Germany's Defeat In The Battle Of Stalingrad

In the beginning of World War II, the Allies suffered great losses to Germany. However, on the Eastern Front in Soviet Union a turning point arose which signaled the end of Germany and the Nazis. Germany suffered an astonishing defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942, losing not only the lives of thousands of soldiers but their pride and morale as well. This battle is considered as one of the bloodiest battles in the history of all warfare with its overwhelming number of casualties. Such results could have been avoided, and Germany could have emerged victorious with their advanced warfare technology and sheer number of soldiers. However, the Germans’ defeat was the result of poor plans of attack, the thinning out of the army

“Areas captured by the Germans during the day, were re-taken by the Russians at night.”4 Furthermore, the railway station had changed hands between the Germans and the Soviets fourteen times in just six hours.5 These situations demonstrated how weak the German forces had become and made them unable to completely capture Stalingrad. In addition to that, as the battle continued forces on both sides needed more supplies. The Soviets who still had control of the Volga River could easily send in oil, troops and other supplies very easily with no resistance. On the other hand, the Germans concentrated more on the battle occurring in the Caucasus and the forces there needed supplies as well. So then, while the majority of the supplies would be sent to the Caucasus, in Stalingrad the forces received more supplies as well but not as much or as quickly as the Soviets. As a result, the Soviets began to outnumber and over power the Germans. Soon afterwards, the Germans forces in the Caucasus started to penetrate deeply into the Caucasus and on the contrary, the forces at Stalingrad made little progress. Hitler intervened in the operation and reassigned the Panzer division from the forces in Stalingrad to go and help with the forces in the Caucasus6 this decision made by Hitler drastically weaken the force in Stalingrad because there was only the Sixth Army and the Fourth Panzer Division deployed in Stalingrad at the beginning of the battle. By moving the Panzer division - the division composed of tanks and other artillery weaponry - the remaining forces in Stalingrad had little heavy military weapons and troops compared to the Soviets. Furthermore, Marshal Georgi Zhukov a Soviet commander, was aware that