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the
turning point of the great patriotic war and of the second world war
in general was the battle of stalingrad (summer 1942? february
1943), waged deep in the russian heartland. the suburbs of
stalingrad marked the farthest extent of the german advance into the
soviet union. as a major industrial center, the city was an
important prize in itself. in addition, german control of stalingrad
would have severed soviet transport links with southern russia via
the volga river, thus facilitating the conquest of the oil-rich
caucasus. it also would have opened the way to the enemy抯 advance
to the east of the volga toward the chief munitions-producing region
of the urals. |
the
200-day-long battle of stalingrad involved over two million men on
both sides at some of its stages and was waged over a territory of
40,000 square miles. by september 1942 the germans had reached the
city抯 center, where they encountered stiff resistance from the red
army. in the constant street fighting the soviet soldiers defended
each street and house and, although driven almost to the volga,
prevented the germans from crossing the river.
on
19 november 1942 the red army launched a counterattack in the form
of pincer movements north and south of the city, and by the
twenty-third they had encircled a substantial part of the enemy
troops, including the sixth army under field marshal friedrich
paulus. the surrounded troops finally surrendered on 2 february
1943, when paulus and the last of his remaining 91,000 troops turned
themselves over to the soviets. in the course of the battle of
stalingrad the wehrmacht lost a staggering 1.5 million men. the
total axis losses (germans, romanians, italians, and hungarians) at
stalingrad amounted to over one-fourth of all its troops in the
soviet-german theater of war.
the
stalingrad disaster put an end to germany抯 offensive role in the
soviet union. german forces at the russian front lost momentum,
while the red army began to push the germans back from the western
portions of the soviet union. in the winter of 1942?3 the soviets
pushed the germans more than 400 miles to the west, liberating
millions of soviet citizens and reclaiming the territories rich in
coal, oil, and grain. from then on, the red army抯 offensive drive
would remain unstoppable until the end of the war. many major
battles still lay ahead, but the war抯 outcome was no longer in
doubt.
the
battle of stalingrad proved a decisive victory that turned the tide
of war and changed the global military and political balance in
favor of the allies. it was appraised as the greatest battle of the
second world war by the whole world and inspired the rise of
resistance movements in the countries of europe and asia under axis
occupation.
