Battle of Stalingrad Begins

Setting the scene

The Battle of Stalingrad began on August 23, 1942, when German forces reached the Volga River city, and lasted until February 2, 1943. It was the largest and bloodiest battle in history, with 2 million casualties. Hitler ordered the capture of Stalingrad, named for Stalin, for propaganda and strategic reasons—controlling the Volga would cut Soviet oil supplies from the Caucasus. The German 6th Army under General Paulus attacked the city, which Stalin ordered held at all costs.

What happened

The battle became urban warfare of unprecedented ferocity. German and Soviet troops fought building by building, room by room, in ruins. The Luftwaffe bombed the city into rubble, which paradoxically helped defenders. Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev killed 225 Germans. By November, Germans controlled 90% of the city but were exhausted. On November 19, the Soviets launched Operation Uranus, encircling the 6th Army with 1 million troops. Hitler forbade retreat, and 265,000 Germans were trapped.

Why it still matters

The German 6th Army surrendered on February 2, 1943, after starvation, cold (-30°F), and fighting. Only 6,000 of 91,000 prisoners returned to Germany. Stalingrad was the turning point on the Eastern Front—Germany never regained the initiative. It destroyed an entire German army and shattered the myth of German invincibility. The battle demonstrated Soviet resilience and the limits of blitzkrieg in urban warfare. Stalingrad became a symbol of Soviet sacrifice and victory, and the city was renamed Volgograd in 1961 during de-Stalinization, though the battle's name remains.

Background

The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its Axis allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southern Russia. Marked by intense close-quarters combat and heavy civilian losses during aerial bombardment, the battle is considered the largest and deadliest urban battle in military history and the largest battle in World War II. By the end of the fighting, the German 6th Army had been destroyed, the 4th Panzer Army had suffered severe losses, and Army Group B was routed, shifting the balance on the Eastern Front in the Soviet Union's favour. The Soviet victory at Stalingrad is generally considered the pivotal turning point of the European theatre of the war. Soviet counteroffensive trapped the invaders.