The Battle of Stalingrad

The Early Triumph of the Nazi Military and

the Hubris That Led to Its Fall

Zachary Duffy Individual Junior Paper

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Anyone familiar with World War II history can probably think of countless examples of

triumph and tragedy experienced by those that fought and died in the war. But the battle of

Stalingrad is a particularly stunning example because it was German triumphs that made Hitler

overconfident and ultimately led to the downfall of his military in Stalingrad, and the Russians’

tragic suffering that helped them find the strength to triumph over Germany in the battle.

The year was 1939 and the Nazi war machine was blazing through Europe in record time,

sweeping through France and pushing eastward towards the Volga River and Moscow and setting

the stage for World War II as the Germans continued pushing eastward. These great triumphs

inspired the German people, and one in particular thought that the Germans could not be

defeated. It was because Adolf Hitler’s hubris that the German war machine fell after the battle

of Stalingrad, from which the German army would never recover.

The German invasions started when Germany, under the new Nazi control, decided to

invade Poland in a temporary alliance with Russia. This caused the Allies to declare war on

Germany.. Even though the Allies declared the war, it was only because they were forced to. The

Allies never wanted a war with Germany after the first World War, and so maintained defensive

positions, not venturing out and attacking exposed German movements, not launching artillery

strikes against the Axis, not firing at scouts. For this reason, the allies were not ready for it, even

if they had predicted it, when the Germans launched an invasion of Belgium.

When the allies had been preparing for war with Germany, they had built a line of

defenses along their German border, called the Maginot line, to deter the Germans from

invading. They didn’t, however, extend the Maginot line to their border with Belgium, with

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whom they were friendly, but would not let them build defenses or place troops inside of

Belgium.

The lack of defense of Belgium was why nobody was surprised when the Germans

invaded Belgium to get around the French defenses. For this reason, the French were somewhat

ready to move troops into Belgium, and rushed in at full speed. What the French were not

expecting, however, was the invasion that came next. When the French troops had rushed into

Belgium at full speed, they had left a few places under-defended. They thought that the natural

protection would be strong enough to deter the German troops.

One such area was the Ardennes, a very woody and hilly area, and it was here that the

Germans forced 50 Wehrmacht divisions through and penetrated the French line of defense. The

French and British tried to retreat, but they were encircled by the German forces. The best of the

French armies were wiped out as the Germans crushed in from all sides, and the British only

avoided capture because of the desperate last-minute escape at Dunkirk. This rescue was

executed with the help of many brave British civilians, who miraculously crossed the extremely

dangerous waters of the English Channel to bring home the young men to British soil.

Meanwhile, in Russia, the Nazis were using the same Blitzkrieg tactics as they used in

France, engineered by the greatest military strategists of the day. Blitzkrieg was a form of

warfare defined by quick strikes by motorized and armoured vehicles or infantry, followed by

close air support in order to break the lines of the enemy and encircle them. The poorly trained

Russian troops were captured in huge numbers as Germans encircled retreating armies and cities

that the Russians were camping out in. Upwards of 1,000,000 troops were captured at once, and

Russian soldiers were shipped off to work in concentration camps.

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In the push eastward is where most of the shocking atrocities of Hitler's reign occurred.

Jewish people all over were prosecuted and either enslaved or killed. The killing of Jews was

considered by many Nazi leaders to be a source of entertainment, and people were often

encouraged to watch as people were dragged screaming from their homes. Anyone who would

try to stand up to their occupiers would be dragged with the rest of the Jews to concentration

camps, where people would often starve to death, or were gassed before they died from

malnutrition.

Stories began popping up everywhere of terrible acts committed against Jewish people,

such as 90 Jewish children that were locked in a cellar without food or water. It was these kinds 1

of abuses that gave the Germans confidence and made them feel in power.

At this point in the war most of Europe was under the control of Hitler and the Nazis,

and the quick fall of France and the lack of resistance from Russia gave the Germans a lot of

confidence in their push eastward. They felt as though they could not be beaten, that their tactics

were impossible to counter, and that there was no possible way that they could lose. Hitler had

started to take control of the day to day operations of his army now, making strategic decisions

on his own without the help of his officers or strategists. These were the same people that

historians regard as the most brilliant military minds of the day, having invented and used the

Blitzkrieg.

Hitler’s overconfidence turned out to be a grave mistake as the German army was

quickly running out of supplies. Men were spread wide on the Eastern Front, and almost all of

Hitler’s junior officers were telling him to slow down and to wait for reinforcements and

1 “Season 1, Episode 4 - The Battle of Stalingrad.” Battlefield . Public Broadcasting System. 1994. Accessed Jan. 18, 2019.

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supplies. The pleas for help were ignored, and when one of his officers said “there would be a

disaster” if reinforcements were not sent, Hitler accused him of not having “national socialist 2

ardour,” and admonished him, “clearly I cannot expect this of you (Halder).” Hitler had set his 3

sights upon Russia and was not to be stopped from advancing.

At this point, the German army was very poorly supplied as they advanced into

Stalingrad in early fall. They expected to have another quick victory like the ones in the earlier

parts of the war, but was met by a surprising amount of resistance. This resistance was put up by

the Russian people, who were desperate to stop the march of the German army into their

territory.

The battle of Stalingrad was now started, with both sides fighting ferociously. Even

though cattle and grain were shipped out of the city, no civilians left. Civilians stayed to help in

combat, and inspired soldiers by reminding them who they were defending. Despite all of this

though, the Russians were getting pushed back further and further into the city, and the Luftwaffe

(German air divisions) were starting to take over the skies. The Volga river behind the Russians

became useless between the Luftwaffe and the onshore fighting. The Germans were starting to

make real progress in capturing civilians and Russian troops, more of them being shipped off to

work in concentration camps.

Russian forces were down to fewer than 20,000 troops and were stuck on the brink of the 4

Volga. Morale among the soldiers was low. It looked like a German victory was imminent,

2 ”World War II.” Jewish Virtual Library, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-battle-of-stalingrad . Accessed Feb. 3, 2019. 3 ”World War II.” Jewish Virtual Library, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-battle-of-stalingrad . 4 Editors, History.com. “Battle of Stalingrad.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad . Accessed source Jan. 25, 2019

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leaving them the gateway into the main Caucesses, a land rich in food and oil, two essential

supplies to an army. In addition to this, the Volga River was a huge commercial pathway, leaving

a large portion of the Russian economy crippled. Yet all hope was not yet lost, as the Russians

had not yet surrendered, and they were still fighting hard, with reinforcements coming from

further east.

Stalin then issued Order 227, which states that it is time to stop retreating, and just

because we have a lot of land does not mean we should fight on it. This order ends with the now

famous phrase “Not one step back!” Stalingrad was now under renewed fighting, as the Russian 5

people were inspired. The general mood around the war was shifting from one of despair and

constant retreat to one of strength and moving as one to repel the Nazis and reclaim what was

theirs. The problem of Stalingrad needed to be taken care of, and a renewed hope around the war

was further boosted by the newly arrived reinforcements around the city of Stalingrad.

These reinforcements arrived mid-winter, gathering in the surrounding mountains and

encircling the German army in a move much resembling their own Blitzkrieg. This shocked the

German forces, as they were so close to winning the city of Stalingrad, and had not expected the

Soviet Union to have any more strength. The German forces were now surrounded, and stuck in

the city of Stalingrad, as the Russians pelted them with artillery shells, pushed in from all sides,

and fired on their troop movements in the rough terrain of the destroyed city. This type of

warfare is the one the Soviets preferred, as their extremely large population could sustain mass

casualties, something the Germans could not afford. The abundance of hiding places that only

5 By. “Stalin's Order No. 227: ‘Not a Step Back.’” The History Reader, 21 Feb. 2015, www.thehistoryreader.com/modern-history/stalins-order-227-step-back/.

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the Red Army knew about gave them a huge advantage in the close quarters city combat,

contributing further to the shift in dominance over the city.

The Germans were now surrounded and had no reinforcements coming from their thin

stretched forces on the Eastern Front. The Germans were stuck, and the only question that

remained was whether forces in the Caucasus could invade and could save them from the South.

Other Axis forces were not faring any better. Italians and Romanians, like the Germans, were

running out of supplies and were wiped out in rapid succession. Allied forces captured 100,000 6

Germans and all of the Italians and Romanians, a, leaving the Western German flank exposed.

The Russians charged into the vacated space at full speed, but the remaining Germans closed in

tighter, leaving an attack from this side just at practical as any of the others. This put the Axis

powers on the defensive, a position they had not been in all war. This pressure, combined with

just having been weakened by a harsh winter they were not accustomed to, along with a lack of

food, made the Germans extremely weak and growing ever weaker. The Russians would soon

win the battle of Stalingrad against a starved German force.

This change in power on the Eastern Front, the triumph of a Russian force that won

against one of Hitler's own German armies, was a huge turning point in the war. The Germans

now had to pull troops from the Western Front and the occupation of France. The start of the

Allied invasion of Italy meant that both the Russians and the Western Allied Forces could move

more freely and offensive action could be taken.

This was highlighted by the next moves of the Russian army: liberating the

German-occupied areas, reclaiming oil fields, grain stocks, and freeing its native people. The

6 Editors, History.com. “Battle of Stalingrad.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad

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Russian people were incredibly inspired; whereas the Germans, being on the defensive for the

first time in the war, were feeling the demoralization of losing. The Nazis were being pushed

back further and further and were beginning to fight on their own ground. The German people

were ready to give up. The armies were weaker than ever, and a general mood of despair was

settling over Germany.

The great acts of the Allied generals squeezing the Axis forces out of Africa were

highly celebrated. The Axis had been cleared of a whole continent where they were had a

significant amount of success earlier in the war. Yet these heroic actions were taking place while

fighting against a weakened force, being spread to cover the Eastern Front. These actions were

still weakened by the Soviet Union’s advance into the heart of the Nazi war machine.

The actions of the Russian army gave the rest of the Allies time to prepare their attack

on the German Forces in France. Once these plans were in effect, the advancing Russian Forces

gave Hitler something else to focus on besides the troops flooding through France. D-Day

happened while Russian troops were pressing the Germans back towards their capital. The event

that a lot of people believe was the turning point that brought World War II to an end was

happening while the Russians were pushing the Germans back further and further. Hitler had

ordered many troops back from the Eastern Front to help repel the Russians advancing. The

Allies were landing against a weakened and depleted German force. The Germans put up

comparatively little resistance since most of them were fighting a different fight, one much closer

to home.

It was, in the end, these two fronts crashing down on Germany that defeated them, just as

Germany had defeated Poland earlier in the war. Hitler’s confident betrayal of the Soviet Union

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and the initial triumphant push eastward that ultimately lead to Hitler’s vast overconfidence,

which would betray him later in the war. It was this hubris that led him to overextend his troops,

send them into battle without supplies, and spread them across the border too thin. This

overconfidence led him to extend his troops into Stalingrad, and when the Russian troops put up

a fight, the Germans were surprised. This fight had been absent for so long that the Germans did

not know how to deal with it, and this hubris was a major part of why the attack on Stalingrad

failed so terribly.

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Appendix 1

Starved and Weak German soldiers huddled up to stay warm under siege.

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Appendix 2

Photo of Josef Stalin’s Order No.227.

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Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources

“75th Anniversary Of Victory In The Battle Of Stalingrad.” RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty ,

RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, www.rferl.org/a/stalingrad-photo-gallery/24691866.html.

Accessed source Feb.2. This primary source was a good source of photos.

By. “Stalin's Order No. 227: ‘Not a Step Back.’” The History Reader , 21 Feb. 2015,

www.thehistoryreader.com/modern-history/stalins-order-227-step-back/ . Accessed Jan.27,

2019. This is a translation and breakdown of Josef Stalin's Order No.227

Delphinus Daily Herald. “News from inside Russia States the Germans Move Closer to

Stalingrad, Breaking down Soviet Defenses.” Delphinus Daily Herald , 26 Aug. 1942. This

source showed me of the Soviet political views at the time around the approaching battle.

The Des Moines Register. “A Desperate Soviet Stand at Stalingrad.” The Des Moines

Register , 26 Aug. 1942, pp. 1–2. Newspapers.com. This primary source helped me

understand the political effects of the battle of Stalingrad in America.

Flitton, Dave. “Battlefield S1/E4 - The Battle of Stalingrad.” YouTube , 10 Oct. 2012,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAsXB73TXSc . Accessed source Jan. 18, 2019. This Source

had both primary and secondary sources and helped me understand the tragedies

associated with the battle of Stalingrad such as what the captured soldiers had to endure as

well as the hopeless positions both armies were in during different stages of the battle.

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This source also gave good primary sources such as conversations with Hitler and his

generals.

“Germans Gain Streets in Stalingrad.” The Sidney Morning Herald ,

www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=22648262&fcfToken=697457446f4d4b6e325031763

1733446646e6d6d61327231796a336a6c4c3636654e713737335a4e332f76395667682f466

f34772f616c444f54624a78495743 . Newspapers.com. This article showed me what the

Red Army was putting out for propaganda.

“In Stalingrad Now.” The Guardian . Accessed Jan. 25, 2019. This primary source gave me an

inside view into the horrors and some of the perspective of the civilians.

Paterson, Tony. “Revealed: The Forgotten Secrets of Stalingrad.” The Independent ,

Independent Digital News and Media, 6 Nov. 2012,

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/revealed-the-forgotten-secrets-of-stalin

grad-8282751.html. This primary source was a collection of first-hand accounts.

Sandford, Daniel. “Remembering the Horrors of Stalingrad.” BBC News , BBC, 31 Jan. 2013,

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21266217. This primary source was a first hand

account of someone in the battle of Stalingrad.

Stalin, Josef. “J. STALIN.” THE BATTLE FOR STALINGRAD ,

www.stalingrad.net/russian-hq/order-227/peoples-commissar-of-defence.htm. This was a

primary photo of order number 227 and a translation of it.

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The Sydney Morning Herald. “Four Battles Being Fought on the Stalingrad Front.” The

Sydney Morning Herald ,

www.newspapers.com/clip/22647729/four_battles_being_fought_on_the/.

Newspapers.com This primary source showed me how the Red Army was swaying

peoples opinions to make it seem like the Soviets are nearing the end of a storm that was

lifting, and they would soon take back what the Nazis had taken, highlighting the

importance of morale.

The Tampa Tribune. “Nazis May Be Shifting Men From Stalingrad.” The Tampa Tribune ,

www.newspapers.com/clip/22647797/germans_focus_on_stalingrad_shifting/ .

Newspapers.com. This primary source helped me see again how the Russians were

flaunting intel, showing how they see morale being more important than secrecy.

Secondary Sources

“The Defeat of Hitler.” The History Place - World War II in Europe Timeline , 2010,

www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/defeat/catastrophe-stalingrad.htm . Accessed source

Feb. 1, 2019. This source helped me get a better idea of the political and moral effects of

the battle of Stalingrad.

“Digging into Hopelessness: The Battle of Stalingrad.” History Cooperative , Jegtheme, 2 Apr.

2017, historycooperative.org/digging-hopelessness-battle-stalingrad/. Accessed Feb.1,

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2019. This secondary source informed me of the differences and flaws in both side's

command.

Editors, History.com. “Battle of Stalingrad.” History.com , A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov.

2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad . Accessed source Jan. 25,

2019. This secondary source showed me the battle of Stalingrad in chronological order

with references to outside events so I could reference what was going on in my paper.

Evans, Richard J. “Why Hitler's Grand Plan during the Second World War Collapsed.” The

Guardian , Guardian News and Media, 8 Sept. 2009,

www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/08/hitler-germany-campaign-collapsed . Accessed

Feb. 1, 2019. This secondary source informed me of the political effects of the battle of

stalingrad and how it affected the morale and public opinion of the war.

History, Simple. “Battle of Stalingrad (1942-43).” YouTube , YouTube, 15 Feb. 2017,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHkELWFqGKQ . Accessed Jan. 22, 2019. This secondary

source helped me understand what fighting was like inside the battle of Stalingrad and

what the objectives of the opposing armies were.

Jhonson, Ian. “The Motherland Calls: The Battle of Stalingrad, 75 Years Later.” War on the

Rocks , 29 Aug. 2017,

warontherocks.com/2017/08/the-motherland-calls-the-battle-of-stalingrad-75-years-later/.

Accessed Feb. 1, 2019. This secondary source shows the victory in the battle of Stalingrad

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from a Russian perspective. This helped me understand how this victory shaped the rest of

the war morally and physically.

Patrick. “75 Years Ago, the Battle of Stalingrad.” InvestigAction Ghassan Kanafani

Revolutionary Writer and Journalist Comments , 14 Feb. 2018,

www.investigaction.net/en/75-years-ago-the-battle-of-stalingrad/ . Accessed source Feb. 2,

2019. This secondary source showed how the soviet victory on the eastern front affected

the resistance. It also showed the political effects of the victory in Stalingrad, like how the

landings in Normandy and Italy were influenced by this.

Photographs, and Text Sergey Ponomarev. “For Russians, 75 Years Later, Stalingrad Is a

Battle to Remember.” The New York Times , The New York Times, 15 Nov. 2017,

www.nytimes.com/2017/11/15/world/europe/russia-stalingrad-anniversary.html . This

source showed me the current day Russian view of the city and the battle fought there.

“World War II.” Jewish Virtual Library , www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-battle-of-stalingrad.

Accessed Jan. 23, 2019. This source helped me with understand some of the greater details

of the battle and had some quotes from Hitler that helped me understand some of his

decisions.

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