The Battle of Stalingrad briefly. Briefly about the Battle of Stalingrad: chronology

Introduction

On April 20, 1942, the battle for Moscow ended. The German army, whose advance seemed unstoppable, was not only stopped, but also pushed back 150-300 kilometers from the capital of the USSR. The Nazis suffered heavy losses, and although the Wehrmacht was still very strong, Germany no longer had the opportunity to attack simultaneously on all sectors of the Soviet-German front.

While the spring thaw lasted, the Germans developed a plan for the summer offensive of 1942, codenamed Fall Blau - “Blue Option”. The initial target of the German attack was the oil fields of Grozny and Baku with the possibility of further development of the offensive against Persia. Before the deployment of this offensive, the Germans were going to cut off the Barvenkovsky ledge - a large bridgehead captured by the Red Army on the western bank of the Seversky Donets River.

The Soviet command, in turn, also intended to conduct a summer offensive in the zone of the Bryansk, Southern and Southwestern fronts. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the Red Army was the first to strike and at first managed to push the German troops almost to Kharkov, the Germans managed to turn the situation in their favor and inflict a major defeat on the Soviet troops. On the sector of the Southern and Southwestern fronts, the defense was weakened to the limit, and on June 28, Hermann Hoth's 4th Panzer Army broke through between Kursk and Kharkov. The Germans reached the Don.

At this point, Hitler, by personal order, made a change to the Blue Option, which would later cost Nazi Germany dearly. He divided Army Group South into two parts. Army Group A was to continue the offensive into the Caucasus. Army Group B was to reach the Volga, cut off the strategic communications connecting the European part of the USSR with the Caucasus and Central Asia, and capture Stalingrad. For Hitler, this city was important not only from a practical point of view (as a large industrial center), but also for purely ideological reasons. The capture of the city, which bore the name of the main enemy of the Third Reich, would be the greatest propaganda achievement of the German army.

Balance of forces and the first stage of the battle

Army Group B, advancing on Stalingrad, included the 6th Army of General Paulus. The army included 270 thousand soldiers and officers, about 2,200 guns and mortars, about 500 tanks. From the air, the 6th Army was supported by the 4th Air Fleet of General Wolfram von Richthofen, numbering about 1,200 aircraft. A little later, towards the end of July, Hermann Hoth's 4th Tank Army was transferred to Army Group B, which on July 1, 1942 included the 5th, 7th and 9th Army and the 46th Motorized housings. The latter included the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.

The Southwestern Front, renamed Stalingrad on July 12, 1942, consisted of about 160 thousand personnel, 2,200 guns and mortars, and about 400 tanks. Of the 38 divisions that were part of the front, only 18 were fully equipped, while the others had from 300 to 4,000 people. The 8th Air Army, operating along with the front, was also significantly inferior in numbers to von Richthofen's fleet. With these forces, the Stalingrad Front was forced to defend an area more than 500 kilometers wide. A separate problem for the Soviet troops was the flat steppe terrain, where enemy tanks could operate at full strength. Taking into account the low level of anti-tank weapons in front units and formations, this made the tank threat critical.

The German offensive began on July 17, 1942. On this day, the vanguards of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht entered into battle with units of the 62nd Army on the Chir River and in the area of the Pronin farm. By July 22, the Germans had pushed Soviet troops back almost 70 kilometers, to the main line of defense of Stalingrad. The German command, hoping to take the city on the move, decided to encircle the Red Army units at the villages of Kletskaya and Suvorovskaya, seize the crossings across the Don and develop an attack on Stalingrad without stopping. For this purpose, two strike groups were created, attacking from the north and south. The northern group was formed from units of the 6th Army, the southern group from units of the 4th Tank Army.

The northern group, striking on July 23, broke through the defense front of the 62nd Army and surrounded its two rifle divisions and a tank brigade. By July 26, the advanced units of the Germans reached the Don. The command of the Stalingrad Front organized a counterattack, in which mobile formations of the front reserve took part, as well as the 1st and 4th Tank Armies, which had not yet completed their formation. Tank armies were a new regular structure within the Red Army. It is unclear who exactly put forward the idea of their formation, but in the documents, the head of the Main Armored Directorate Ya. N. Fedorenko was the first to voice this idea to Stalin. In the form in which tank armies were conceived, they did not last long, subsequently undergoing a major restructuring. But the fact that it was near Stalingrad that such a staff unit appeared is a fact. The 1st Tank Army attacked from the Kalach area on July 25, and the 4th from the villages of Trekhostrovskaya and Kachalinskaya on July 27.

Fierce fighting in this area lasted until August 7-8. It was possible to release the encircled units, but it was not possible to defeat the advancing Germans. The development of events was also negatively affected by the fact that the level of training of the personnel of the armies of the Stalingrad Front was low, and a number of errors in the coordination of actions made by the unit commanders.

In the south, Soviet troops managed to stop the Germans at the settlements of Surovikino and Rychkovsky. Nevertheless, the Nazis were able to break through the front of the 64th Army. To eliminate this breakthrough, on July 28, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered, no later than the 30th, the forces of the 64th Army, as well as two infantry divisions and a tank corps, to strike and defeat the enemy in the area of the village of Nizhne-Chirskaya.

Despite the fact that the new units entered the battle on the move and their combat capabilities suffered as a result, by the indicated date the Red Army managed to push back the Germans and even create a threat of their encirclement. Unfortunately, the Nazis managed to bring fresh forces into the battle and provide assistance to the group. After this, the fighting flared up even hotter.

On July 28, 1942, another event occurred that cannot be left behind the scenes. On this day, the famous Order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR No. 227, also known as “Not a step back!” was adopted. He significantly toughened penalties for unauthorized retreat from the battlefield, introduced penal units for offending soldiers and commanders, and also introduced barrage detachments - special units that were engaged in detaining deserters and returning them to duty. This document, for all its harshness, was received quite positively by the troops and actually reduced the number of disciplinary violations in military units.

At the end of July, the 64th Army was nevertheless forced to retreat beyond the Don. German troops captured a number of bridgeheads on the left bank of the river. In the area of the village of Tsymlyanskaya, the Nazis concentrated very serious forces: two infantry, two motorized and one tank division. Headquarters ordered the Stalingrad Front to drive the Germans to the western (right) bank and restore the defense line along the Don, but it was not possible to eliminate the breakthrough. On July 30, the Germans went on the offensive from the village of Tsymlyanskaya and by August 3 had significantly advanced, capturing the Remontnaya station, the station and the city of Kotelnikovo, and the village of Zhutovo. On these same days, the enemy's 6th Romanian Corps reached the Don. In the zone of operation of the 62nd Army, the Germans went on the offensive on August 7 in the direction of Kalach. Soviet troops were forced to retreat to the left bank of the Don. On August 15, the 4th Soviet Tank Army had to do the same, because the Germans were able to break through its front in the center and split the defense in half.

By August 16, the troops of the Stalingrad Front retreated beyond the Don and took up defense on the outer line of the city fortifications. On August 17, the Germans resumed their attack and by the 20th they managed to capture the crossings, as well as a bridgehead in the area of the village of Vertyachiy. Attempts to discard or destroy them were unsuccessful. On August 23, the German group, with the support of aviation, broke through the defense front of the 62nd and 4th tank armies and advanced units reached the Volga. On this day, German planes made about 2,000 sorties. Many blocks of the city were in ruins, oil storage facilities were on fire, and about 40 thousand civilians were killed. The enemy broke through to the line Rynok - Orlovka - Gumrak - Peschanka. The fight moved under the walls of Stalingrad.

Fighting in the city

Having forced the Soviet troops to retreat almost to the outskirts of Stalingrad, the enemy threw six German and one Romanian infantry divisions, two tank divisions and one motorized division against the 62nd Army. The number of tanks in this Nazi group was approximately 500. The enemy was supported from the air by at least 1000 aircraft. The threat of capturing the city became tangible. To eliminate it, the Supreme High Command Headquarters transferred two completed armies to the defenders (10 rifle divisions, 2 tank brigades), re-equipped the 1st Guards Army (6 rifle divisions, 2 guards rifle, 2 tank brigades), and also subordinated the 16th to the Stalingrad Front air army.

On September 5 and 18, the troops of the Stalingrad Front (it will be renamed Donskoy on September 30) carried out two major operations, thanks to which they managed to weaken the German pressure on the city, pulling about 8 infantry, two tank and two motorized divisions. It was again impossible to achieve the complete defeat of Hitler’s units. Fierce battles for the internal defensive line continued for a long time.

Urban fighting began on September 13, 1942 and continued until November 19, when the Red Army launched a counteroffensive as part of Operation Uranus. From September 12, the defense of Stalingrad was entrusted to the 62nd Army, which was placed under the command of Lieutenant General V.I. Chuikov. This man, who before the start of the Battle of Stalingrad was considered insufficiently experienced for combat command, created a real hell for the enemy in the city.

On September 13, six infantry, three tank and two motorized German divisions were in the immediate vicinity of the city. Until September 18, there were fierce battles in the central and southern parts of the city. To the south of the railway station, the enemy onslaught was contained, but in the center the Germans drove out the Soviet troops all the way to the Krutoy ravine.

The battles for the station on September 17 were extremely fierce. During the day it changed hands four times. Here the Germans left 8 burned tanks and about a hundred dead. On September 19, the left wing of the Stalingrad Front tried to strike in the direction of the station with a further attack on Gumrak and Gorodishche. The advance failed, but a large enemy group was pinned down by the fighting, which made things easier for the units fighting in the center of Stalingrad. In general, the defense here was so strong that the enemy never managed to reach the Volga.

Realizing that they could not achieve success in the center of the city, the Germans concentrated troops further south to strike in the eastern direction, towards Mamayev Kurgan and the village of Krasny Oktyabr. On September 27, Soviet troops launched a pre-emptive attack, working in small infantry groups armed with light machine guns, petrol bombs and anti-tank rifles. Fierce fighting continued from September 27 to October 4. These were the same Stalingrad city battles, the stories about which chill the blood in the veins of even a person with strong nerves. Here the battles took place not for streets and blocks, sometimes not even for entire houses, but for individual floors and rooms. The guns fired directly at almost point-blank range, using incendiary mixtures and fire from short distances. Hand-to-hand combat has become commonplace, as in the Middle Ages, when edged weapons ruled the battlefield. During a week of continuous fighting, the Germans advanced 400 meters. Even those who were not intended for this had to fight: builders, soldiers of pontoon units. The Nazis gradually began to run out of steam. The same desperate and bloody battles raged near the Barrikady plant, near the village of Orlovka, on the outskirts of the Silikat plant.

At the beginning of October, the territory occupied by the Red Army in Stalingrad was so reduced that it was completely covered by machine gun and artillery fire. The fighting troops were supplied from the opposite bank of the Volga with the help of literally everything that could float: boats, steamships, boats. German aircraft continuously bombed the crossings, making this task even more difficult.

And while the soldiers of the 62nd Army pinned down and crushed enemy troops in battles, the High Command was already preparing plans for a large offensive operation aimed at destroying the Stalingrad group of Nazis.

"Uranus" and the surrender of Paulus

By the time the Soviet counteroffensive began near Stalingrad, in addition to Paulus’s 6th Army, there were also von Salmuth’s 2nd Army, Hoth’s 4th Panzer Army, the Italian, Romanian and Hungarian armies.

On November 19, the Red Army launched a large-scale offensive operation on three fronts, codenamed “Uranus”. It was opened by about three and a half thousand guns and mortars. The artillery barrage lasted about two hours. Subsequently, it was in memory of this artillery preparation that November 19 became the professional holiday of artillerymen.

On November 23, an encirclement ring closed around the 6th Army and the main forces of Hoth's 4th Panzer Army. On November 24, about 30 thousand Italians capitulated near the village of Raspopinskaya. By November 24, the territory occupied by the encircled Nazi units occupied about 40 kilometers from west to east, and about 80 from north to south. Further “densification” progressed slowly, as the Germans organized a dense defense and clung to literally every piece of land. Paulus insisted on a breakthrough, but Hitler categorically forbade it. He had not yet lost hope that he would be able to help those around him from the outside.

The rescue mission was entrusted to Erich von Manstein. Army Group Don, which he commanded, was supposed to release the besieged army of Paulus in December 1942 with a blow from Kotelnikovsky and Tormosin. On December 12, Operation Winter Storm began. Moreover, the Germans did not go on the offensive with full strength - in fact, by the time the offensive began, they were only able to field one Wehrmacht tank division and a Romanian infantry division. Subsequently, two more incomplete tank divisions and a number of infantry joined the offensive. On December 19, Manstein's troops clashed with Rodion Malinovsky's 2nd Guards Army, and by December 25, the "Winter Storm" had died down in the snowy Don steppes. The Germans rolled back to their original positions, suffering heavy losses.

Paulus's group was doomed. It seemed that the only person who refused to admit this was Hitler. He was categorically against retreat when it was still possible, and did not want to hear about capitulation when the mousetrap was finally and irrevocably slammed shut. Even when the Soviet troops captured the last airfield from which Luftwaffe aircraft supplied the army (extremely weak and unstable), he continued to demand resistance from Paulus and his men.

On January 10, 1943, the final operation of the Red Army to eliminate the Stalingrad group of Nazis began. It was called "The Ring". On January 9, the day before it began, the Soviet command presented Friedrich Paulus with an ultimatum, demanding to surrender. On the same day, by chance, the commander of the 14th Panzer Corps, General Hube, arrived in the cauldron. He conveyed that Hitler demanded that resistance continue until a new attempt was made to break through the encirclement from the outside. Paulus carried out the order and rejected the ultimatum.

The Germans resisted as best they could. The Soviet offensive was even stopped from January 17 to 22. After the regrouping, parts of the Red Army again went on the attack and on January 26, Hitler’s forces were split into two parts. The northern group was located in the area of the Barricades plant, and the southern group, which included Paulus himself, was located in the city center. Paulus's command post was located in the basement of the central department store.

On January 30, 1943, Hitler awarded Friedrich Paulus the rank of field marshal. According to the unwritten Prussian military tradition, field marshals never surrendered. So, on the part of the Fuhrer, this was a hint at how the commander of the encircled army should have ended his military career. However, Paulus decided that it was better not to understand some hints. On January 31 at noon, Paulus surrendered. It took two more days to eliminate the remnants of Hitler's troops in Stalingrad. On February 2 it was all over. The Battle of Stalingrad is over.

About 90 thousand German soldiers and officers were captured. The Germans lost about 800 thousand killed, 160 tanks and about 200 aircraft were captured.

One of the largest battles of the Great Patriotic War was the Battle of Stalingrad. It lasted more than 200 days from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943. In terms of the number of people and equipment involved on both sides, world military history has never known examples of such battles. The total area of the territory where intense fighting took place was more than 90 thousand square kilometers. The main result of the Battle of Stalingrad was the first crushing defeat of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front.

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Previous Events

By the beginning of the second year of the war, the situation at the fronts had changed. The successful defense of the capital, followed by a counterattack, made it possible to stop the rapid advance of the Wehrmacht. By April 20, 1942, the Germans were pushed back 150-300 km from Moscow. For the first time they encountered organized defense on a large section of the front and repelled the counter-offensive of our army. At the same time, the Red Army made an unsuccessful attempt to change the course of the war. The attack on Kharkov turned out to be poorly planned and brought huge losses, destabilizing the situation. More than 300 thousand Russian soldiers died or were captured.

With the arrival of spring, there was a lull on the fronts. The spring thaw gave both armies a respite, which the Germans took advantage of to develop a plan for the summer campaign. The Nazis needed oil like air. The oil fields of Baku and Grozny, the capture of the Caucasus, the subsequent offensive into Persia - these were plans of the German General Staff. The operation was called Fall Blau - “Blue Option”.

At the last moment, the Fuhrer personally made adjustments to the plan for the summer campaign - he divided Army Group South in half, formulating individual tasks for each part:

Correlation of forces, periods

For the summer campaign, the 6th Army under the command of General Paulus was transferred to Army Group B. It was she who was assigned key role in the offensive, the main goal fell on her shoulders - the capture of Stalingrad. To complete the task, the Nazis gathered enormous forces. 270 thousand soldiers and officers, about two thousand guns and mortars, and five hundred tanks were placed under the general’s command. We provided cover with the 4th Air Fleet.

On August 23, the pilots of this formation were almost wiped the city off the face of the earth. In the center of Stalingrad, after the air raid, a firestorm raged, tens of thousands of women, children, and old people died, and ¾ of the buildings were destroyed. They turned the flourishing city into a desert covered with broken bricks.

By the end of July, Army Group B was supplemented by Hermann Hoth's 4th Tank Army, which included 4 army motorized corps and the SS Panzer Division Das Reich. These huge forces were directly subordinate to Paulus.

The Stalingrad Front of the Red Army, which was renamed the South-Western Front, had twice as many soldiers, was inferior in quantity and quality of tanks and aircraft. The formations needed to effectively defend an area 500 km long. The main burden of the fight for Stalingrad fell on the shoulders of the militia. Again, as in the battle for Moscow, workers, students, yesterday's schoolchildren, took up arms. The sky of the city was defended by the 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment, 80% consisting of girls 18-19 years old.

Military historians, analyzing the features of military operations, conditionally divided the course of the Battle of Stalingrad into two periods:

defensive, from July 17 to November 18, 1942;
offensive, from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943.

The moment the next Wehrmacht offensive began came as a surprise to the Soviet command. Although this possibility was considered by the General Staff, the number of divisions transferred to the Stalingrad Front existed only on paper. In fact, their number ranged from 300 to 4 thousand people, although each should have more than 14 thousand soldiers and officers. There was nothing to repel tank attacks with, since the 8th Air Fleet was not fully equipped and there were not enough trained reserves.

Fighting at distant approaches

Briefly, the events of the Battle of Stalingrad, its initial period, look like this:

Behind the meager lines that are in any history textbook, thousands of lives of Soviet soldiers are hidden, forever remaining in the Stalingrad land, the bitterness of retreat.

City residents worked tirelessly in factories converted into military ones. The famous tractor plant repaired and assembled tanks, which from the workshops, under their own power, went to the front line. People worked around the clock, staying overnight at their workplace and sleeping for 3-4 hours. All this is under continuous bombing. They defended themselves with the whole world, but there was clearly not enough strength.

When the advanced units of the Wehrmacht advanced 70 km, the Wehrmacht command decided to encircle the Soviet units in the area of the villages of Kletskaya and Suvorovskaya, occupy the crossings across the Don, and immediately take the city.

For this purpose, the attackers were divided into two groups:

Northern: from parts of Paulus's army.
South: from units of the Gotha army.

As part of our army restructuring took place. On July 26, repelling the advance of the Northern Group, the 1st and 4th Tank Armies launched a counterattack for the first time. There was no such combat unit in the Red Army's staffing table until 1942. Encirclement was prevented, but on July 28 the Red Army left for the Don. The threat of disaster loomed over the Stalingrad front.

No step back!

During this difficult time, Order No. 227 of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR of July 28, 1942, or better known as “Not a step back!” appeared. The full text can be read in the article dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad by Wikipedia. Now they call him almost cannibalistic, but at that moment the leaders of the Soviet Union had no time for moral torment. It was about the integrity of the country, the possibility of further existence. These are not just dry lines, prescriptive or regulating. He was an emotional appeal, call to defend the Motherland to the last drop of blood. A historical document that conveys the spirit of the era, dictated by the course of the war and the situation at the fronts.

On the basis of this order, penal units for soldiers and commanders appeared in the Red Army, and barrage detachments from soldiers of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs received special powers. They had the right to use the highest measure of social protection against looters and deserters, without waiting for a court verdict. Despite apparent cruelty, the troops accepted the order well. First of all, he helped restore order and improve discipline in the units. Senior commanders now have full leverage over negligent subordinates. Anyone guilty of violating the Charter or failure to comply with orders could end up in the penalty box: from privates to generals.

Fighting in the city

In the chronology of the Battle of Stalingrad, this period is allocated from September 13 to November 19. When the Germans entered the city, its defenders fortified themselves on a narrow strip along the Volga, holding the crossing. With the help of troops under the command of General Chuikov, Nazi units found themselves in Stalingrad, in real hell. There were barricades and fortifications on every street, every house became a center of defense. To avoid constant German bombing, our command took a risky step: to narrow the combat zone to 30 meters. With such a distance between the opponents, the Luftwaffe risked being bombed by its own.

One of the moments in the history of defense: during the battles on September 17, the city station was occupied by the Germans, then our troops drove them out of there. And so 4 times in one day. In total, the station's defenders changed 17 times. The eastern part of the city, which the Germans continuously attacked, defended from September 27 to October 4. There were battles for every house, floor, and room. Much later, the surviving Nazis would write memoirs in which they would call the city battles the “Rat War,” when a desperate battle was going on in the apartment in the kitchen, and the room had already been captured.

Artillery worked on both sides with direct fire, and there were continuous hand-to-hand fights. Defenders of the Barrikada, Silikat, and tractor factories desperately resisted. In a week, the German army advanced 400 meters. For comparison: at the beginning of the war, the Wehrmacht marched up to 180 km per day inland.

During the street fighting, the Nazis made 4 attempts to finally storm the city. Every two weeks, the Fuhrer demanded that Paulus put an end to the defenders of Stalingrad, who held a 25-kilometer-wide bridgehead on the banks of the Volga. With incredible efforts, spending a month, the Germans took the dominant height of the city - Mamayev Kurgan.

The defense of the mound went down in military history as example of boundless courage, the resilience of Russian soldiers. Now a memorial complex has been opened there, the world-famous sculpture “The Motherland Calls” stands, the defenders of the city and its residents are buried in mass graves. And then it was a bloody mill, grinding battalion after battalion on both sides. The Nazis lost 700 thousand people at this time, the Red Army - 644 thousand soldiers.

On November 11, 1942, Paulus's army launched the final, decisive assault on the city. The Germans did not reach the Volga 100 meters, when it became clear that their strength was running out. The offensive stopped and the enemy was forced to defend.

Operation Uranus

Back in September, the General Staff began developing a counteroffensive at Stalingrad. Operation Uranus began on November 19 with a massive artillery barrage. Many years later, this day became a professional holiday for artillerymen. For the first time in the history of the Second World War, artillery units were used in such a volume, with such a density of fire. By November 23, an encirclement ring had closed around the army of Paulus and the tank army of Hoth.

The Germans turned out to be locked in a rectangle 40 by 80 km. Paulus, who understood the danger of encirclement, insisted on a breakthrough and withdrawal of troops from the ring. Hitler personally, categorically, ordered to fight on the defensive, promising full support. He did not give up hope of taking Stalingrad.

Manstein's units were sent to save the group, and Operation Winter Storm began. With incredible efforts, the Germans moved forward, when 25 km remained to the encircled units, they encountered Malinovsky’s 2nd Army. On December 25, the Wehrmacht suffered a final defeat and rolled back to its original positions. The fate of Paulus's army was decided. But this does not mean that our units moved forward without encountering resistance. On the contrary, the Germans fought desperately.

On January 9, 1943, the Soviet command presented Paulus with an ultumatum demanding unconditional surrender. The Fuhrer's soldiers were given a chance to surrender and stay alive. At the same time, Paulus received another personal order from Hitler, demanding that he fight to the end. The general remained faithful to the oath, rejected the ultimatum, and carried out the order.

On January 10, Operation Ring began to completely eliminate the encircled units. The battles were terrible, the German troops, split into two parts, held firm, if such an expression is applicable to the enemy. On January 30, Paulus received the rank of field marshal from Hitler with a hint that Prussian field marshals would not surrender.

Everything has the ability to end, on the 31st at noon it ended the Nazis' stay in the cauldron: The field marshal surrendered with his entire headquarters. It took another 2 days to finally clear the city of Germans. The history of the Battle of Stalingrad has ended.

The Battle of Stalingrad and its historical significance

For the first time in world history, a battle of such duration took place, in which enormous forces were involved. The result of the defeat for the Wehrmacht was the capture of 90 thousand and the killing of 800 thousand soldiers. The victorious German army suffered for the first time a crushing defeat, which was discussed by the whole world. The Soviet Union, despite the seizure of part of the territory, remained an integral state. In the event of defeat at Stalingrad, in addition to occupied Ukraine, Belarus, Crimea, and part of central Russia, the country would be deprived of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

From a geopolitical point of view, significance of the Battle of Stalingrad It can be briefly described as follows: the Soviet Union is able to fight Germany and defeat it. The Allies stepped up assistance and signed agreements with the USSR at the Tehran Conference in December 1943. Finally, the issue of opening a second front was resolved.

Many historians call the Battle of Stalingrad the turning point of the Great Patriotic War. This is true not so much , from a military point of view, how much with moral. For a year and a half, the Red Army was retreating on all fronts, and for the first time it was possible not only to push the enemy back, as in the battle for Moscow, but to defeat him. Capture the field marshal, capture a large number of soldiers and equipment. People believed that victory would be ours!

The Battle of Stalingrad is one of the largest in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. It began on July 17, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943. According to the nature of the fighting, the Battle of Stalingrad is divided into two periods: defensive, which lasted from July 17 to November 18, 1942, the purpose of which was the defense of the city of Stalingrad (from 1961 - Volgograd), and offensive, which began on November 19, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943 year with the defeat of the group of fascist German troops operating in the Stalingrad direction.

For two hundred days and nights on the banks of the Don and Volga, and then at the walls of Stalingrad and directly in the city itself, this fierce battle continued. It unfolded over a vast territory of about 100 thousand square kilometers with a front length of 400 to 850 kilometers. More than 2.1 million people took part in it on both sides at different stages of the hostilities. In terms of goals, scope and intensity of military operations, the Battle of Stalingrad surpassed all previous battles in world history.

On the part of the Soviet Union, the troops of the Stalingrad, South-Eastern, South-Western, Don, left wing of the Voronezh fronts, the Volga military flotilla and the Stalingrad air defense corps region (the operational-tactical formation of the Soviet air defense forces) took part in the Battle of Stalingrad at different times. General management and coordination of the actions of the fronts near Stalingrad on behalf of the Supreme High Command Headquarters (SHC) was carried out by Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief Army General Georgy Zhukov and Chief of the General Staff Colonel General Alexander Vasilevsky.

The fascist German command planned in the summer of 1942 to defeat Soviet troops in the south of the country, seize the oil regions of the Caucasus, the rich agricultural regions of the Don and Kuban, disrupt communications connecting the center of the country with the Caucasus, and create conditions for ending the war in its favor. This task was entrusted to Army Groups "A" and "B".

For the offensive in the Stalingrad direction, the 6th Army under the command of Colonel General Friedrich Paulus and the 4th Tank Army were allocated from the German Army Group B. By July 17, the German 6th Army had about 270 thousand people, three thousand guns and mortars, and about 500 tanks. It was supported by aviation from the 4th Air Fleet (up to 1,200 combat aircraft). The Nazi troops were opposed by the Stalingrad Front, which had 160 thousand people, 2.2 thousand guns and mortars, and about 400 tanks. It was supported by 454 aircraft of the 8th Air Force and 150-200 long-range bombers. The main efforts of the Stalingrad Front were concentrated in the large bend of the Don, where the 62nd and 64th armies occupied the defense in order to prevent the enemy from crossing the river and breaking through by the shortest route to Stalingrad.

The defensive operation began on the distant approaches to the city at the border of the Chir and Tsimla rivers. On July 22, having suffered heavy losses, Soviet troops retreated to the main line of defense of Stalingrad. Having regrouped, enemy troops resumed their offensive on July 23. The enemy tried to encircle Soviet troops in the large bend of the Don, reach the area of the city of Kalach and break through to Stalingrad from the west.

Bloody battles in this area continued until August 10, when the troops of the Stalingrad Front, having suffered heavy losses, retreated to the left bank of the Don and took up defense on the outer perimeter of Stalingrad, where on August 17 they temporarily stopped the enemy.

The Supreme Command headquarters systematically strengthened the troops in the Stalingrad direction. By the beginning of August, the German command also introduced new forces into the battle (8th Italian Army, 3rd Romanian Army). After a short break, having a significant superiority in forces, the enemy resumed the offensive along the entire front of the outer defensive perimeter of Stalingrad. After fierce battles on August 23, his troops broke through to the Volga north of the city, but were unable to capture it on the move. On August 23 and 24, German aircraft launched a fierce massive bombardment of Stalingrad, turning it into ruins.

Building up their forces, German troops came close to the city on September 12. Fierce street battles broke out and continued almost around the clock. They went for every block, alley, for every house, for every meter of land. On October 15, the enemy broke through to the area of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. On November 11, German troops made their last attempt to capture the city.

They managed to get to the Volga south of the Barrikady plant, but they could not achieve more. With continuous counterattacks and counterattacks, Soviet troops minimized the enemy's successes, destroying his manpower and equipment. On November 18, the advance of German troops was finally stopped along the entire front, and the enemy was forced to go on the defensive. The enemy's plan to capture Stalingrad failed.

Even during the defensive battle, the Soviet command began to concentrate forces to launch a counteroffensive, preparations for which were completed in mid-November. By the beginning of the offensive operation, Soviet troops had 1.11 million people, 15 thousand guns and mortars, about 1.5 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery units, and over 1.3 thousand combat aircraft.

The enemy opposing them had 1.01 million people, 10.2 thousand guns and mortars, 675 tanks and assault guns, 1216 combat aircraft. As a result of the massing of forces and means in the directions of the main attacks of the fronts, a significant superiority of Soviet troops over the enemy was created - on the South-Western and Stalingrad fronts in people - by 2-2.5 times, in artillery and tanks - by 4-5 or more times.

The offensive of the Southwestern Front and the 65th Army of the Don Front began on November 19, 1942 after an 80-minute artillery preparation. By the end of the day, the defenses of the 3rd Romanian Army were broken through in two areas. The Stalingrad Front launched its offensive on November 20.

Having struck the flanks of the main enemy group, the troops of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts closed the encirclement ring on November 23, 1942. It included 22 divisions and more than 160 separate units of the 6th Army and partly the 4th Tank Army of the enemy, with a total number of about 300 thousand people.

On December 12, the German command attempted to release the encircled troops with a strike from the area of the village of Kotelnikovo (now the city of Kotelnikovo), but did not achieve the goal. On December 16, the Soviet offensive began in the Middle Don, which forced the German command to finally abandon the release of the encircled group. By the end of December 1942, the enemy was defeated in front of the outer front of the encirclement, its remnants were thrown back 150-200 kilometers. This created favorable conditions for the liquidation of the group surrounded at Stalingrad.

To defeat the encircled troops by the Don Front, under the command of Lieutenant General Konstantin Rokossovsky, an operation codenamed “Ring” was carried out. The plan provided for the sequential destruction of the enemy: first in the western, then in the southern part of the encirclement ring, and subsequently - the dismemberment of the remaining group into two parts by a blow from west to east and the liquidation of each of them. The operation began on January 10, 1943. On January 26, the 21st Army linked up with the 62nd Army in the Mamayev Kurgan area. The enemy group was cut into two parts. On January 31, the southern group of troops led by Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus ceased resistance, and on February 2, the northern group stopped resistance, which was the completion of the destruction of the encircled enemy. During the offensive from January 10 to February 2, 1943, over 91 thousand people were captured and about 140 thousand were destroyed.

During the Stalingrad offensive operation, the German 6th Army and 4th Tank Army, the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies, and the 8th Italian Army were defeated. The total enemy losses were about 1.5 million people. In Germany, national mourning was declared for the first time during the war.

The Battle of Stalingrad made a decisive contribution to achieving a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet armed forces seized the strategic initiative and held it until the end of the war. The defeat of the fascist bloc at Stalingrad undermined confidence in Germany on the part of its allies and contributed to the intensification of the Resistance movement in European countries. Japan and Türkiye were forced to abandon plans for active action against the USSR.

The victory at Stalingrad was the result of the unbending resilience, courage and mass heroism of the Soviet troops. For military distinction shown during the Battle of Stalingrad, 44 formations and units were given honorary titles, 55 were awarded orders, 183 were converted into guards units. Tens of thousands of soldiers and officers were awarded government awards. 112 of the most distinguished soldiers became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

In honor of the heroic defense of the city, the Soviet government established the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad” on December 22, 1942, which was awarded to more than 700 thousand participants in the battle.

On May 1, 1945, in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Stalingrad was named a hero city. On May 8, 1965, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, the hero city was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

The city has over 200 historical sites associated with its heroic past. Among them are the memorial ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" on Mamayev Kurgan, the House of Soldiers' Glory (Pavlov's House) and others. In 1982, the Panorama Museum "Battle of Stalingrad" was opened.

The day of February 2, 1943, in accordance with the Federal Law of March 13, 1995 "On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia" is celebrated as the Day of Military Glory of Russia - the Day of the defeat of Nazi troops by Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad.

The material was prepared based on informationopen sources

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The Battle of Stalingrad is the largest land battle in world history, fought between the forces of the USSR and Nazi Germany in the city of Stalingrad (USSR) and its environs during the Patriotic War. The bloody battle began on July 17, 1942 and lasted until February 2, 1943.

The battle was one of the most important events of the Second World War and, along with the Battle of Kursk, was a turning point in the course of military operations, after which German troops lost the strategic initiative.

For the Soviet Union, which suffered heavy losses during the battle, the victory at Stalingrad marked the beginning of the liberation of the country, as well as the occupied territories of Europe, leading to the final defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Centuries will pass, and the unfading glory of the valiant defenders of the Volga stronghold will forever live in the memory of the peoples of the world as the brightest example of courage and heroism unparalleled in military history.

The name “Stalingrad” is forever inscribed in golden letters in the history of our Fatherland.

“And the hour struck. The first blow fell,
The villain is retreating from Stalingrad.
And the world gasped when it learned what loyalty means,
What does the rage of believing people mean..."
O. Berggolts

This was an outstanding victory for the Soviet people. The soldiers of the Red Army showed massive heroism, courage and high military skill. 127 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad” was awarded to over 760 thousand soldiers and home front workers. 17,550 soldiers and 373 militia received orders and medals.

German soldiers in summer company

During the Battle of Stalingrad, 5 enemy armies were defeated, including 2 German, 2 Romanian and 1 Italian. The total losses of the Nazi troops in killed, wounded and prisoners amounted to more than 1.5 million people, up to 3,500 tanks and assault guns, 12 thousand guns and mortars, more than 4 thousand aircraft, 75 thousand vehicles and a large amount of other equipment.

German soldiers' helmets in winter

Corpses of soldiers frozen in the steppe

The battle is one of the most important events of the Second World War and, along with the Battle of Kursk, became a turning point in the course of hostilities, after which German troops finally lost the strategic initiative. The battle included the Wehrmacht's attempt to capture the left bank of the Volga in the area of Stalingrad (modern Volgograd) and the city itself, the standoff in the city, and the Red Army counteroffensive (Operation Uranus), which brought the Wehrmacht's 6th Army and other German allied forces inside and near the city they were surrounded and partly destroyed, and partly captured.

The losses of the Red Army in the Battle of Stalingrad amounted to over 1.1 million people, 4341 tanks, 2769 aircraft.

The flower of Hitler's Wehrmacht found a grave near Stalingrad. The German army had never suffered such a catastrophe before...

Historians believe that the total area where military operations took place during the Battle of Stalingrad is one hundred thousand square kilometers.

Background to the Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was preceded by the following historical events. In December 1941, the Red Army defeated the Nazis near Moscow. Encouraged by the success, the leaders of the Soviet Union gave the order to launch a large-scale offensive near Kharkov. The offensive failed and the Soviet army was defeated. German troops then went to Stalingrad.

After the failure of Plan Barbarossa and the defeat near Moscow, the Nazis were preparing for a new offensive on the Eastern Front. On April 5, 1942, Hitler issued a directive outlining the goals of the 1942 summer campaign, including the capture of Stalingrad.

The Nazi command needed the capture of Stalingrad for various reasons. Why was Stalingrad so important to Hitler? Historians identify several reasons why the Fuhrer wanted to capture Stalingrad at any cost and did not give the order to retreat even when defeat was obvious.

Firstly, the capture of the city, which bore the name of Stalin, the leader of the Soviet people, could break the morale of opponents of Nazism, and not only in the Soviet Union, but throughout the world;
Secondly, the capture of Stalingrad could give the Nazis the opportunity to block all vital communications for Soviet citizens that connected the center of the country with its southern part, in particular, with the Caucasus with its oil fields;
There is a point of view according to which there was a secret agreement between Germany and Turkey to join the ranks of the allies immediately after the passage for Soviet troops along the Volga was blocked.

Battle of Stalingrad. Summary of events

Time frame of the battle: 07/17/42 - 02/02/43. Taking part: from Germany - the reinforced 6th Army of Field Marshal Paulus and Allied troops. On the USSR side - the Stalingrad Front, created on July 12, 1942, under the command of first Marshal Timoshenko, from July 23, 1942 - Lieutenant General Gordov, and from August 9, 1942 - Colonel General Eremenko.

Battle periods:

defensive - from 17.07 to 18.11.42,
offensive - from 11/19/42 to 02/02/43.

In turn, the defensive stage is divided into battles on the distant approaches to the city in the bend of the Don from 17.07 to 10.08.42, battles on the distant approaches between the Volga and Don from 11.08 to 12.09.42, battles in the suburbs and the city itself from 13.09 to 18.11 .42 years.

To protect the city, the Soviet command formed the Stalingrad Front, led by Marshal S.K. Tymoshenko. The Battle of Stalingrad began briefly on July 17, when, in the bend of the Don, units of the 62nd Army engaged the vanguard of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht. Defensive battles on the approaches to Stalingrad lasted 57 days and nights.

On July 28, People's Commissar of Defense J.V. Stalin issued order No. 227, better known as “Not a step back!”

Defensive stage

July 17, 1942 - the first serious clash of our troops with enemy forces on the banks of the Don tributaries.
August 23 - enemy tanks came close to the city. German aircraft began to regularly bomb Stalingrad
September 13 - storming of the city. The fame of the workers of Stalingrad factories and factories, who repaired damaged equipment and weapons under fire, thundered throughout the world.
October 14 - The Germans launched an offensive military operation off the banks of the Volga with the aim of capturing Soviet bridgeheads.
November 19 - our troops launched a counteroffensive according to the plan for Operation Uranus.

Battle of Stalingrad on the map

Throughout the second half of the summer of 1942, the hot Battle of Stalingrad raged. A summary and chronology of defense events indicate that our soldiers, with a shortage of weapons and a significant superiority in manpower on the part of the enemy, accomplished the impossible. They not only defended Stalingrad, but also launched a counteroffensive in difficult conditions of exhaustion, lack of uniforms and the harsh Russian winter .

Offensive and victory

As part of Operation Uranus, Soviet soldiers managed to surround the enemy. Until November 23, our soldiers strengthened the blockade around the Germans.

December 12, 1942 - the enemy made a desperate attempt to break out of the encirclement. However, the breakthrough attempt was unsuccessful. Soviet troops began to tighten the ring.
December 17 - The Red Army recaptured German positions on the Chir River (the right tributary of the Don).
December 24 - ours advanced 200 km into operational depth.
December 31 - Soviet soldiers advanced another 150 km. The front line has stabilized at the Tormosin-Zhukovskaya-Komissarovsky line.
January 10, 1943 - our offensive in accordance with the “Ring” plan.
January 26 - The German 6th Army is divided into 2 groups.
January 31 - The southern part of the former 6th German Army is destroyed.

Captured F. Paulus

February 2, 1943 - the northern group of fascist troops was liquidated. Our soldiers, the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad, won. The enemy capitulated. Field Marshal Paulus, 24 generals, 2,500 officers and almost 100 thousand exhausted German soldiers were captured.

Hitler's government declared mourning in the country. For three days the funeral ringing of church bells sounded over German cities and villages.

Then, near Stalingrad, our fathers and grandfathers again “gave a light.”

Photo: captured Germans after the Battle of Stalingrad

Some Western historians, trying to belittle significance of the Battle of Stalingrad, put it on a par with the Battle of Tunisia (1943), El Alamein (1942), etc. But they were refuted by Hitler himself, who declared on February 1, 1943 at his headquarters:

“The possibility of ending the war in the East through an offensive no longer exists...”

Unknown facts about the Battle of Stalingrad

Entry from the “Stalingrad” diary of a German officer:

“None of us will return to Germany unless a miracle happens. Time has turned to the side of the Russians.”

The miracle did not happen. For not only time passed to the side of the Russians...

1. Armageddon

At Stalingrad, both the Red Army and the Wehrmacht changed their methods of warfare. From the very beginning of the war, the Red Army used flexible defense tactics with withdrawals in critical situations. The Wehrmacht command, in turn, avoided large, bloody battles, preferring to bypass large fortified areas. In the Battle of Stalingrad, the German side forgets about its principles and embarks on a bloody slaughter. The beginning was made on August 23, 1942, when German aircraft carried out a massive bombing of the city. 40.0 thousand people died. This exceeds the official figures for the Allied air raid on Dresden in February 1945 (25.0 thousand casualties).

2. Get to the bottom of hell

Under the city itself there was a large system of underground communications. During the fighting, underground galleries were actively used by both Soviet troops and the Germans. Moreover, even local battles took place in the tunnels. It is interesting that from the beginning of their penetration into the city, German troops began to build a system of their own underground structures. Work continued almost until the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, and only at the end of January 1943, when the German command realized that the battle was lost, the underground galleries were blown up.

German medium tank Pz.Kpfw. IV with number "833" from the 14th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht on German positions in Stalingrad. On the tower, in front of the number, the tactical emblem of the division is visible.

It remained a mystery what the Germans were building. One of the German soldiers later ironically wrote in his diary that he had the impression that the command wanted to get to hell and call on demons for help.

3. Mars vs. Uranus

A number of esotericists claim that a number of strategic decisions of the Soviet command in the Battle of Stalingrad were influenced by practicing astrologers. For example, the Soviet counteroffensive, Operation Uranus, began on November 19, 1942 at 7:30. At this moment, the so-called ascendant (the point of the ecliptic rising above the horizon) was located in the planet Mars (the Roman god of war), while the setting point of the ecliptic was the planet Uranus. According to astrologers, it was this planet that controlled the German army. It is interesting that in parallel, the Soviet command was developing another major offensive operation on the Southwestern Front - Saturn. At the last moment they abandoned it and carried out Operation Little Saturn. Interestingly, in ancient mythology it was Saturn (in Greek mythology Kronos) who castrated Uranus.

4. Alexander Nevsky vs. Bismarck

Military operations were accompanied by a large number of signs and omens. Thus, a detachment of machine gunners fought in the 51st Army under the command of Senior Lieutenant Alexander Nevsky. The then propagandists of the Stalingrad Front started a rumor that the Soviet officer was a direct descendant of the prince who defeated the Germans on Lake Peipsi. Alexander Nevsky was even nominated for the Order of the Red Banner.

And on the German side, the great-grandson of Bismarck took part in the battle, who, as you know, warned “never fight with Russia.” A descendant of the German chancellor, by the way, was captured.

5.Timer and tango

During the battle, the Soviet side used revolutionary innovations of psychological pressure on the enemy. Thus, from the loudspeakers installed at the front line, favorite hits of German music were heard, which were interrupted by messages about the victories of the Red Army in sections of the Stalingrad Front. But the most effective means was the monotonous beat of the metronome, which was interrupted after 7 beats by a commentary in German:

“Every 7 seconds one German soldier dies at the front.”

At the end of a series of 10 to 20 “timer reports,” a tango sounded from the loudspeakers.

A German chief lieutenant with a captured Soviet PPSh assault rifle on the ruins of Stalingrad

6. Revival of Stalingrad

In early February, after the end of the battle, the Soviet government raised the question of the inappropriateness of rebuilding the city, which would cost more than building a new city. However, Stalin insisted on rebuilding Stalingrad literally from the ashes. So, so many shells were dropped on Mamayev Kurgan that after the liberation, grass did not grow on it for 2 years.

Surviving civilians after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. Spring and early summer of 1943.

What is the assessment of this battle in the West?

In the mirror of the Western press

What did US and British newspapers write in 1942-1943 about the Battle of Stalingrad?

“The Russians fight not only bravely, but also skillfully. Despite all temporary setbacks, Russia will endure and, with the help of its allies, will eventually expel every last Nazi from its land” (F.D. Roosevelt, US President, “Fireside Chats,” September 7, 1942).

But after the war and at the present time, Western historians and politicians write about Stalingrad and World War II in a completely different way, actually falsifying history, but read the second part of the material “Battle of Stalingrad” about this.

The significance of the Battle of Stalingrad in history is very great. It was after its completion The Red Army launched a full-scale offensive, which led to the complete expulsion of the enemy from the territory of the USSR, and the Wehrmacht allies abandoned their plans ( Türkiye and Japan planned a full-scale invasion in 1943 to the territory of the USSR) and realized that it was almost impossible to win the war.

In contact with

The Battle of Stalingrad can be briefly described if we consider the most important things:

background of events;
a general picture of the disposition of enemy forces;
progress of the defensive operation;
progress of the offensive operation;
results.

Brief background

German troops invaded the territory of the USSR and, moving quickly, winter 1941 found themselves near Moscow. However, it was during this period of time that the Red Army troops launched a counteroffensive.

At the beginning of 1942, Hitler's headquarters began to develop plans for the second wave of the offensive. The generals suggested continue the attack on Moscow, but the Fuhrer rejected this plan and proposed an alternative - an attack on Stalingrad (modern Volgograd). The attack to the south had its reasons. If you're lucky:

control of the oil fields of the Caucasus passed into the hands of the Germans;
Hitler would have access to the Volga(which would cut off the European part of the USSR from the Central Asian regions and Transcaucasia).

If the Germans captured Stalingrad, Soviet industry would have suffered serious damage from which it would have been unlikely to recover.

The plan to capture Stalingrad became even more realistic after the so-called Kharkov disaster (complete encirclement of the Southwestern Front, loss of Kharkov and Rostov-on-Don, complete “opening” of the front south of Voronezh).

The offensive began with the defeat of the Bryansk Front and from a positional stop of German forces on the Voronezh River. At the same time, Hitler could not decide on the 4th Tank Army.

The transfer of tanks from the Caucasus to the Volga direction and back delayed the start of the Battle of Stalingrad for a whole week, which gave the opportunity for Soviet troops to better prepare for the defense of the city.

Balance of power

Before the start of the offensive on Stalingrad, the balance of enemy forces looked as follows*:

*calculations taking into account all nearby enemy forces.

Start of the battle

The first clash between the troops of the Stalingrad Front and the 6th Army of Paulus took place July 17, 1942.

Attention! Russian historian A. Isaev found evidence in military journals that the first clash took place a day earlier - on July 16. One way or another, the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad was mid-summer 1942.

Already by July 22–25 German troops, having broken through the defenses of Soviet forces, reached the Don, which created a real threat to Stalingrad. By the end of July, the Germans successfully crossed the Don. Further progress was very difficult. Paulus was forced to resort to the help of allies (Italians, Hungarians, Romanians), who helped surround the city.

It was during this very difficult time for the southern front that I. Stalin published order No. 227, the essence of which was reflected in one short slogan: “ No step back! He called on the soldiers to strengthen their resistance and prevent the enemy from getting closer to the city.

In August Soviet troops saved three divisions of the 1st Guards Army from complete disaster who entered the battle. They launched a timely counterattack and slowed down the enemy's rapid advance, thereby foiling the Fuhrer’s plan to rush to Stalingrad.

In September, after certain tactical adjustments, German troops went on the offensive, trying to take the city by storm. The Red Army could not resist this onslaught, and was forced to retreat to the city.

Street fighting

August 23, 1942 Luftwaffe forces launched a powerful pre-assault bombardment of the city. As a result of the massive attack, ¼ of the city’s population was destroyed, its center was completely destroyed, and severe fires began. On the same day shock the 6th Army group reached the northern outskirts of the city. At this moment, the defense of the city was carried out by the militia and forces of the Stalingrad air defense, despite this, the Germans advanced into the city very slowly and suffered heavy losses.

On September 1, the command of the 62nd Army decided to cross the Volga and entering the city. The crossing took place under constant air and artillery fire. The Soviet command managed to transport 82 thousand soldiers to the city, who in mid-September stubbornly resisted the enemy in the city center; a fierce struggle to maintain bridgeheads near the Volga unfolded on Mamayev Kurgan.

The battles in Stalingrad entered world military history as one of the most brutal. They fought for literally every street and every house.

Firearms and artillery weapons were practically not used in the city (for fear of ricochet), only piercing and cutting weapons. often went hand-to-hand.

The liberation of Stalingrad was accompanied by a real sniper war (the most famous sniper was V. Zaitsev; he won 11 sniper duels; the story of his exploits still inspires many).

By mid-October the situation had become extremely difficult as the Germans launched an attack on the Volga bridgehead. On November 11, Paulus’s soldiers managed to reach the Volga and force the 62nd Army to take a tough defense.

Attention! Most of the city's civilian population did not have time to evacuate (100 thousand out of 400). As a result, women and children were taken out under fire across the Volga, but many remained in the city and died (counts of civilian casualties are still considered inaccurate).

Counteroffensive

A goal such as the liberation of Stalingrad became not only strategic, but also ideological. Neither Stalin nor Hitler wanted to retreat and could not afford defeat. The Soviet command, realizing the complexity of the situation, began preparing a counteroffensive back in September.

Marshal Eremenko's plan

September 30, 1942 was The Don Front was formed under the command of K.K. Rokossovsky.

He attempted a counteroffensive, which completely failed by early October.

At this time A.I. Eremenko proposes to Headquarters a plan to encircle the 6th Army. The plan was fully approved and received the code name "Uranus".

If it were 100% implemented, all enemy forces concentrated in the Stalingrad area would be surrounded.

Attention! A strategic mistake during the implementation of this plan at the initial stage was made by K.K. Rokossovsky, who tried to take the Oryol ledge with the forces of the 1st Guards Army (which he saw as a threat to the future offensive operation). The operation ended in failure. The 1st Guards Army was completely disbanded.

Chronology of operations (stages)

Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe command to transfer cargo to the Stalingrad ring in order to prevent the defeat of the German troops. The Germans coped with this task, but the fierce opposition of the Soviet air armies, which launched a “free hunt” regime, led to the fact that German air traffic with the blocked troops was interrupted on January 10, just before the start of Operation Ring, which ended defeat of German troops at Stalingrad.

Results

The following main stages can be distinguished in the battle:

strategic defensive operation (defense of Stalingrad) - from June 17 to November 18, 1942;
strategic offensive operation (liberation of Stalingrad) - from 11/19/42 to 02/02/43.

The Battle of Stalingrad lasted in total 201 days. It is impossible to say exactly how long the further operation to clear the city of Khivi and scattered enemy groups took.

Victory in the battle affected both the state of the fronts and the geopolitical balance of power in the world. The liberation of the city was of great importance. Brief results of the Battle of Stalingrad:

Soviet troops acquired invaluable experience in encircling and destroying the enemy;
were established new schemes for military-economic supply of troops;
Soviet troops actively prevented the advance of German groups in the Caucasus;
the German command was forced to devote additional forces to the implementation of the Eastern Wall project;
Germany's influence on the Allies was greatly weakened, neutral countries began to take a position of non-acceptance of German actions;
The Luftwaffe was greatly weakened after attempting to supply the 6th Army;
Germany suffered significant (partly irreparable) losses.

Losses

The losses were significant for both Germany and the USSR.

The situation with the prisoners

At the end of Operation Cauldron, 91.5 thousand people were in Soviet captivity, including:

ordinary soldiers (including Europeans from among the German allies);
officers (2.5 thousand);
generals (24).

German Field Marshal Paulus was also captured.

All prisoners were sent to a specially created camp No. 108 near Stalingrad. For 6 years (until 1949) surviving prisoners worked on construction sites in the city.

Attention! The captured Germans were treated quite humanely. After the first three months, when the mortality rate among prisoners reached its peak, they were all placed in camps near Stalingrad (some in hospitals). Those who were able to work worked a regular working day and received wages for their work, which they could spend on food and household items. In 1949, all surviving prisoners, except war criminals and traitors, were sent to Germany.

Street fighting in Stalingrad

Historical significance of the battle

The Battle of Stalingrad and its historical significance have been thoroughly studied today. The liberation of Stalingrad played a very important role. We are talking not only about the Great Patriotic War, but also about the Second World War, since it became clear to the allies of the USSR and the Axis countries (allies of Germany) that the Wehrmacht's plans finally failed and the strategic initiative of an offensive nature was concentrated in the hands of the Soviet command.