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Stalingrad By Mike Kaciban
Why Stalingrad? Near the end of 1941, Germany suffered huge losses in Moscow, which left them vulnerable to Soviet attacks. With the harsh winter setting in and the front line spread thin across newly acquired land, the Germans were forced to retreat following a Soviet counter-attack. German troops regrouped with reinforcements and were ready for another attack by the spring of 1942. With the Soviets preparing for another German assault on Moscow, the Germans decided to focus their attention on the natural resources near the Caucasus Mountains, south of Stalingrad. German troops were split into two major groups: Army Group A was sent to the Caucasus front far to the south and Army Group B was sent to capture Stalingrad. By August of 1942, Army Group B had finally reached Stalingrad.
The Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad The battle began on August 21st with the bombing of Stalingrad by the German Luftwaffe (air force). Stalin prohibited any civilians from leaving the city, hoping it would give the defending Soviet troops more reason to resist the Germans at all costs. On August 23rd, the Germans orchestrated a massive air bombardment, which created a firestorm that left 80 percent of the city in piles of rubble. By the end of August, the German troops had reached the Volga River on both the north and south side of the city. The Soviets’ only way of receiving reinforcements and supplies was by crossing the Volga River to the east. The average life expectancy of a newly deployed Soviet soldier was less than one day. However, Stalin refused to lose the city and reminded the Soviet troops of Order No. 227, which stated any Soviet soldiers that retreated would be immediately shot. The slogan was, “Not a step back!”.
Rattenkrieg Soviet troops fortified themselves in any structures they could use, while German troops suffered heavy casualties trying to take the last portion of the city. German tanks were ineffective because they simply could not get over the piles of rubble left by the destroyed buildings. In addition, Soviet snipers inflicted enormous damage on German troops by using the ruins of buildings. German troops called this extremely brutal urban warfare “Rattenkrieg”, or “Rat war”.
Splitting the Soviet Forces By November, the Germans had finally reached the Volga River banks, splitting the Soviet forces into two pockets. The Germans were in control of 90 percent of the city. However, the northern and southern areas of the city were poorly fortified, so the Soviets planned on using this to their advantage.
Operation Uranus On November 19th, 1942, the Soviets set forth Operation Uranus. The plan was to fend off the German strip that separated the two Soviet portions, while building up forces near the northern and southern areas of the city, which were poorly fortified. The northern front was easily captured by the Soviets in one day. On November 20th, the Soviets launched the next step of their operation at the south side of the city. This too was easily taken by the Soviets. The northern and southern Soviet forces immediately started marching west in a pincer movement and met up two days later at the town of Kalach, enveloping the German troops in Stalingrad. Around 250,000 German and Romanian troops were trapped because of the Soviet’s pincer attack. These troops had no access to reinforcements and very little supplies could reach the city because of the surrounding Soviet forces.
Operation Saturn and the End of the Battle By December, the Volga froze over which allowed the Soviets to receive supplies and troops more easily. The trapped German soldiers of Army Group B began rapidly dying of starvation, the cold, and disease. The Soviets continued pushing west, in an attempt to trap the German’s Army Group A in the Caucasus Mountains to the south. This attempt was unsuccessful for the Soviets, however it forced the German’s Army Group A to setup over 250km away from Stalingrad, taking them out of the picture. By the end of January, Germany’s Army Group B was out of ammunition and food, but Hitler insisted that they keep fighting. By February 2nd, against the wishes of Hitler, Friedrich Paulus, who was the German Field Marshall of Group B, surrendered to the Soviets. The 91,000 German troops were taken captive, but only 6,000 survived to make it home.
Important Facts • Stalin refused to lose Stalingrad mainly because it was the city named after him, and if lost would greatly lower the morale and support of the Soviet soldiers. Hitler knew this and was equally obsessed with taking the city. • Arguably the biggest and bloodiest battle in human history. Lasting for 199 days, the Axis lost roughly 800,000 soldiers, while the Soviets lost roughly 1.1 million soldiers. • This battle marked the turning point of the Soviet-German war in the east. • Stalingrad was awarded the title Hero City in 1945. • The 6,000 surviving German troops were not released until 1955. • Hitler promoted Friedrich Paulus (he was General of the trapped Army Group B at the time) on January 30th, 1943, to German Field Marshall, and reminded him that no German Field Marshall had ever surrendered. Paulus surrendered three days later.
