July 17, 1942. A day which will forever live in infamy. The day on which a battle began. A siege that lasted 6 months. This battle, perhaps the most significant battle in Europe during World War II, was arguably the biggest turning point against the invincible Germans’ advance and shaped history for years to follow. The Battle of Stalingrad, which ended on February 2, 1943, took the lives of over a million soldiers.
World War II began with the German invasion of Poland on September 1st, 1939. Two days later, the
British and French Governments declared war, sparking the deadliest war known to mankind. However, this war did not simply begin because of the whims of a dictator. Rather, it began with the end of World War I. In 1919, at the Palace of Versailles, a few miles outside of Paris, France, the leaders of the victorious allied nations came together to create peace for future generations. To accomplish this, they created the Treaty of Versailles. Many consider this the primary reason for World War II. In this document the leaders of the central powers (Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire and the German Empire), were forced to sign a paper which imposed measures upon these nations that significantly hampered their ability to wage war on another country. The harshest actions were taken against the German Empire. They were declared to be responsible for the war (untrue) and strict punitive measures were imposed. Their military might was heavily limited and parts of their empire were provided to other nations. It can be best exemplified by William. L. Shirer, who wrote in his book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, “An Englishman could walk into the heart of Berlin and strike a German on the face, and no one would dare to retaliate,” when describing the period of time during Adolf Hitlers rise to power. Such were the measures that Germans were forced to deal with. This unrest created a storm that allowed Adolf Hitler to take control of the nation. That was what led to the war that took millions of lives.
As Hitler’s grip on Germany slowly began to grow, he began to ignore the Treaty of Versailles. He
marched back into the demilitarized Rhineland, took Austria and Czechoslovakia (Czechia and Slovakia today), and began to rapidly modernize his military. The number of soldiers in the Wehrmacht (German Army) swelled and the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) began to pump out ships. This all came as he gained the support of the public. What one must understand is that the German economy was in tatters and the Great Depression combined with the Treaty of Versailles had deeply affected the citizens. Hitler therefore, was a ray of hope in this dark time. Under him, Germany boasted a whopping 100% employment rate (considering you, of course, don’t take the Jews, the women or any other minorities into your calculations). This allowed him to shore up alliances and build relationships that would protect his interests. This included a pact with his sworn enemy, the Soviet Union!
The Molotov-Ribbentrop of August 23, 1939 defied all logic. It guaranteed 10 years of complete
nonviolence between Germany and the USSR (Soviet Union) as well as a promise from each nation to abstain from joining any coalition against the other. However, Germany had already broken this by joining an anti-Communist coalition (Anti-Comintern Pact) with Japan in 1936. This was an ominous foreshadowing of future events. The agreement further outlined, with a secret addendum, the political boundaries separating the two nations’ spheres of influence, including the division of Poland. It also established the sole use of diplomatic processes to handle any conflict that may arise between the two countries. The Pact, had in fact, achieved every single foreign policy initiative Stalin had outlined the same year. At least concerning Germany. It is worth to note that this was signed by the Soviet Chairman of the Committee of People’s Commissars Vyacheslav Molotov and the German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. Molotov later confirmed the USSR’s dire political situation to the legislative body of the Soviet Union only eight days later. Highlighting how negotiations with the French and British had failed, leaving the non-aggression pact as the best method for “ensuring peace and eliminating the danger of war between Germany and the USSR.” The driving reason behind this pact was due to the Soviet Union’s inadequate preparations. It bought the nation time to consolidate power, build military strength, and build international influence.
On the other hand, it was the Germans who had taken the first step, despite the numerous benefits that
it would bring to the Russians. While it did help the USSR bolster its forces, it gave Adolf Hitler exactly what he wanted, free reign to invade Poland! However, the signing of this agreement begs the question, why did the Soviet Union need such defense in the international arena? The answer lies in Joseph Stalin’s paranoia and the purging of both the Soviet (Red) Army as well as the political and administrative leadership of the nation. Between 1936-1939, the most reliable estimates place the number of Russians who had either been killed or incarcerated by the regime to be around 4.5 million. This included around half of the Red Army’s officers, leaving the military in disarray. Those that remained were incompetent, inexperienced, disorganized and completely demoralized. The USSR’s viability was even questioned by the French government. Who reasoned that these purges must either reflect the instability of the Soviet Union caused by the apparent presence of innumerable traitors or that it was governed by a madman whose paranoia had prompted him to betray and execute his best generals and commanders. Hitler only benefited from this.
Not only did the Molotov-Ribbentrop provide military benefits to the Nazi regime, but also economic
benefits. These took form in the German-Soviet commercial agreement of 1940, where the Soviet Union promised to supply Germany with resources in exchange for millions of Reichsmarks. While Stalin held up his end of the deal, feeding the Germany war machine, Hitler provided excuses for the delay in the payment. Ultimately never paying. The lack of Soviet retaliation for the missed payment is a snippet of the nation’s foreign policy towards Germany up until the subsequent invasion of the USSR. The Soviet premier, Joseph Stalin was unconvinced of any incursion by the Germans. To such extents was this belief that he disregarded both Soviet and allied intelligence warning of an impending invasion.
While Adolf Hitler certainly had an advantage going into the German invasion of the Soviet Union
(Operation Barbarossa), he ultimately failed, with the invasion leading to his downfall. Hitler always had ambitious plans concerning the Soviet Union. As outlined in his book Mein Kampf, the USSR’s vast land and natural resources were critical to his vision, Lebensraum (living space in German). This word was used to describe the aggressive Nazi expansion for the Greater German Reich. He planned to replace those living in modern-day Eastern Europe, with German (Aryan) people. Operation Barbarossa (Red Beard) began on June 22, 1941 following the failed invasion of Britain. Wehrmacht (Nazi Military) leadership relied on various intelligence sources to support the planning. German military command knew that they would not be able to afford a protracted conflict with the large nation, the only problem being the Red Army. They hoped that the Blitzkrieg (lightning war) tactic that had worked so successfully in France and Poland would force Stalin to call for peace. The invasion was initially estimated to last between six to eight weeks. Instead, despite the early German successes, the operation lasted a grueling six months, leading to a full retreat along the Eastern Front (German – Soviet) for the Wehrmacht.
The question that is now present is why? Why did Hitler lose the war? The reason lies in the Fuhrer’s
decision making. He made several costly mistakes regarding the ends, ways, risks and targets of the operation. At the start of the operation, the vision was very clear. Take Moscow and the Red Army would fall. He also determined, against the advice of his staff, that Leningrad (modern-day St. Petersburg) and Kyiv were also to be captured. Towards the later days of the invasion, forces were diverted towards Stalingrad (modern-day Volgograd). This stretched the nation’s military resources, weakening the invading force.
This brings us to the objective of this essay. Stalingrad. A very simple statement can be used to sum up
the entire battle. Adolf Hitler’s hubris led to the defeat of the Sixth Army (army attacking Stalingrad). Due to Stalin and the Red Army’s unpreparedness for a war, the German forces were allowed to quickly advance hundreds of kilometers into the USSR, leaving them within striking distance of Moscow. However, problems were soon discovered. The German supply chains were hopelessly overstretched, the terrain was not suited for their armored vehicles, and Russian soldiers were showing greater opposition. This led to decreasing morale among the invading troops. As the Germans neared Moscow, Stalin finally listened to his generals and stayed in Moscow. The eventual push against German troops created the prelude to the attack on Stalingrad. The Soviets after all, had seemingly endless supplies of men for their forces and were pouring out tanks, planes and weapons in the eastern factories at a rate the Germans could never match.
In April 1942, assembling a small but still substantial force, Hitler aimed at the Caucasus oil fields in the
south. Without oil, he said, we cannot win the war. Thus began the planning for Operation Blau. To command the vaunted Sixth Army of 330,000 elite troops, Hitler appointed a favorite, General Friedrich Paulus. An exceptional staff officer, Paulus had never led a field army. A problem emerged as they began though, General Paulus, intimidated by Hitler, was unable to stand up to him. During July and August, the force destroyed 7,000 tanks, 6,000 artillery pieces and 400 aircraft. Along with taking 625,000 Soviet troops prisoner. On July 9, an overconfident Hitler ordered the Sixth army to separate from the Fourth Panzer Army. The orders were to swing east and take Stalingrad. Cutting off the supply chain to the Volga (key river) and taking a major political target. Despite brave fighting and huge casualties, the Russian forces slowly retreated. Denying the Germans the total victory that they sought. Defending even more desperately as they fell back to Stalingrad, they dug in. It was at this point, on 28 July, that Stalin issued Order 227 – “Not a step back! (Ne shagud naza!). Each position, each meter of Soviet territory must be stubbornly defended, to the last drop of blood. The invasion was presented as a historic war to save the USSR, calling on nationalistic sentiments by replacing the words Soviet Union and communism with Russia and motherland. Stalin also refused the evacuation of citizens, stating that the troops would fight harder knowing there were residents in the city. By issuing this order, Stalin had committed himself, the Red Army, and the Soviet nation, to one of the most terrible battles in world history.
After reaching the Volga (river near Stalingrad), German confidence rapidly declined. The Soviets were
showing greater resilience – a product of Stalin learning to trust his generals – while the Germans made increasingly bad military decisions – due to Hitler alienating himself with his general staff, demanding total obedience – leading to the Soviet victory. While the Germans initially had massive advantages in technology and air superiority, as the battle waged, the fighting descended into Rattenkrieg (rat’s war in German, used to describe urban combat). The Soviets and Germans were continuously fighting for control of hills and other vantage points. While the Germans would capture a building during the day, the Soviets would sneak in through the basements during the night. It was bloody and brutal warfare. As the Sixth Army slowly burned through its supplies and with reinforcements turned away, they were at their ropes end. It was at this point that Paulus’s inability to argue with his leader created consequences for his troops. With his troops demoralized, supplies low and completely surrounded, he was forced to defy Hitler. On February 2nd, 1943, Field Marshal Paulus’s Sixth Army, surrounded and beleaguered, were forced to surrender.
This battle, the battle of Stalingrad proved to be the turning point of the German advance into Russia.
Already pushed back from Moscow and a tiring siege at Leningrad (St. Petersburg), the psychological impact of the loss halted the string of German victories heading into the summer of 1943. With this triumph, the Soviets not only wiped out an entire army, but created a hole in the Wehrmacht line which they used to push the invaders back. After this, German troops lost the strategic initiative, slowly retreating while losing major battles. Along with the steady re-armament and reorganization of the Red Army as well as better technology, it was now the Germans who were attempting to escape. Immediately after the battle, the USSR launched an offensive against the German troops in the south-western area of the nation. A string of operations simultaneously attacked the beleaguered Germans, attacking and attempting to capture Wehrmacht general Erich von Manstein’s army group. However, his army managed to escape the trap, quickly retreating to safer lines. Soon after, with a steady advance from the Soviets, the Germans planned a massive attack at Kursk to hopefully turn the tide. However, after word was leaked to the Soviets, they dug in and counter-attacked with their own armored divisions. This led to the Battle of Kursk – the largest tank battle in history – which was the beginning of the end for German aspirations to the east. A point to be made is that while the failures Operations Barbarossa and Blau did significantly change the tide of the war, the Wehrmacht still remained a formidable fighting force. It took the Soviet Union 2 more years following the Battle of Stalingrad to reach Berlin.
Following World War II, the Soviets took hold of many of the nations in Eastern Europe – these nations
were captured by the Soviet Union during their push for Berlin – and placed communist puppet governments in them. These countries formed the Eastern Bloc, a buffer zone between the capitalist west and the communist USSR. This battle, mainly between the US and the USSR, was called the Cold War. Its influence continues to shape our world today.
Works Cited
Antill, Peter. Stalingrad 1942. Bloomsbury USA, 19 June 2007, www.thehistoryreader.com/military-history/stalingrad-1942-aftermath/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
Peter Antill has a background in international politics and defence studies, with a BA in International Relations from Staffordshire University and an MSc in Strategic Studies from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. In his book, he puts forth the events that occurred during the battle in a concise but informative way.
Dell, WIlliam O. “1 Alvin Rubinstein, the Foreign Policy of the Soviet Union (New York, Random House, 1960), 143-144. 2 Ibid., 142. Friends of Necessity: The Effects of the 1939 German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact.” Western Carolina University, 11 Apr. 2020, affiliate.wcu.edu/tuckasegeevalleyhistoricalreview/spring-2020/friends-of-necessity-the-effects-of-the-1939-german-soviet-nonaggression-pact/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
The Western Carolina University is a prestigious college. In this essay, the author connects the foreign policy of the Soviet Union during World War II to their actions during the Cold War. He argues that the reason for the attacking Soviet realpolitik was due to a string of European betrayals across the 1940s and 1950s.
Dyomkin, Denis. “Russia Commemorates Pivotal Battle of Stalingrad.” Reuters, 2 Feb. 2013, www.reuters.com/article/world/russia-commemorates-pivotal-battle-of-stalingrad-idUSDEE91103N/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
Fenrick, Phillip W., Sgt. “Operation Barbarossa a Lesson in Hubris and Strategy.” Army University Press, 2 May 2022, www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO-Journal/Archives/2022/May/Operation-Barbarrosa/#. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
The Army University Press is an official website of the US Government. Written by Master Sergeant Phillip W. Fenrick, this article displays how Adolf Hitler’s decisions led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. He argues that poor decisions such as diverting troops lead to his death. Fenrick holds a bachelor’s degree in strategic studies and defense analysis from Norwich University and is currently working towards his master’s degree in leadership studies at the University of Texas, El Paso.
Kaplan, Robert M. “Stalingrad: The Hinge of History—How Hitler’s Hubris Led to the Defeat of the Sixth Army.” Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health, vol. 31, no. 2, Apr. 2023, https://doi.org/doilink/05.2023-13628677/JMVHVol31No2. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
The JMVH is a highly regarded journal. In this issue, the author describes the Battle of Stalingrad and how Adolf Hitler’s decisions led to the German defeat at Stalingrad.
Spencer, John, and Jayson Geroux. “Case Study #1 – Stalingrad.” Modern War Institute at Westpoint, 28 June 2021, mwi.westpoint.edu/urban-warfare-project-case-study-1-battle-of-stalingrad/. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
The Modern War Institute at West Point is a highly regarded institution. In this case study, the authors explain the events that occurred during the battle and the key takeaways. They argue that Stalingrad is an example of military tactics to be used in urban warfare.