Battle of Stalingrad | ||
---|---|---|
Overview | ||
Part of | Second World War | |
Date | 23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943 | |
Location | Stalingrad (now Volgograd, Russia) | |
Combatants | ||
Nazi Germany Romania Italy Hungary Croatia |
Soviet Union | |
Commanders | ||
Adolf Hitler Friedrich Paulus Erich von Manstein Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen Petre Dumitrescu |
Georgy Zhukov Nikolay Voronov Aleksandr Vasilevsky Andrey Yeryomenko Nikita Khrushchev Konstantin Rokossovsky Nikolai Vatutin | |
Strength | ||
Casualties | ||
The Battle of Stalingrad (21 August 1942 - 2 February 1943) was a battle between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union for the Soviet city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd). The Battle of Stalingrad was the bloodiest battle in human history, with over 1.4 million dead soldiers, and 40,000 civilian dead.[1]
The battle of Stalingrad was the turning point in World War II. It was a decisive Soviet victory, as Zhukov's Don/Stalingrad front (mainly 62nd Army) crushed von Paulus's 6th Army. Germany suffered casualties that were simply irreplaceable. Hitler's armies were no longer undefeated, their moral was severely dented and the Soviets never felt better.
The most fierce fighting occurred in the tractor factory. Had the Germans ever been able to secure Stalingrad and environs, Germany could have begun turning out tanks for its war in Russia.
The people of Stalingrad endured and fought alongside their compatriot Soviet soldiers suffering over 100,000. Stalingrad claimed over 350,000 German casualties. The Red army sacrificed 500,000 civilians to hold the city, another 500,000 soldiers were wounded or diseased.[2]
Well into the 21st century, scrap metal and human remains were still being found in the city and surrounding rural areas.