The Battle of Stalingrad
The battle of stalingrad happen on 23 August, 1942 to 2 February, 1943. When the nazis launched operation barbarossa which was to take over the soviet union.
Germany and the soviet union signed a nonaggression pact, the reason the germans broke this pact is because hitler didn’t trust stalin next to the belarusian border because hitler needed the oil for his army. And then the attack on stalingrad happens on August 23, 1942. Making the soviet union enemies with nazi germany. When the battle first started the germans started doing direct assaults on civilians through air raids. Then eventually the germans took stalingrad and, the soviets had to prepare for a counter- attack. The axis units involved were the 6th army, the 4th panzer army, the 3rd army, the 4th army, the 8th army, and the 2nd army.
During the fighting on the eastern front most of the battles were fought in trenches. Now for the battle of stalingrad the germans and the soviets had to use urban combat to take the city back. During the fighting the germans casualties was around 627,899 men, but the soviets lost around 1,129,619 men. The battle came during one of the russian winters which came earlier than expected causing the germans who weren’t used to the cold and didn’t have enough heavy coats to support the invading army, caused them to freeze to death. As said by this german soldier during the battle December 6.
The weather is getting worse and worse. Clothing freezes on our bodies. We haven’t eaten or slept in three days. Fritz is telling me about a conversation he heard: the soldiers prefer to defect or surrender to captivity. .
. .”.So the conditions were so bad that the germans were more liable to run away or go to the soviets. Then the Russians cut off all supply to stalingrad and encircled the entire city cutting off supply to the german units.
Making them have to resort to eating the animals they found in the streets or killed. Even the Russians couldn’t get much supply supported by this letter written by a soviet soldier: Yesterday we got vodka. At that time we actually cut up a dog, and the vodka really came in handy. Hetti, I have already cut up four dogs, yet my comrades can’t eat their fill. One day I shot a magpie and cooked it. On February 2, 1943, General Paulus (Nazi Germany General) surrendered what remained of his army-some 91,000 men.
About 150,000 Germans had died in the fighting. The Soviet victory at Stalingrad was a great humiliation for Hitler. After the battle the Russians took 91,000 prisoners. And Stalingrad was under Soviet control again and the Germans had a new enemy.And had to begin to fight a two front war the allies and the Soviet Union.
Thus began the race to Berlin, and after the Axis had fallen, Germany was split into two sections one was soviet controlled East Germany and allied controlled West Germany, and in 1961 Germany was divided by the Berlin Wall. Leader of Eastern Germany was Erich Honecker East Germany was a satellite state of the soviet union. And the leader of west germany was Konrad Adenauer and he was a german statesman who served as the first chancellor of germany during the cold war.
