'The Battle of Stalingrad\r'

'The difference of opinion of Stalingrad was fought from terrific 23, 1942 to February 2, 1943. Hitler’s attempt to becharm the metropolis land uped when the Soviets fixped the three hundred 000-German sixth multitude under common Friedrich Paulus. The destruction of the properly sixth array gave the Soviets a psychological nose and military initiative.For the Germans, the difference signaled the end of the Russian mastery; that is, from a contend of conquest to a war of survival. Background On deluxe 1938, Hitler shocked the world by subscribe a non-aggression pact with his most detested enemy, the Soviet Union.Both powers agreed not to tone-beginning each other(prenominal) for a intent of 10 years. A secret communications protocol called for a division of easterly atomic number 63 between the devil powers. Confident that the Soviets would not intervene with his military plans, Hitler proceeded to ack-ack gas Poland. On September 1, 1939, German equi p formation, support by the Luftwaffe, smashed into the Polish borders, housing thousands of Polish soldiers in the lead they could organize a general retreat into Eastern Poland. dickens mean solar days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. devil weeks later, Soviet forces occupied Eastern Poland, as part of the Nazi-Soviet Pact.Poland was obliterated from the act of Europe. Hitler this instant turned his attention to the West. later eight months of interregnum, German forces aided by the al mighty Luftwaffe, struck at France, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands. The British were trapped at Dunkerque. French forces were thwarted in a matter of quatern weeks. With France defeated, Hitler at once turned his attention to his dislike ally, the Soviet Union. On June 22, 1941, three German legions groups, numbering roughly 3. 1 meg men struck at the Soviet Union. The Soviets were caught by surprise.On the for the first time day alone, 1 zillion Sov iets were either killed, capture, or injured; 1400 aircraft were destroy, 500 catalysts were either unmake or captured. After three days, the Soviets disconnected nigh 80% of their armored formations in the East. Four Panzer armies control towards Moscow. The arrival of the alleged(prenominal) ‘Siberian units’ (numbering ab start 1 million men) and the harshness of the 1941 winter finally set the Germans from the outskirts of Moscow. Both sides rested. Hitler, however, planned another grounds in the southern sector of the front. feat BlueOn May 1942, German forces smashed crossways the southeasterlyern sector of the Eastern Front. Again, Soviet forces were caught by surprise. The Germans drove into the river tire, and prepared a massive assault on the river Volga (where Stalingrad was located). deuce German panzer armies took the Caucasus on the following month. The siemens and quaternate Romanian armies as rise up as the 8th Italian phalanx aided the G erman Sixth armament in the crossing of the river Volga. By the foremost of August, additional armor was transferred to the sixth host for the final capture of the city of Stalingrad.Marshal Georgy Zhukov expect this and lucid Soviet forces to fortify the 6th soldiery. Setting the Stage for the interlocking In the Southern sector of the front, Hitler possessed fantabulous forces. German forces numbered about 1. 7 million men, or about 76 divisions. accomplishment Blue called for the use of 3 panzer armies; deuce of which would drove into the Caucasus. One panzer army would hale straight into Stalingrad (refer to map1). On the eve of Blue, Germany relieve retained the element of surprise. For the Soviets, the defense of Stalingrad and other draw cities around the Volga rested on the newly formed Soviet army timiditys.Much of the Don steppes (refer to map2) were ideal for armored maneuvers. arena Marshal Fedor von Bock once argued to Hitler that the crush way to destro y the Soviet army is to launch a massive tone-beginning around the river Volga. Hitler, however, insisted that the main thrust of the outrage should be around the Caucasus Mountains. Much of the intensity level of the Soviet army laid on its newly formed armored formations and the reserve armies, and of course, the channels of defenses around key cities in the Volga region (refer to map 3). Stalin allocated only about 20% of the whole Soviet forces to the Southern sector, expecting an attack around Moscow.At the start of Blue, 10 Soviet armies were hastily sent to the South to counter the 3 panzer armies and the 7 German infantry and satellite armies. It can be argued that whilst the Soviet held the upper hand in the northwesterlyern and central sector of the front, in the south, the German initially outnumbered the Soviets by just about 3:1. At the start of the betrothal of Stalingrad, all Soviet reserves were throw into Stalingrad in a bid to encircle the German 6th army. W hen the German 6th soldiers entered the city on August 23, about 5 Soviet storage army tank armies were massing around the river Volga.Only the fourth Panzer legions was in proximity to support the 6th phalanx in case of a study Soviet offense. Most of the armor were allocated to the army group in the Caucasus region. The Battle The first phase of the engagement of Stalingrad entangled the ask assault of the German 6th Army and the German fourth Panzer Army to 8 Soviet armies of the Stalingrad front (refer to map4). Fighting in the Don steppes electron orbited its height on the end of July when 2 Soviet tank armies seek to outmaneuver both the 6th Army and the fourth Panzer army. It would take 4 weeks before the German army could liquidate the 2 tank armies.The Soviet army recede into the interior of the Volga region in conceptualisation of a massive German attack on the Stalingrad. Stalin now reorganized the Stalingrad front. Two infantry armies were reassigned as t ank armies. The second phase of the German commence into Stalingrad involved the crossing of the river Volga. The Romanian and Hungarians armies provided the flanks of the 6th Army. The 4th Panzer Army provided the spearhead of the attack. Some armored formations were reallocated to the 6th Army from von Kleist’s beginning(a) Panzer Army. The Soviets retreated to the outskirts of Stalingrad.Consequently, Stalin ordered the Soviet armies to dungeon the 6th Army in Stalingrad. He allowed no further withdrawal of the Soviet forces. Between the Don and the Volga, a bulky salient was formed occupied by the 62nd and 64th Soviet armies. On August 29, 4th Panzer Army smashed into the southern roast of the 64th Army and headed towards Stalingrad. The 6th Army drove into the northern junction of the 62nd Army (refer to map5). The mechanical tweet made by the Soviet 4th Tank Army in the north slowed the progress of the 6th Army, enabling the two Soviet armies to escape encirclem ent (refer to map6).The triad phase of the battle involved a major(ip) German assault on the southern sector of the city. The Luftwaffe dropped thousands of bombs in the city. Paulus ordered the 6th Army to make a frontal assault of the city (which was now surrounded on three sides). German artillery pounded on the Soviet defenses on the Volga. Meanwhile, Soviet reserves continued to pelt on the Stalingrad front allowing Zhukov to mount local counterattacks against the 6th Army. As the fight for the city intensified, Stalin reorganized the Soviet fronts, creating the Southwest and Don fronts.Zhukov’s plan for a major counterattack was simple yet ambitious. third Soviet armies from the Southwest and Don fronts would pull towards the left flank of the German 6th Army. Two Soviet armies from the Stalingrad front would drive towards the junction of the 6th Army and the 4th Panzer Army (refer to map7). This strategy was designed to trap the 6th Army in Stalingrad. On October 1942, storm was unleashed on the Romanian and Hungarian armies (which served as flanks of the 6th Army). They were easily destroyed. The Soviets pounded the city into rubble.Although Hitler promised to airlift supplies to the 6th Army, only nose candy gobs reached daily, far from the 400 tons daily supplies promised by Hitler. From December 1942 to January 1943, the Soviets trim down the Stalingrad pocket by 50%. Hitler’s insistence for the 6th Army to take a crap out added to its own destruction. Paulus never ordered a major break out of the 6th Army. On February 1943, the headquarters of Paulus was captured by the Soviets. Paulus surrendered to the Soviets on the day of his promotion as field marshal. Weapons/Advantages/AlliancesMost of the German armor utilise in Blue and the battle of Stalingrad were comment III and Mark IV, equipped with 50 and 80 mm. guns. Armor ranged from 80 to one hundred mm. The noted 88 mm gun was used both as anti-tank and anti-aircraft g un (it was the only anti-tank gun that could destroy the mighty T-34). German airpower relied on two famous aircrafts: the bomber Junker and the Messerschmitt Bf109 (a powerful fighter). German soldiers were super trained, far from their Soviet counterparts (also in coincidence with Germany’s allies: Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Italy).The Soviet tank armies relied on two powerful tanks: the T-34 (with its 75 mm gun) and the KV100 (a heavy tank). The T-34 tank was suit on all types of weather and could reach a speed of about 70 miles an hour. The Soviets also employed the IL28, a powerful fighter that could in some cases outfought the mighty Bf 109. The advantages of the Germans were as follows: 1) the efficiency and effectiveness of the German General Staff in functional and strategic planning, 2) the level of training of item-by-item German soldiers, 3) the close coordination of German mechanize units and the air force, and 4) flexibility in verify structure.The a dvantages of the Soviets were as follows: 1) the large size of the Soviet reserve armies, 2) its powerful tank designs (T-34), 3) determination, almost fanatical, of the Soviet armies in defending key cities, and 4) high production of armaments. Situation distinguish The defeat of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad signaled the end of Hitler’s war of conquest in the East. It initially destroyed the capability of the German to launch another massive operation (except at Kursk). In essence, the defeat gave the Soviets a psychological lift; that is, it was possible for the German army to be defeated.The strategic victory of the Soviets at Stalingrad allowed Stalin to press for a major Allied counterstrike at North Africa. German pressure in the East was partially relieved. Hitler was now faced a war on two fronts, which he initially prevented by signing the non-aggression pact with Stalin. On the field of operations of operations, much of the German activities after the battle of Stalingrad focused on minor offensive posture, in contrast to the Soviets which could mount major operations (Bagration for example).In any case, the battle of Stalingrad shifted the favor of war to the Allies, as did in the battle of El Alamein in North Africa. Bibliography Battle of Stalingrad. BBC. PolyGram Video International, 1994. Beevor, Antony. Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege 1942-1943. fresh York: Viking, 1998. Irving, David. Hitler’s War and the War Path. capital of the United Kingdom: Parforce, 2002. Seaton, Albert. The Russo-German War, 1941-1945. New York: Praeger, 1971. Toynbee, Arnold. A History of the World. capital of the United Kingdom: capital of the United Kingdom Publishing House, 1964. Wells, Herbert. The Outline of History. London: Garden City Books, 1956.\r\n'