Stalingrad

By:

Michael Johnson

Battle for Russia

Leaders of the Axis In EuropeGermany – Adolf Hitler Italy - Benito Mussolini

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Leaders of the Axis in Asia• Emperor Shōwa Hirohito• Commander in Chief of the General Staff Hideki Tojo

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Leader of the Allies

• Russia – Stalin

• USA – Roosevelt

• England - Churchill

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The Battle for Stalingrad

• The Battle for Stalingrad s called the turning point in the war. It is because of this battle that the Germans had to take the defensive. This was probably the bloodiest battle of the war.

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The Start of the Battle• The Germans invaded Russia in 1941. They did not have the resources or

manpower to continue at the previous pace. So Hitler decided to split the army in 2 so that it could get 2 separate objectives and split the already weak Russian army. One would go for oil fields in Southern Russia. The other would go for the important city of Stalingrad.

• On Aug. 23, 1942, 1,000 airplanes proceeded with bombing the city. The Germans entered the city within several days, with no one to defend it but some stubborn citizens and an army of drafted workers.

• When the Germans reached the Volga River, the Russian 62nd Army arrived in Stalingrad. Severely outgunned, outmanned, and short on tanks, it was the fight of a life time. All hell broke loose for those 7 months.

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The Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad started on Aug. 23, 1942. For most soldiers that survived, it was the longest 7 months they would ever fight. When they Russian army started fighting against the Germans, they fought with an unbridled passion. They were fighting for their homeland. There was one house that came to be called Pavlov’s House, because one platoon lead by sergeant Pavlov. They held that house for 59 days without reinforcements, and they were completely surrounded. Many battle raged like this all over Stalingrad. Many battle fields became hallways in houses, or a set of stairs in buildings that haven’t yet been reduced to rubble.

The End of the Battle

• After four months of intense fighting, the Russians started a counter-offensive. It was codenamed Operation Uranus. This happened on November 19. By November 23, the Germans were surrounded. On February 2, the Germans surrendered, there were 23 generals, 2500 other officers and 90,000 soldiers. At the end of the battle, no one knows how many men did die. One thing is certain, the German army started around 300,000, with several tank divisions. Those were all lost, and the end of the Eastern front had started.

The Captured Germans

Sources

• http://zhukov.mitsi.com/Stalingrad.htm