The Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was fought from August 23, 1942 to February 2, 1943. Hitlers initiate out to capture the city ended when the Soviets trapped the 300 000-German sixth army under General Friedrich Paulus. The devastation of the mighty sixth army gave the Soviets a psychological lift and military initiative.For the Germans, the difference signaled the end of the Russian conquest that is, from a fight of conquest to a contend of survival. Background On August 1938, Hitler blow out of the water the world by subscribe a non-aggression pact with his most hated enemy, the Soviet Union.Both powers agreed not to besiege each other for a period of 10 years. A secret protocol c altogethered for a division of Eastern Europe between the two powers. Confident that the Soviets would not intervene with his military plans, Hitler proceeded to attack Poland. On September 1, 1939, German armored formation, supported by the Luftwaffe, smashed into the flesh out borders, trapping thousa nds of Polish soldiers before they could organize a general retreat into Eastern Poland. Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Two weeks later, Soviet forces meshed Eastern Poland, as part of the Nazi-Soviet Pact.Poland was obliterated from the map of Europe. Hitler this instant turned his attention to the West. After eight months of interregnum, German forces aided by the sinewy Luftwaffe, struck at France, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The British were trapped at Dunkerque. French forces were defeated in a matter of four weeks. With France defeated, Hitler forthwith turned his attention to his hated ally, the Soviet Union. On June 22, 1941, triple German army groups, numbering about 3. 1 million men struck at the Soviet Union. The Soviets were caught by surprise.On the first day alone, 1 million Soviets were either killed, capture, or injured 1400 aircraft were destroyed, 500 guns were either destroyed or captured. After three days, th e Soviets lost almost 80% of their armored formations in the East. Four Panzer armies drove towards Moscow. The arrival of the so-called Siberian units (numbering about 1 million men) and the harshness of the 1941 winter finally drove the Germans from the outskirts of Moscow. Both sides rested. Hitler, howevenr, planned another(prenominal) campaign in the southern celestial sphere of the front. Operation good-for-naughtOn May 1942, German forces smashed across the Southern sector of the Eastern Front. Again, Soviet forces were caught by surprise. The Germans drove into the river Don, and prepared a massive outrage on the river Volga (where Stalingrad was located). Two German panzer armies took the Caucasus on the following month. The 2nd and 4th Romanian armies as well as the 8th Italian army aided the German Sixth army in the convergence of the river Volga. By the 1st of August, additional armor was transferred to the 6th legions for the final capture of the city of Stalingra d.Marshal Georgy Zhukov anticipated this and lucid Soviet forces to encircle the 6th soldiers. Setting the Stage for the Battle In the Southern sector of the front, Hitler have superior forces. German forces numbered about 1. 7 million men, or about 76 divisions. Operation Blue called for the use of 3 panzer armies two of which would drove into the Caucasus. One panzer army would drive straight into Stalingrad (refer to map1). On the eve of Blue, Germany still retained the element of surprise. For the Soviets, the defense of Stalingrad and other key cities or so the Volga rested on the saucily formed Soviet army reserves.Much of the Don steppes (refer to map2) were ideal for armored maneuvers. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock erstwhile argued to Hitler that the best way to destroy the Soviet army is to launch a massive attack or so the river Volga. Hitler, however, insisted that the main thrust of the attack should be around the Caucasus Mountains. Much of the strength of the Sovi et army move on its newly formed armored formations and the reserve armies, and of course, the channels of defenses around key cities in the Volga section (refer to map 3). Stalin allocated single about 20% of the whole Soviet forces to the Southern sector, expecting an attack around Moscow.At the start of Blue, 10 Soviet armies were hastily sent to the South to counter the 3 panzer armies and the 7 German substructure and satellite armies. It can be argued that whilst the Soviet held the upper hand in the northern and central sector of the front, in the south, the German initially outnumbered the Soviets by almost 31. At the start of the battle of Stalingrad, all Soviet reserves were thrown into Stalingrad in a bid to encircle the German 6th army. When the German 6th soldiers entered the city on August 23, about 5 Soviet tank armies were massing around the river Volga.Only the 4th Panzer Army was in proximity to support the 6th Army in case of a major Soviet offensive. Most of the armor were allocated to the army group in the Caucasus region. The Battle The first flesh of the battle of Stalingrad involved the direct assault of the German 6th Army and the German 4th Panzer Army to 8 Soviet armies of the Stalingrad front (refer to map4). Fighting in the Don steppes reached its height on the end of July when 2 Soviet tank armies tried to outmaneuver both the 6th Army and the 4th Panzer army. It would take 4 weeks before the German army could liquidate the 2 tank armies.The Soviet army retreated into the privileged of the Volga region in preparation of a massive German attack on the Stalingrad. Stalin now reorganised the Stalingrad front. Two infantry armies were reassigned as tank armies. The second phase of the German drive into Stalingrad involved the crossing of the river Volga. The Romanian and Hungarians armies provided the flanks of the 6th Army. The 4th Panzer Army provided the spearhead of the attack. Some armored formations were reallocated to t he 6th Army from von Kleists 1st Panzer Army. The Soviets retreated to the outskirts of Stalingrad.Consequently, Stalin ordered the Soviet armies to hold the 6th Army in Stalingrad. He allowed no further withdrawal of the Soviet forces. Between the Don and the Volga, a huge salient was formed occupied by the 62nd and 64th Soviet armies. On August 29, 4th Panzer Army smashed into the southern junction of the 64th Army and headed towards Stalingrad. The 6th Army drove into the northern junction of the 62nd Army (refer to map5). The pressure made by the Soviet 4th Tank Army in the north slowed the progress of the 6th Army, enabling the two Soviet armies to escape encirclement (refer to map6).The third phase of the battle involved a major German assault on the southern sector of the city. The Luftwaffe dropped thousands of bombs in the city. Paulus ordered the 6th Army to make a window dressing assault of the city (which was now surrounded on three sides). German artillery pounded on t he Soviet defenses on the Volga. Meanwhile, Soviet reserves continued to pour on the Stalingrad front allowing Zhukov to mount local counterattacks against the 6th Army. As the fight for the city intensified, Stalin reorganized the Soviet fronts, creating the Southwest and Don fronts.Zhukovs plan for a major counterattack was simple yet ambitious. Three Soviet armies from the Southwest and Don fronts would drive towards the remaining flank of the German 6th Army. Two Soviet armies from the Stalingrad front would drive towards the junction of the 6th Army and the 4th Panzer Army (refer to map7). This strategy was designed to trap the 6th Army in Stalingrad. On October 1942, coerce was unleashed on the Romanian and Hungarian armies (which served as flanks of the 6th Army). They were easily destroyed. The Soviets pounded the city into rubble.Although Hitler promised to airlift supplies to the 6th Army, only 100 tons reached daily, outlying(prenominal) from the 400 tons daily supplie s promised by Hitler. From December 1942 to January 1943, the Soviets reduced the Stalingrad chemise by 50%. Hitlers insistence for the 6th Army to hold out added to its own destruction. Paulus neer ordered a major break out of the 6th Army. On February 1943, the headquarters of Paulus was captured by the Soviets. Paulus surrendered to the Soviets on the day of his promotion as field marshal. Weapons/Advantages/AlliancesMost of the German armor used in Blue and the battle of Stalingrad were Mark III and Mark IV, equipped with 50 and 80 mm. guns. Armor ranged from 80 to 100 mm. The far-famed 88 mm gun was used both as anti-tank and anti-aircraft gun (it was the only anti-tank gun that could destroy the mighty T-34). German airpower relied on two famous aircrafts the bomber Junker and the Messerschmitt Bf109 (a powerful fighter). German soldiers were highly trained, far from their Soviet counterparts (also in comparison with Germanys allies Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Italy).Th e Soviet tank armies relied on two powerful tanks the T-34 (with its 75 mm gun) and the KV100 (a heavy tank). The T-34 tank was suited on all types of weather and could reach a speed of about 70 miles an hour. The Soviets also employed the IL28, a powerful fighter that could in whatever cases outfought the mighty Bf 109. The advantages of the Germans were as follows 1) the efficiency and effectiveness of the German General Staff in operational and strategic planning, 2) the level of training of individual German soldiers, 3) the close coordination of German mechanized units and the air force, and 4) flexibility in command structure.The advantages of the Soviets were as follows 1) the large size of the Soviet reserve armies, 2) its powerful tank designs (T-34), 3) determination, almost fanatical, of the Soviet armies in defending key cities, and 4) high production of armaments. Situation Report The defeat of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad signaled the end of Hitlers war of conque st in the East. It initially destroyed the strength of the German to launch another massive operation (except at Kursk). In essence, the defeat gave the Soviets a psychological lift that is, it was possible for the German army to be defeated.The strategic victory of the Soviets at Stalingrad allowed Stalin to press for a major Allied counterstrike at North Africa. German pressure in the East was part relieved. Hitler was now faced a war on two fronts, which he initially prevented by signing the non-aggression pact with Stalin. On the area of operations, much of the German activities after the battle of Stalingrad focused on kid offensive posture, in contrast to the Soviets which could mount major operations (Bagration for example).In any case, the battle of Stalingrad shifted the favor of war to the Allies, as did in the battle of El Alamein in North Africa. Bibliography Battle of Stalingrad. BBC. PolyGram Video International, 1994. Beevor, Antony. Stalingrad The Fateful besiegi ng 1942-1943. New York Viking, 1998. Irving, David. Hitlers War and the War Path. capital of the United Kingdom Parforce, 2002. Seaton, Albert. The Russo-German War, 1941-1945. New York Praeger, 1971. Toynbee, Arnold. A History of the World. London London Publishing House, 1964. Wells, Herbert. The Outline of History. London Garden City Books, 1956.