Stalingrad: Turning Point Of The Eastern Front
Battle of Stalingrad
Joseph Goebbels, a Nazi politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda once said ‘’A thousand years hence, every German will speak with awe of Stalingrad and remember that it was there that Germany put a seal on her victory.’’. As it turns out, Joseph was terribly wrong. The Battle of Stalingrad is typically referred to as the turning point of the Eastern Front. Hundreds of thousands of troops were poured into this one critical city. Stalingrad not only symbolized the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, but it provided many surrounding regions with economical influences. With this in mind, The Battle of Stalingrad would prove to be a substantial turning point for World War Two. The victory at Stalingrad would prove to have a huge influence in the economic agenda of the area. Stalingrad was a central hub for nearly all Southern oil refineries and pumps in the USSR. These refineries were found in a remote region known as the Caucasus, rich in oil and remote these regions were the key to cutting off a large majority of oil supply to the Soviets. Without a sufficient supply of oil a drastic disadvantage would soon become …show more content…
obvious. Capturing these massive supplies of oil would also fuel Hitler’s war machine if he could successfully get his hands on them. As Hitler famously stated ‘’If I do not get the oil of Maikop and Grozny then I must finish [liquidieren; "kill off", "liquidate"] this war.’’. Which in conclusion, if Hitler’s army could not secure and stabilize the flow of oil in the region the USSR would maintain a strategic advantage. Stalingrad also played a strong role in the political agenda of World War Two. Ironically, the battle of Stalingrad would prove to be the turning point of the war on the Eastern Front. Not only would the hopeful German victory at Stalingrad boost moral but, it bore the name of the Soviet Leader himself. If the German Regime to maintain and claim dominance of Stalingrad and the closely related Caucasus, then it would easily demoralize Soviet troops and certainly cause political uproar in Moscow. Which in theory would lead to the turning point in the USSR's downfall. However, the opposite happened. The USSR victory at Stalingrad resulted in the initial downfall of the success of the German Army on the Eastern Front. The German offensive for Stalingrad began on August 23, 1942.
Using both the German 6th Army and the 4th Panzer Army many believed the German Blitzkrieg would be just as swift as usual. Yet, it didn’t. Anyways, German bombing persisted every night amassing mass casualties, both civilian and Military. Whilst, during the day German infantry stormed the city. Block by block fighting persisted between Soviet resistance and the ever amassing German army. However, the USSR launched Operation Uranus. This was a two pronged counter attack to encircle both of the German divisions. Its’ goal was to entrap them into the very city they were fighting to conquer. The operation went extremely smoothly, almost immediately turning the tide to the Soviets. Which led to some of the bloodiest fighting ever recorded in World War
Two. The statistics for Stalingrad alone are staggering. On the Axis side only 5,000 German soldiers survived. They suffered a staggering 627,899 total casualties (wounded, killed, captured). Along with 91,000 prisoners of war. However, only roughly 5,000 of those prisoners survived. On the other hand the USSR suffered a staggering 1,129,619 total casualties; 478,741 personnel killed or missing, and 650,878 wounded or sick. The Battle of Stalingrad also proved devastating for equipment The Germans lost 00 aircraft (including 274 transports and 165 bombers used as transports), 500 tanks and 6,000 artillery pieces. Finally, the USSR lost 4,341 tanks destroyed or damaged, 15,728 artillery pieces and 2,769 combat aircraft. The battle was incredibly devastating, proving to be the bloodiest battle of World War Two with an estimated 1.7 - 2 million people killed, wounded, or captured. In conclusion The Battle of Stalingrad would prove to be the most decisive battle of World War Two. The Repulsion of the German Army would prove to bolster Allied moral and lead to the crumbling of the Eastern Front. If the Germans had won just like Joseph Goebbels had predicted in his quote, ‘’A thousand years hence, every German will speak with awe of Stalingrad and remember that it was there that Germany put a seal on her victory.’’ Than it would be almost certain we would be living in a different world.
Citations
“Battle of Stalingrad.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Mar. 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad.
History.com Staff. “Battle of Stalingrad.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad.
Limbach, Raymond. “Battle of Stalingrad.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 12 Jan. 2018, www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Stalingrad.
Joseph Goebbels, a Nazi politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda once said ‘’A thousand years hence, every German will speak with awe of Stalingrad and remember that it was there that Germany put a seal on her victory.’’. As it turns out, Joseph was terribly wrong. The Battle of Stalingrad is typically referred to as the turning point of the Eastern Front. Hundreds of thousands of troops were poured into this one critical city. Stalingrad not only symbolized the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, but it provided many surrounding regions with economical influences. With this in mind, The Battle of Stalingrad would prove to be a substantial turning point for World War Two. The victory at Stalingrad would prove to have a huge influence in the economic agenda of the area. Stalingrad was a central hub for nearly all Southern oil refineries and pumps in the USSR. These refineries were found in a remote region known as the Caucasus, rich in oil and remote these regions were the key to cutting off a large majority of oil supply to the Soviets. Without a sufficient supply of oil a drastic disadvantage would soon become …show more content…
obvious. Capturing these massive supplies of oil would also fuel Hitler’s war machine if he could successfully get his hands on them. As Hitler famously stated ‘’If I do not get the oil of Maikop and Grozny then I must finish [liquidieren; "kill off", "liquidate"] this war.’’. Which in conclusion, if Hitler’s army could not secure and stabilize the flow of oil in the region the USSR would maintain a strategic advantage. Stalingrad also played a strong role in the political agenda of World War Two. Ironically, the battle of Stalingrad would prove to be the turning point of the war on the Eastern Front. Not only would the hopeful German victory at Stalingrad boost moral but, it bore the name of the Soviet Leader himself. If the German Regime to maintain and claim dominance of Stalingrad and the closely related Caucasus, then it would easily demoralize Soviet troops and certainly cause political uproar in Moscow. Which in theory would lead to the turning point in the USSR's downfall. However, the opposite happened. The USSR victory at Stalingrad resulted in the initial downfall of the success of the German Army on the Eastern Front. The German offensive for Stalingrad began on August 23, 1942.
Using both the German 6th Army and the 4th Panzer Army many believed the German Blitzkrieg would be just as swift as usual. Yet, it didn’t. Anyways, German bombing persisted every night amassing mass casualties, both civilian and Military. Whilst, during the day German infantry stormed the city. Block by block fighting persisted between Soviet resistance and the ever amassing German army. However, the USSR launched Operation Uranus. This was a two pronged counter attack to encircle both of the German divisions. Its’ goal was to entrap them into the very city they were fighting to conquer. The operation went extremely smoothly, almost immediately turning the tide to the Soviets. Which led to some of the bloodiest fighting ever recorded in World War
Two. The statistics for Stalingrad alone are staggering. On the Axis side only 5,000 German soldiers survived. They suffered a staggering 627,899 total casualties (wounded, killed, captured). Along with 91,000 prisoners of war. However, only roughly 5,000 of those prisoners survived. On the other hand the USSR suffered a staggering 1,129,619 total casualties; 478,741 personnel killed or missing, and 650,878 wounded or sick. The Battle of Stalingrad also proved devastating for equipment The Germans lost 00 aircraft (including 274 transports and 165 bombers used as transports), 500 tanks and 6,000 artillery pieces. Finally, the USSR lost 4,341 tanks destroyed or damaged, 15,728 artillery pieces and 2,769 combat aircraft. The battle was incredibly devastating, proving to be the bloodiest battle of World War Two with an estimated 1.7 - 2 million people killed, wounded, or captured. In conclusion The Battle of Stalingrad would prove to be the most decisive battle of World War Two. The Repulsion of the German Army would prove to bolster Allied moral and lead to the crumbling of the Eastern Front. If the Germans had won just like Joseph Goebbels had predicted in his quote, ‘’A thousand years hence, every German will speak with awe of Stalingrad and remember that it was there that Germany put a seal on her victory.’’ Than it would be almost certain we would be living in a different world.
Citations
“Battle of Stalingrad.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Mar. 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad.
History.com Staff. “Battle of Stalingrad.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad.
Limbach, Raymond. “Battle of Stalingrad.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 12 Jan. 2018, www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Stalingrad.