History Of The Battle Of Stalingrad

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Battle of Stalingrad

"The siege of September 13, 1942 to January 31, 1943 will inspire forever the hearts of all free people. Their glorious victory stemmed the tide of invasion and marked the turning point in the war of the Allied nations against the forces of aggression." Franklin D Roosevelt. The battle of Stalingrad is most famously known for its outcome on the war it was named one of the bloodiest battles in history; it involved two major military leaders Hitler and Stalin. Tactics, logistics, and employment of mass are a few of the major details that played a role in the battle. Without this battle history as we know it would be very different.
In September of 1942, the German commander of the Sixth Army, advanced his troops to the city of Stalingrad where Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht to secure the oil fields and take Stalingrad. Stalingrad was a target location due to its manufacturing and center of communications for parts of Russia. Hitler had extra motivation to take Stalingrad because the significance of the name, it was named after the Soviet Russian leader Stalin. Russia had been war torn and devastated from previous attacks and battles from the Germans, they knew they had to persevere and hang on along enough to defeat the German Army. The Soviets did have somewhat of a warning of the German attack, they shipped out cattle, grain, and other main supplies, but most of the civilians stayed. Hitler was very confident he could take this city down without losing major causalities. While Hitler was planning the attack the Soviet Marshall Zhukov was planning a major counterattack. Marshall Zhukov had 6 armies of 1 million men ready to attack the Germans. Both the Germans and Soviets had flaws in their attacks but, t...

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...itler was very methodical in planning and execution his war plans, he didn’t stay humble and got to ambition and overshot his execution and logistics which lead to the end of the Nazi empire. I believe if he concentrated his force, didnt stretch his supply line, attacked not in the winter, and surrender or pulled out sooner he could have possibly won the war or lasted longer. The battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles with both sides loosing enormous amounts of casualties. This attempt by Hitler to capture three major cities changed the course of history and helped it for the better so we think. "Surrender is forbidden. 6 Army will hold their positions to the last man and the last round and by their heroic endurance will make an unforgettable contribution towards the establishment of a defensive front and the salvation of the Western world." –Hitler.

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