the front to approximately 250 km from the city,
leaving the 6th Army without support. The soldiers caught in
they were not told this, still believing that
the encirclement forces are heading towards them. A few of
Paul's officers requested not to obey the orders anymore.
he Hitler tried to break the encirclement from within.
Paul was, however, a soldier far too disciplined, the idea
he found it disgusting not to obey Hitler's orders.
 Soon, the encircled Germans were forced to retreat from
suburbs in the center of Stalingrad. The loss of two airports, Pitomnik
Gumrak has stopped the supply by air and the cessation of
the evacuation of the wounded and sick. From this moment on, the Germans began,
practically starving. The ammunition has run out. However, they continued.
to resist stubbornly, partly because many believed that the Soviets
I was supposed to execute those who would have surrendered. Instead, the Soviets were
surprised by the large number of soldiers they had surrounded and had to
strengthen the positions to tighten the encirclement and gain territory. Again, it
the bloody urban war has broken out again, this time the Germans being the ones pushed
to the banks of the Volga.
Hitler promoted Paulus, making him a Field Marshal on the 30th.
January 1943. As no German Field Marshal has ever been taken
As a prisoner, Hitler imagined that Paulus would continue the fight or would commit suicide.
However, when Paulus and his General Staff were surrounded in
the building of a former department store, the marshal has surrendered. The remnants of the forces
Germans in Stalingrad surrendered on February 2, 1943. 90,000 soldiers.
Germans, starved and exhausted, were taken prisoner. Towards the sea.
delight of the Soviets, among them were 22 generals.
 Only 6,000 of the 91,000 prisoners of war survived detention in
The Soviet Union and they returned home. Although they were weakened by illness, hunger, and lack of care.
medicala, cei mai multi dintre ei au fost trimisi în lagare de munca de pe tot întinsul Uniunii
Soviet, where most died of hunger and exhaustion. A few senior officers have
were taken to Moscow for propaganda purposes. Some of them, including Paulus, have
signed an anti-Hitler declaration to be broadcast to the German troops. General Walter von
Seydlitz-Kurzbach offered to form an anti-Hitler army from the survivors.
Stalingrad, but the Soviets did not agree. The last survivors were repatriated to
1955.
The German public has not been officially informed about the disaster until
the end of January 1943, although optimistic reports about the battles had ceased in the German media
in the weeks leading up to the announcement. It was not the first German defeat, but the disaster at
Stalingrad was of an unprecedented magnitude until today. On February 18,
The Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, delivered the famous speech at the Sportpalast in Berlin,
urging the Germans to accept total war, which required the mobilization of all resources.
human and material resources of Germany.
In every respect, the battle of Stalingrad was the bloodiest, with the most
many losses in a single battle. It lasted 199 days. The losses among the soldiers
There were about 850,000 people. Among them, 400,000 Germans, 200,000
hundreds of Romanians, 130,000 Italians, and 120,000 Hungarians. More than 40,000 Soviet civilians.
they died in the city and in the suburbs. The number of civilians killed in the areas of the surrounding district has not
thank you for the estimate.

For the heroism of the Soviet defenders, the city was awarded the title of Hero City in 1945.
In the years following the war, a gigantic monument of "Mother Russia" was erected on the Kurgan.
Mamaev, the hill that overlooks the city. The statue is part of a memorial complex.
which also includes ruined buildings, deliberately left in the state they were in during
battles. The silo, like the Pavlov House, which the Soviets defended for two months until
release, they can still be visited today.
Bibliografie:www.Wikipedia.org
The book: The Battle for Stalingrad