Stalingrad Research Paper

Hitler concentrated too much of his military strength on Stalingrad. The capture and destruction of the city was of more symbolic value than strategic advantage. The military high command was in disarray due to a combination of disagreements and dismissals. Hitler frequently interfered in detailed operations overriding the decisions of his military commanders. This caused confusion throughout the chain of command and resulted in a distinct lack of unity. One consequence was the existence a long and vulnerable flank along the Don River manned by troops from Hungary, Italy and Romania. These troops lacked motivation and were left ill equipped, making the task of the Red Army an easier one. It is interesting to speculate that had Hitler kept out of military planning, events may have been considerably

As result of, in Hitler’s view, a catastrophic failure of leadership and inability to conquer Moscow, Hitler took on the role of military commander and made the day-to-day decisions for troop movements and strategy of Nazi ground forces. Hitler maintained his belief of “total war”, in which the simultaneous destruction of urban centers and industrial complexes was key to overall mission success. In this vein, Hitler decided to divide his forces on the Eastern Front and attack Soviet oil fields in the southern Caucasus region while also driving onward to Stalingrad. Stalingrad seemed a particularly important objective to Hitler, as it served as a major port for the Soviet military-industrial complex. Through the control of Stalingrad, Hitler could disrupt the Allied ability to transport personnel and supplies. In April of 1942, Hitler declared his intentions for Operation Blue, a two-pronged attack on the southern front of Russia, and began active military operations in the region on June 28, 1942 (Limbach,

Causes and Consequences of Operation Barbarossa On June 22nd 1941, German forces crossed the Russian frontier and began to fight their way into Soviet territory. Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's codename for the attack on Russia, had begun. In this essay I am going to describe the causes, events and consequences of Operation Barbarossa. What happened when the 'unbeatable' Hitler and Germany met the sheer determination and patriotism of Stalin and the USSR?

His motivation for the invasion increased when he saw the potential opportunity to colonise Russian soil and extract its natural resources. Hitler believed that a blanket cover of fear and death which involved the physically annihilating Jews, Communists and any other people deemed to be threatening to the establishment of a long-term German rule on Soviet territory was to be wiped out. Hitler was also unhappy about the Soviet control over areas such as the Baltic States, Bessarabia and North Bukovina placed soviet soldiers close to the Romanian oil fields which the Nazis relied heavily on. Hitler signed Directive 21 or operation Barbarossa on the 18th of December

In the days that followed the German forces fought their way into Stalingrad against intense resistance. This was urban street fighting of the most brutal type, with vast losses on both sides. The ruins of houses and factories began to stink as hot winds carried the smell of decaying corpses into every hole and crevice (History.com 4). For simple reasons of morale, the Russians could not let this city fall just as the Russians could not let the Germans get hold of the oil fields in the Caucasus. Stalin issued an order that was “Not a step backwards” He also refused the evacuation of any civilians, stating that the army would fight harder knowing that they were defending residents of the city (Truman 1). The halted Germans was running short

On the other hand, Hitler knew that one of his biggest hurdles would be going to war with the Soviet Union. On June 22, 1941 Hitler gave the motion for 3 million troops to attack the Soviet Union. This invasion is known as Operation Barbosa and was the most lethal battle in all of World War 2. This was a major turning point in the war, for its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war.

The battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history. With military and civilian casualties combined there was over two million casualties. This battle was a turning point in the war for the Allies in the Eastern front. Hitler attacked Stalingrad for multiple reasons. Hitler thought that if Germany took control of Stalingrad it would boost the morales of the Nazi’s. Stalingrad was by Caucasus and near a trading post that could have been essential to Hitler. Hitler thought if he could capture Stalingrad it would help the Nazi’s launch more assaults to capture Caucasus. On September 3, 1942 the German Sixth Army, under the leadership of Commander Friedrich Paulus, reached the outskirts of Stalingrad. The Germans believed that they would take Stalingrad in a short amount of

It is easy to see that arrogance was a key factor that blinded the Nazi forces to ignore intelligence collections as they assumed full heartily they would be victorious by winter. Let’s say that the Nazi forces had decided to keep its attacking Army together and not split them to the north. Their numbers would have been sufficient to clear the city of Stalingrad. If you factor in the winter, had the Nazi forces prepared for cold winter fighting and choked the ingress of supplies to the Soviets on the Volga River, since they had air superiority, they would have defeated the Soviets easily. If they had defeated the Soviets their morale would have been crushed, and due to the high number of casualties during the battle, would have made it hard for the Soviets to recuperate. Since the Army of Stalingrad would be the same that overtook Berlin, this defeat of the Soviet forces would have turned the War in Europe, prolonging and quite possibly assuring a win for the Nazi’s for World War 2, by providing a rich area of natural resources and forced

The German side had around 250,000 troops. The bulk of the seasoned forces for the German army where in the city limits. Those flanks were vulnerably exposed on the open steppes surrounding the city and were weakly defended by undermanned, undersupplied, overstretched, and under motivated Romanian, Hungarian, and Italian troops (Limbach, 2015). On November 23, the maneuvers to encircle from the north and south were successful 6th and 4th Panzer Armies. The German High Command suggest to Hitler to order General Paulus to fight through the Russian troops to rendezvous with other German forces west of Stalingrad. Hitler does not allow this. Hitler main goal is to push pass Stalingrad in order to reach Caucasus. The region had vast resources and oil that would greatly increase the power and influence of the Nazi Empire. Hitler also deems the victory of Stalingrad as a political statement for his regime (Limbach, 2015). Instead, Hitler orders air convoys to resupply his surrounded armies. The convoys were poor and unsuccessful in delivering the

After the failure of Operation Barbarossa to completely crush the U.S.S.R. in one campaign, The Germans were

Its because the main reason being that the germans wanted to secure the oil fields in the caucasus. So stalin defend it for the oil fields but also because it was named after him he also took it as a great threat to the propaganda of the war and that it would be bad morale for troops and russian people. So stalin knowing that he had very little firepower gave the wild order of Order No. 227 issued on July 28, 1942 was an order issued by Joseph Stalin who was acting as the People's Commissar of Defence. More famously known as “not one step back” which became the slogan for the russian military during this time but what it meant was. It basically was to help with the mass retreat and desertion the russians were facing and was said that if you do retreat or refuse to fight you will be killed on site. This helped but the russian troops were deserting manly due to the fact that they were being forced to join the military and then having little to no combat experience. Until stalingrad was very daunting to the once illiterate peasant farmers now suppose to protect the city from well trained nazis. So the order helped with troops

Germany had originally scheduled the invasion of the Soviet Union for mid – May 1941, but the unforeseen necessity of invading Yugoslavia and Greece in April of the year forced them to postpone the Soviet campaign to late June. The swiftness of Hitler’s Balkan victories enabled him to keep to this revised timetable, but the five weeks’ delay shortened the time for carrying out the invasion of the U.S.S.R. and was to prove the more serious because in 1941 the Russian winter would arrive earlier than usual. Nevertheless, Hitler and his generals were convinced that the Red Army could be defeated in two or three months and that by the end of October the Germans would have conquered the whole European part of Russia and Ukraine. The invasion of the Soviet Union was originally given the code name Operation Fritz, but as preparations began, Hitler renamed it Operation Barbarossa, after Holy Roman emperor Frederick Barbarossa (reigned 1152–90), who sought to establish German predominance in Europe.

On June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler gave the green light for the commencement of Operation Barbarossa to capture the heart of USSR, Moscow, in order to diminish the power of the Allied forces in WWII gradually. However, Hitler’s masterminded plan eventually began falling apart due to his own carelessness and over-confidence. For instance, Hitler’s postponement of the operation proved to be crucial as the ferocious Russian winter arrived significantly earlier, causing many German soldiers to freeze to death, while the Russians, accustomed to the weather, used it to their advantage. Hitler also underestimated Stalin’s ability to prepare enough troops, yet Stalin’s men were able to squeeze out close to double that of the Germans proving to be one of

<br>The plan to capture the Soviet Union, operation Barbarossa, was initially very successful. The German attack, comprising 134 divisions or just over 3 million soldiers, took the Russians by surprise and they quickly advanced towards Moscow. But the rough country and appalling roads were taking its toll, and the German advance started to slow. Hitler himself took control of the campaign. Hitler was a very determined man. He was very determined to avenge the loss and humiliation of world war

The German army lead the offensive into Stalingrad using the German 6th Army and their elite 4th Panzer tank Army. The Luftwaffe, the German