Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad (now Volgograd, July 1942 to February 1943) was an attempt by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) to control the USSR's access to the Caucasus oil fields. Fierce street-fighting by the Soviet Red Army saw the city withstand the attack until a massive counteroffensive was launched, which encircled Hitler's Sixth Army.
Considered a turning point of the German-Soviet War, Stalingrad resulted in the destruction of an entire army and the surrender of 91,000 troops, including field marshal Friedrich Paulus (1890-1957). One of the greatest victories of the USSR in the Second World War (1939-45), Hitler's armies never recovered and thereafter fought a defensive war of retreat.
The Campaign So Far
Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, had launched his attack on the USSR, Operation Barbarossa, in June 1941. Sweeping victories soon followed thanks to Blitzkrieg ('Lightning war') tactics, which combined air support with fast-moving armoured and infantry divisions advancing on narrow fronts. When it came to taking large cities, though, the invaders were less successful. The Battle of Moscow (October 1941 to January 1942) was won by the Soviet Red Army. The siege of Leningrad dragged on for years as that city held out, too. Stalingrad, in the south of the USSR, would prove an equally tough objective for the Axis armies to take.
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⇒ Battle of Stalingrad
