Battle+of+Stalingrad

=Battle of Stalingrad=

Introduction The Battle of Stalingrad, or The Siege of Stalingrad, was a major event of World War II when several members of the Axis powers struck the Soviet Union in hopes of taking control over the major city of Stalingrad (Modern Volgograd) in southwestern Russia. The Battle of Stalingrad took place from August 23, 1942 to February 2, 1943. It is considered to be one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, and was the largest battle on the Eastern Front, and is easily one of the most brutal and violent events of World War II for the amount of civilian killings, P.O.W executions, and most notably, the intentional friendly fire on normal Soviet Troops by the officers. In the end, the combined casualties amounted to approximately two million dead.

Main Events The battle began with several Luftwaffe bombings on the city of Stalingrad, tearing down almost half of the city. Eventually, the aerial strikes turned into a massive ground war. In November 1942, the Soviet Union started Operation Uranus. Operation Uranus was to get rid of the weaker Axis forces helping the Nazis. When the weaker forces were eliminated, the rest of the invading German 6th army was cut off and surrounded. As winter approached, the rest of the 6th army was drastically weakening from starvation, lack of warmth from improper clothing and continuous Soviet attacks. Eventually, the 6th army had been defeated despite its strong will to last inspired by Adolf Hitler's "power of the will" motto.

Background The Soviet Union at the time was extremely poor. It had problems producing planes, tanks, and other vehicles needed on the battlefields. Its production of guns and ammunition was not fast or consistent and many of the Soviet troops were left without proper weapons. Later on, men were sent in pairs, one with a rifle and the other with a stripper clip or magazine of ammunition in case their partner had been killed, so they could take the weapon and load it for themselves. Higher ranked troops of the Soviet Union committed friendly fire on the basic soldiers if they were to try to escape, take cover, or retreat. Russian Civilians were killed both intentionally and unintentionally.A large portion of the fighting was in the rubble caused by the Luftwaffe bombings which created useful cover and sniper "nests" or hideouts for the infantry of both sides.

People __USSR__ Joseph Stalin, Premier of the Soviet Union General Georgi Zhukov __Nazi Germany__ Adolf Hitler Friedrich Paulus, Commander of the 6th army









Brennan Lee