On August 23, 1942, the German Sixth Army under General Friedrich Paulus reached the Volga River and initiated a massive aerial bombardment of Stalingrad by the Luftwaffe's Luftflotte 4. Adolf Hitler targeted the city to secure the Caucasian oil fields and strike a psychological blow against Joseph Stalin's namesake city.
Soviet defenders of the 62nd Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov, engaged in brutal, close-quarters urbano-industrial warfare within the ruins of factories and apartment blocks. In November 1942, the Red Army launched Operation Uranus, a counter-offensive that encircled the Sixth Army.
Starved and surrounded, Paulus surrendered on February 2, 1943. Over 800,000 Axis troops were killed, wounded, or captured, permanently shifting the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front to the Soviet Union.
Why it matters
Stalingrad was the turning point of World War II in Europe. The complete destruction of the German Sixth Army shattered the myth of German invincibility and halted Axis momentum in Russia. From this point forward, Nazi Germany was forced into a strategic retreat, while Soviet forces began their relentless westward advance toward Berlin.
Interesting fact
Soviet forces defended Pavlov's House, a reinforced apartment building in Stalingrad, for 60 days against repeated attacks, holding out longer than the entire nation of France did in 1940.
People
- Friedrich PaulusCommander of the German Sixth Army
- Vasily ChuikovCommander of the Soviet 62nd Army
- Georgy ZhukovSoviet Deputy Supreme Commander who planned Operation Uranus
Quotes
"Not a step back!"
Location
Stalingrad · Volgograd · Soviet Union
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