"How significant was Stalingrad on
the eastern front For soviet victory
and German Defeat?"
As a factor for Allied victory.
the Battle of
Stalingrad
marked the end
of Germany's
advances into
eastern Europe
this battle was the first
major German loss
during World War II.
After the Germans lost
in Stalingrad, they did
not advance any farther
into eastern Europe or
Russia. This is because
the Soviet army gained
strength and spent a lot
of the rest of World War
II fighting the Germans
to get the territory that
Russia had lost back.
As a showcase of Hitler's poor decision making.
Death toll of axis powers in excess of
850,000 to ad to this 90% of the
German mechanised machinery was
destoryed or rendered useless. These
figures go to show the magnitude of
Hitlers decisions.
The use of Blitzkrieg prior to the
initial assault made the assault
almost impossible as the streets
were blocked by debris and
collapsed buildings.
A very widely
concentrated assault
across the eastern
front meant that
there was no spear
head to the assault.
This may have had a
disastrous effect
compared to what
the spearhead
approach may have
been able to achieve
Hitler decision to
fire or dismiss the
majority of the
existing German
higher command
could have meant
that the German
higher command
may have been left
lacking in informed
and correct
decision making
ability
As a turning point moral Russian Morale and propaganda.
Post
Stalingrad
propaganda
threatened
Hitlers position
as Fuhrer.
Russian
propaganda
using German
generals in
Russian POW
camps
Acts of 'heroism' at
the battle of
Stalingrad was aimed
to inspire Russian
soldiers to fight
courageously for the
'Motherland'
60% brutal forced
acts of heroism. 40%
Propaganda.
As a 'wake up call' for German troops.
First very serious defeat for
German troops since the
start of operation
Barberossa.
Death toll of axis
powers in excess of
850,000 to ad to this
90% of the German
mechanised
machinery was
destoryed or rendered
useless
Forced the German higher
command to adapt to new
threats posed by Zhukov and
the increasingly innovative
Russian higher command
On the economy of Germany
The Axis suffered
850,000 total
casualties (wounded,
killed, captured)
among all branches
of the German armed
forces and its allies;
400,000 Germans,
200,000 Romanians,
130,000 Italians, and
120,000 Hungarians
were killed, wounded
or captured
On the material side, the Germans
losses were 900 aircraft (including
274 transports and 165 bombers
used as transports), 500 tanks, and
6,000 artillery pieces.122–123
According to a contemporary Soviet
report, 5,762 artillery pieces, 1,312
mortars, 12,701 heavy machine guns,
156,987 rifles, 80,438 sub-machine
guns, 10,722 trucks, 744 aircraft,
1,666 tanks, 261 other armoured
vehicles, 571 half-tracks, and 10,679
motorcycles were captured by the
Soviets. An unknown amount of
Hungarian, Italian, and Romanian
material was lost.
Aircraft losses of the Luftwaffe for the supply of the 6th Army at Stalingrad,
and the recovery of wounded from 24 November 1942 to 31 January 1943
totalled 495 of varying types. These losses equate to about 50% of total
aircraft committed. In addition, the Luftwaffe training program was stopped
and sorties in other theatres of war such as the mediterranean and african
campaigns were significantly reduced to save fuel for use at Stalingrad.
German supplies by
air aimed to keep the
German clutch on the
Russians strong by
supplying the armies
with food, ammuntion
and medical supplies.
On the economy of Russia
Huge civilian loss of life. Estimates of well into the hundreds of thousands if not
millions have been made although it is almost impossible to put a figure on.
Furthermore there was almost irrepairable damge inflicted to hundreds of thousands
of properties in and around Stalingrad. Primarily to do with the bombing of Stalingrad
prior to the main offensive. This damage would have cost the Russians economy
hundreds of millions to put right and mend. This would inflict a heavy burden on the
Russian economy for decades to come
The USSR, according to archival figures,
suffered 1,129,619 total casualties.
478,741 personnel killed or missing, and
650,878 wounded or sick. On the materiel
side for the USSR lost 4,341 tanks
destroyed or damaged, 15,728 artillery
pieces, and 2,769 combat aircraft
The phenomenal losses in terms of
humatarian, military and civilians
property destruction took decades
to make right and cost the Russians
massive sums of money in order to
restore the damage inflicted by both
Russian and German forces at
Salingrad
Advances in Russian tactics.
Operation Uranus planned
and coordinated by Zhukov
could be seen as the first
definitive counterattack
from the Russians. Whereby
the Russian forces attacked
the weaker Romanian and
Italian forces and encircled
the remaining German
forces in a fierce battle
known as the cauldron.
Soviet commanders adopted the tactic of always keeping the front lines as close to the
Germans as physically possible. Chuikov called this "hugging" the Germans. This forced the
German infantry to either fight on their own or risk taking casualties from their own
supporting fire; it neutralised German close air support and weakened artillery support. In
order to reduce losses, Chuikov’s stated that they needed to narrow the gap between the
Russian positions and the German positions to the minimum, so the German dive bombers
will not be able to drop their bombs on the Russian positions without risking the German
soldiers.
Order No. 227
Advances in Russian military
equipment .
The weapons that they used the most were: · Tokarev SVT-40 ·
MosinNagant 1882 · PPS-42 · PPSh-41 · Tokarev TT-30 · PTRS-41 · DP-28 ·
T-34 · Gibovski G-11 · Waco CG-3 · the Yakovlev Yak-series -14 -6 and -8
This included tanks, aircrafts, and guns. Many new armoured vehicles
and aircraft were introduced into order to best suit the style of hand to
hand combat seen in Stalingrad
The battle was won due to lack of technology as opposed to key
technology. The Germans had rifles, machine guns, panzer tanks and
even support from the “Luftwaffe”. However the battle came down to
hand to hand combat in individual street battles. The Russians won
because they overpowered the Germans with their manpower.
General Zhukov divided his men into six armies to surround the city
of Stalingrad and trap the Germans.
Advances in German tactics
Rattenkrieg, or "Rat's War," the opposing forces broke into squads
eight or 10 strong and fought each other for every house and yard of
territory. The battle saw rapid advances in street-fighting technology,
such as a German machine gun that shot around corners and a light
Russian plane that glided silently over German positions at night,
dropping lethal bombs without warning.
One of the most important plans
established by the Germans was the
“Operation Blue” that consisted in
concentrating all the available forces
in the southern flank, then,
destroying the front line of Russian
forces there, and then spread in two
directions to the most important
industrial sectors remaining in South
Russia.
Advances in German equipment.
In Germany: The weapons
that they used the most were:
Germans: Karabiner 1898
Kurtz Gewehr 41 MP40 MP38
MG42 MG34 Walther P38
Flammenwerfer 35
Flammenwerfer 41 Panzer
and Tiger Tanks JU88 JU
Junkers 52 This also included
machine guns, minor
weapons, tanks, and aircrafts.