A COLLABORATIVE ESSAY ABOUT THE WWII BATTLE OF STALINGRAD, THE BASIS FOR THIS WEBPAGE.
World War II began with a series of blistering attacks from Germany and its Nazi party. After an easy defeat of Poland, France and what seemed like the impeding fall of Britain, Hitler focused his attentions on the Eastern front. He was quick to violate the Non-Agression pact he had made with Communist leader Joseph Stalin just two years earlier. Hitler had his sights set on the fall of the Soviet Union. The Soviets, lead by their own fiery dictator, wouldn't go down without a fight. Their defeat of the Germans at the Battle of Stalingrad proved to be a turning point of the war and world for which it was fought. The battle of Stalingrad was fought in the Soviet Union in Russia. The conditions of the battle were terrible. Many soldiers died during the war , either from a disease or they got tired of being in the horrible conditions so they committed suicide. The bodies from the people who died were left and the smell from them was so strong. Temperatures would get up to -30 degrees Celsius and many soldiers froze to death or got frost-bite. Since the soldiers had not so much food supply they had to slaughter their own horses for meat. Conditions on the battle field never got better and thousands of soldiers died. (Hannah) In the Battle of Stalingrad there were many leaders, but only few were important. For Germany the most important general was German Commander Friedrich Paulus. Friedrich Paulus moved up the rank to the commander he was in charge of not only leading the military but was responcible for making sure the people stayed alive and well. Nikita Khruschev was the General for the Soviet Union. Nikita Khruschev saying was “We will defend the city or die in the attempt”. (Alia) Stalin and Hitler varied tremendously on their military strategies. During the summer of 1942, Stalin sees that Germany is preparing troops and supplies for an attack on the Soviet Union. He orders the Red Army on a series of three counter-offensives. In August of 1942 the battle officially begins. By September Germany is easily beating the Red Army with their superior equipment and organization and they capture over 3 million Soviet soldiers and 20,000 tanks. Stalin wont retreat. He orders that no one under any circumstances should retreat and is willing to throw as many men at the Germans as he can. Many of the Red Army offensives were unorganized and only affect was slowing the Nazis down temporarily. Hitler is sure of victory for the Nazis. He splits his army into three different groups, Army Group North, Army Group Center and Army Group South. He then splits the South Group in Army A and Army B. Group B, also called the 6th Army (led by Fredrick Paulus) was ordered to seize the Volga River and the city of Stalingrad. Hitler wanted the city more as a matter of pride than for strategic value. He is confident that this will be an easy job that he sends many of the soldiers from the South Army to the North. This spread the 6th Army thin as they approached Stalingrad. The Germans, however, have to wait for the ground to freeze because the fall rain has made it too muddy to efficiently move. This time allows Stalin to improve his tanks, which he sent many soldiers with improved tanks to defend his namesake city. The 6th Army cannot handle the Soviet counter-offense. And the Red Army holds off the Germans from even reaching the city for three weeks. Hitler sends in enforcements to help the struggling 6th Army. They plan to seize the city by attacking from the North and the South simultaneously. Germany's impressive air force first bombs Stalingrad from the air. The city is reduced to ruins and fighting turns into hand-to-hand combat. Nazis and Soviets are fighting on foot in the debilitated buildings of Stalingrad. Finally, with heavy reinforcements, the Soviets finally gain advantage and start to defeat the Germans. The 6th Army is trapped in the city, only one third of the original 270,00 soldiers remain those who are still alive are starving and freezing. On February 2nd 1943, now Field Marshall Fredrick Paulus does what no other Field Marshall had yet done in the Nazi party and surrenders. (Nicole) The lives lost in the Battle of Stalingrad were staggering. The civilian death toll alone was greater than the death toll of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. The city of Stalingrad, once with a population of over 500,00 was decimated to only 1,500 survivors. The eventual surrender of the Germans sent shock waves through Germany. It prevented Hitler from realizing his dream of global domination and was the first defeat he faced after a series of relatively easy victories. The Battle of Stalingrad is often referred to as the “battle that changed the course of history” and indeed it did.