About this eBook
1. STALINGRAD: THE PRELUDE TO THE BATTLE
2. THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD: PREPARATORY PHASE DOCUMENTS
3. STALINGRAD: URBAN WARFARE
4. A DESPERATE STRUGGLE TO SAVE A CONDEMNED ARMY– A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE STALINGRAD AIRLIFT
5. AN ANALYSIS OF THE GERMAN DEFEAT AT STALINGRAD
6. THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD: PHOTOGRAPHS AND ORIGINAL MAPS
INTRODUCTION:
When one visits the huge, “Mother of Russia” war statue in Stalingrad (now renamed
Volgograd), Russia, one gets the impression that an epic battle took place there. And, indeed,
an epic battle—the World War II Battle of Stalingrad between Germany and the Soviet Union—
did take place there. The battle, which lasted six months, produced over 1.5 million casualties
and led to the destruction of an entire Germany army and half of another.3 It also at one point
tied down seven Soviet armies. The magnitude of these figures makes the battle hard to
imagine, but it is clear that Stalingrad was one of the largest and longest single battles in military
history.
Stalingrad also is significant in that it marked a key turning point in the war on the Eastern
Front. While the ultimate outcome of Germany’s war effort in the East probably was determined
by its failure to defeat the U.S.S.R. in its 1941 campaign (Operation BARBAROSSA), Stalingrad
was the high water mark of Germany’s eastward advance. After its defeat at Stalingrad, the
Reich never again occupied as much Soviet territory and, with brief exceptions, was in retreat.