The Second World War in 100 Facts by Clive Pearson

Author:Clive Pearson [Pearson, Clive]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Published: 2017-06-20T04:00:00+00:00

51. STALINGRAD WAS A HUGE TURNING POINT IN THE WAR

You may recall that the German offensive code-named Operation Blue had started well. Nazi forces had swept eastwards across the Ukraine, inflicted more massive defeats on the Soviets before reaching the Volga River. There was a feeling of euphoria in the German camp as it seemed that their Soviet enemy was finished. After such crushing defeats surely the enemy would be unable to muster any more armies.

Upon reaching Stalingrad, however, the resistance of the enemy suddenly stiffened. Despite continuing losses from the first day, Soviet forces refused to be bowed. During September and October the German 6th Army, aided by continual aerial bombardment, launched numerous offensives to take the city, but Soviet forces refused to crack.

Meanwhile, a new change of direction was happening in the Soviet army headquarters, or Stavka. Stalin by August 1942 had decided on a more collegiate approach to decision making. As the German forces entered Stalingrad the Soviet leader proposed the usual immediate counter-attack. When his two top generals, Zhukov and Vasilevsky, muttered something about ‘another solution’, Stalin famously turned round and asked ‘what other solution?’ For the first time Stalin was prepared to listen to his generals. Instead of attacking, his new team decided to let the Germans continue their advance into the city. New Soviet armies would be held in reserve, thoroughly trained and prepared until the propitious moment came for a mighty counter-punch.

Inside Stalingrad the battle became ever-more bitter, bringing unimaginable losses and suffering; for example, Rodimtsev’s division of 10,000 men was reduced to only 320 in one short battle. The fighting was brutal with no quarter given. Strategic points such as the Red October Factory exchanged hands several times. Snipers were a continuous hazard. The Soviet hero was General Vasily Chuikov, who commanded the troops inside Stalingrad. His bunker was right in the front line and his ruthless and heroic leadership prevented the city from falling. However, one last final push by the Germans in November left the Soviets with just two small pockets supplied from across the Volga River. But still the city refused to fall.

Hitler, in a speech that month, had expressed his confidence that the battle would soon be over. However, at that very moment General Zhukov unleashed a vast double envelopment of Stalingrad. Romanian and Italian forces, guarding the flanks of the German Army to the north and south, were overwhelmed. The Soviet pincers linked up on 23 November leaving Von Paulus’s forces trapped inside. General Manstein desperately tried to reach them with a relieving army, but it was of no avail. With few supplies getting in and with sub-zero temperatures, the end was inevitable. On the 2 February General Paulus formally surrendered his frostbitten and half-starved army.

Of an original German force of 275,000 men only 91,000 shuffled off into captivity. However, the Soviet losses in the Stalingrad campaign had amounted to over one million. For Hitler, though, it was a disaster and a turning point as for Nazi Germany these were irreparable losses.

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