“…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.
Because of the state of Germany’s economy, Hitler portrayed himself as the saviour of Germany, the man that was going to restore the respect that their forefathers had earned & installed. However, under no uncertain terms was he going to do it alone, he pr...
From the time Hitler and the Nazi’s took control of Germany in 1933 until the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945, the aim of the regime under the calculating guidance of Hitler himself sought no less than global conquest. This ambitious objective can be further dissected into short term and long term goals that provide insight into Hitler’s character, thoughts and actions.
The Great War, now known as World War II, devastated Europe, leaving political and economic instability in Germany to aid the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist (Nazi) Party. World War II began when Hitler invaded Poland on the 17 September 1939. The war lasted from 1939 to 1945 and directly involved over 100 million people. With an estimated death toll of 75 million, World War II is the deadliest conflict in history. Although there can be no definite turning point, many historians consider the Battle of Stalingrad to be the greatest and most significant battle in the war. The Soviet Union’s massive success in this battle marked the war turning in favor of the Allies.
Health and diseases also had an incredibly large impact on the outcome of the battle of Stalingrad and is also a factor as to why the German’s were so ineffective. Due to the mass amount of deaths due to bleeding out. German officials had developed a tactic in which stated that the German soldiers were to restrict from eating before fighting. This was developed as restricting would reduce the amount of blood loss if a soldier were to become injured. This tactic weakened the German soldier’s immune systems and caused many of their soldiers to die due to malnourishment. The deaths that related back to malnourishment hastily came to light, causing German officials to desperately try to refeed their soldiers; prompting the deaths of many German
Hitler spoke at length over his political career, and many of his speeches have been saved and translated from his time as a politician. During his speeches, Adolf Hitler famously used extreme nationalism to bring the crowd to a roar. However, when this nationalistic speech is analyzed, one common theme becomes clear. Hitler wished to return Germany to its former glory. Just how Hitler planned this return is addressed in his speech given at Danzig in 1939 . Here Hitler spoke to the German people about how best to return Germany to the more prosperous times before Worl...
... the regime began to make concrete plans to overthrow it. Stalingrad was the beginning of the end for the Third Reich.
The battle of Stalingrad and the battle of Okinawa were turning points for the Americans and their allies during World War II. The battle of Stalingrad started in summer of 1942, and Germany was in dominating position at first. However, German army was not ready for the coming of winter. German soldiers did not have enough clothes and food. At the mean time, Soviet Union had new tanks and soldiers. This led to the victory of Soviet Union and Allies. The battle of Stalingrad was a significant battle because it was the first battle that Allies captured the German military leader alive. It stopped the German invasion of Soviet Union and inflicted serious damage on Germany. Germany was in defensive position since it lost this battle, and the war
The 1940’s was a time of great conflict between the United States and Europe. This led to World War II, which began on June 14th, 1940 when German troops were sent to France to occupy Paris (Nash 500). Before the United States entered World War II many conflicts erupted throughout Europe such as the advancement of German troops into various countries (Nash 501-502). The main source of these conflicts was a man by the name of Adolf Hitler. Hitler was a power hungry man who had the drive to become a political leader (Nash 492). But, the ways by which he obtained leadership were repulsive. He struck fear into the eyes of those in which opposed his teaching and killed whoever stood in his way (Nash 493). Germany faced troubling times after World War I. Hitler looked at this as the perfect opportunity to rise to power. He turned a party that consisted of a small amount of workers into the National Socialist German Workers’ party, which later became known as the Nazi party. During the 1920s, Hitler performed many speeches in order to make the Nazi party better known. In his speeches he talked about eliminating the differences between the rich and poor in order to prevent divided social classes. This made his party strong, attractive, and it quickly gained many supporters (Nash 494). By August 1934, Hitler became the Dictator of Germany and began mass takeover of Europe and World War II began (Nash 495). It was at this point when he began mass takeover of Europe and World War II began (Nash 500). He sent Nazi troops to take over nearby land, which made neighboring countries nervous. One of these countries, Russia, made a non-aggression pact with Hitler as a way to try to protect their country. Even though H...
After a two year stalemate, both the Russians and Germans awaited major confrontations that would define the momentum for either side. Up until this point in the war, although the Germans had captured many European countries and were victoriously advancing with their keen tactics, such as the blitzkrieg and their cogent weapons, battles on the Eastern front seemed impossible to win. Upon a dismal loss at the Battle of Stalingrad earlier in 1943, German morale was greatly lowered and the German forces finally apprehended the strength of the Russian troops. The momentum would finally be settled with the decisive battle near the town of Kursk, a town on the Moscow-Rostov railway, in Southern Russia. The goal of the Battle of Kursk was to regain German morale and to pinch off a large salient in the Eastern front, which would make Russians much more vulnerable to German attack. Being such an important battle to the overall success of the Germans, they formulated several unique plans; however, due to the lack of good judgement, these plans were doomed from the very start.
Bartov, Omer. The Eastern Front, 1941-45: German troops and the barbarisation of warfare. Palgrave, 2001.
The battle of Stalingrad may have very well been the most important battle over the course of World War II. Not necessarily remembered for its course of fighting, the battle is more known for its outcome. Not only did the battle turn out to be a major turning point in the war, it may have saved most of Eastern Europe from incomparable destruction. The battle included two of the biggest political and military icons of their time, Stalin and Hitler.
The armies wanted Stalingrad because of the industrialization of the city, the easy communication the city offered, and the main reason being that it was set along the side of the Volga River. The armies knew that if they captured this city they could cut the waterway which supplied water from south to central and northern Russia; this would be a huge accomplishment. This river was a major transportation route that led to the Caspian Sea. Not only was the city of Stalingrad important, but so were the people involved in this significant battle.
Michael Cherniavsky main focus of his article was to examine how and why the Germans lose in Russia. According to Cherniavsky ” Unlike Hitler, the generals did not understand ( and still do not) that their great victories in the West were due mainly to non-military factors, that armament production, morale, and training are not militarily determined." ( Cherniavky, par.33). Within this article , Cherniavsky goes into detail about how and why the Germans lost. Some examples given by Cherniavsky were the Russian Climate, the inexhaustible manpower, the primitiveness of Russian communicators, and the Russian himself as a human being. The main point of this article was to share more information about the war and how there is much more to the defeat then shown. It was not all obvious and not all military problems that occurred, "Both Hitler and his generals, however, underestimated hopelessly the resources available to the Russians for their attack."( discussion post). Three myths that Cherniavsky claims that are present when defending the loss of the Germans is because of the climate ( they were not prepared to fight during winter, the number of causalities, and errors made by Hitler himself such as inexhaustible man power Russian
As the Soviets fought back the oncoming German army, it was evident that blitzkrieg was unsuccessful. As the Germans had never experienced Russian winters before; they were unaware of the freezing cold temperatures. Without proper clothing and material, this caused devastating effects. With Stalin choosing to stay in Moscow this raised the morale, and was an important aspect that led to the Moscow victory. Christian goes on to state, “A longer, drawn out war allowed Russia to exploit its reserves of raw materials and labour. In this sense, the battle of Moscow was a turning
As the Soviet forces continued to be pushed further and further back, the Germans awaited a total victory. Stalin panicked as the Germans advanced and issued his ‘Not One Step Back’ directive, with execution of any sign of defeatism. The Soviet frontline was motivated by this threat. General Gregory Zhukov confirmed the strict, and rigid rules that the Soviet Army followed “In the Red Army it takes a very brave man to be a coward” (Zhukov). The exhausted Soviet army was pushed back to the outskirts of Stalingrad by August 23. The Germans, and Axis Powers fought the Soviets, street for street, house for house, and room for room. The Germans called this rat warfare, meaning that a strategic stronghold changed sides so many times people could not count the number of changes. A solider was only expected to last three days in this war. Paulus, the German general failed to capture the city, and the Germans suffered the attacks from the Soviet Army, and again, on September 27, Paulus fails to storm the city again. During this winter battle, on October 4, the German troops succeed in capturing the station, pushing the Soviet troops to Volga, but the Soviet paratroopers stopped the advance. On Christmas Day 1942, with a fridge temperate of -25 degrees Fahrenheit, Paulus received a message from Hitler saying he should go into the New Year with