Stalingrad was The Battle that Saved World War II

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“…I was shocked when I saw the map. We are entirely alone, without help from outside. Hitler has left us in a lurch. If the airfield is still in our possession, this letter may still get out…. So this is what the end looks like. Hannes and I will not surrender,… I saw four men who had been taken prisoner by the Russians. No, we shall not go into captivity. When Stalingrad has fallen you’ll hear and read it. And you’ll know that I shall not come back.” --Letter of an unidentified German Soldier

(p. 16 Schneider and Gullans, Letters from Stalingrad)

How were the soldiers of Stalingrad, through months of hard fighting, bitter cold, lack of supplies, and starvation, capable of defeating the “invincible” armies of Hitler’s Germany and their unstoppable Blitzkrieg through Europe? The battle fought between the Nazi Wehrmacht and the Soviet Red Army for the city of Stalingrad during the winter of 1942-1943 was not only the greatest Allied victory on the Eastern Front, but also the decisive turning point of World War II, ending the “Third Reich’s” unceasing victories, and Hitler’s ambitions of world conquest.

Hitler’s Blitzkrieg (or lightning war) through Europe seemed unstoppable as nation after nation fell to the might of the new German Empire. All that stood in Hitler's way was mighty Russia and her Soviet Union. The fall of Germany after World War I brought about destruction to the nation’s economy. As mass depression set in, the people of Germany looked anywhere they could for hope and a better future. Eventually they found that hope, but in the evil genius that was Adolf Hitler. A great orator as well as a military brilliance, Hitler quickly rose up through the politics of antebellum Germany, using his creation, the Nationa...

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...fin the Fatherland, only once more would Hitler have an all out offensive against the Allies during the Battle of the Bulge. Germany’s power was beginning to fail and the Allies were gaining the upper hand.

Although few could foresee the importance of Stalingrad, the city on the Volga proved to be the greatest turning point of World War II and the decisive win that would guarantee victory for the Allies and destruction for the Third Reich. During the Russian Civil War of 1920, the last battle, in which the Red Army defeated the White Army, was fought at the old city of Tsaritsyn. The military tactician who organized the victory for the Red Army was Josef Stalin. In honor of their hero, the people of Tsaritsyn chose to rename their great city to Stalingrad. The victory at Stalingrad eventually led to the defeat of Hitler and the Allied triumph of the entire war.

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