The Turning Point of War; Stalingrad Battle Term Paper

Introduction

The following essay will show how the Stalingrad battle, ordered by Hitler, was just but the turning point of war in World War II. This is because it was the end of a perception the world had, that Germany was the most powerful nation and could win every war. This will be into comparison with other instances when Hitler had attacked other parts of the world.

The Stalingrad Battle

By mid 1942, Germany had cost Russians tremendous losses in terms of resources and work force given that the former had managed to kill over three million Russian soldiers and putting almost a similar number in captivity. Were it not for winter that pushed them back a bit, Germans had captured around ninety percent of Russian land and resources. By the beginning of summer, Hitler was again ready to attack Russia taking advantage of their weak status due to the tremendous losses he had cost them earlier on.

The Stalingrad battle began in September 1942 during the winter, led by the “German commander of the sixth army, General Paulus and assisted by Fourth Panzer Army”; indeed, General Paulus was ordered by Hitler to take Stalingrad whose initial target was to capture the oil fields at Caucasus and their final target was Baku^[1], which supplied seventy-one percent of all the oil the Soviets used during Word war II.

Hitler’s other reason for capturing Stalingrad was due to its association with Russia as well as its connection to the south waterway. Thus by seizing Stalingrad, he would have paralyzed Russia by a great deal. All his interest on Stalingrad was accelerated by the fact that he was interested in damaging the name of his enemy Stalin who was the Soviet dictator and the city was named after his name.

For a long time, the world was convinced that Germany had the best and strongest army, meaning they could win any war. The contrast of this began during Red Verdun war in 1918, two years before World War I ended^[2].

In 1916, the cream of Germany army engaged French in a battle that failed terribly and since then, problems began since most its followers withdrew, divisions in the army began which finally collapsed, thus it had no future. Their enemies “Anglo-American-French bloc,” did not realize that they were approaching victory and they “continued believing that the German army was still the most powerful”^[3].

The Stalingrad battle is different in nature from Red Verdun battle since it was the Germans last expression of a desperate struggle. The Soviet army won this battle and it was not only the turning point in the World War II but in the history of humankind.

Sixty five percent of all casualties in the war were Russian. It was Russia blood, machinery, resources and will which brought Hitler down. This is evident from the fact that, when Stalin appointed the two best military commanders, they vowed to either liberate Stalingrad or die with so much determination.

Millions of people in the world followed the proceedings of Stalingrad carefully and every step the Soviet army made brought to them anxiety and stirred elation throughout the world^[4]. After this defeat, the German army was in full retreat because it had lost a lot thus it was so weak such that it would take a long time to recover of which Russia was still advancing..

During his battles, before e.g. in Poland, Norway, Holland, Belgium, and France, where he definitely won, Hitler never dared to divide his attention but always directed all his concentration to one major objective. Contrary, during the Stalingrad battle, Hitler had divided attention because by the time he ordered attack of the city, some groups of his army were still on their way to Caucasus and he was still preparing others for a succeeding attack of Siberia.

It was therefore unwise to advance having left a major city unconquered^[5]. Were Hitler not divided; his sixth army would not have been intertwined at Stalingrad. The city of Stalingrad was named after the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin who was a great enemy to Hitler.

Germany almost overthrew Russia but they failed to exercise their authority. Hitler had dismissed his commander in chief and had taken the role himself without any consultation thus this confusion made it hard for the army to defeat Soviet, which was very organized and determined.

Both armies were well equipped with soldiers, artillery guns, tanks, and planes thus, though Germany was thought to be stronger, they would capture areas during the day, but Russia would recapture them at night. Russian commander at the time was Marshal Zhukov.

For them to be defeated, Germans were trapped in Stalingrad city by a bulk of Zhukov army who had surrounded the city. Paulus could have been able to get out of the trap in the fist stages of Russians preparation but Hitler ordered them to fight up to the last bullet. When the momentum of the battle was fully with the Soviets, Hitler refused to let Paulus retreat since he never wanted to bear the blame.

Their capture was accelerated by the fact that when they were surrounded in the city, it was hard for them to be supplied with food, ammunition, and heat since the winter temperatures were reading negative. Left with no choice, they surrendered to the Soviet army and were taken as prisoners.

Germany began to retreat since their defeat in Stalingrad. This is because they lost labor when 91 000 Germans were taken prisoners and they lost their army and equipment meaning they could not be able to fight the Soviet Union any more. This was the downfall of the world’s most powerful army, which had purposed to conquer the whole world thus their downfall was a complete liberation to the human race and a turning point in the World-war II.

The battle of Stalingrad was the bloodiest battle in history and a sudden and widespread disaster of Germany. It was one of the most inhuman and cruel during the World War 2 since people fought literally from street to street and house to house^[6].

It was a titanic battle where Stalin’s very name was a target, whereby, every street, house, and floor had to be painstakingly taken. It was the end of the last major gain of territory by the Axis on either front, from then on forward all the major attacks and offensives were a combined effort. Germany was a super power before 1914 but by 1945, it was a second world nation.

This is because the invasion of the Soviet Union drained most of their resources. The Germans were completely unprepared for war and if it were not for the long distances and terrible winters, the Soviet Union would have probably lost. The diaphanous numbers of work force and increasing production finally turned the tide.

After Germany’s failure to take Stalingrad, their Eastern front army was practically destroyed and they were forced to flee the Soviet Union^[7]. This turned the War in putting the Russians on the offensive, which directly aided in the destruction and conquering of Germany by the Allied Forces throughout 1944 and 1945.

Germany was, essentially, surrounded with the Americans and British in the West, and the Russians in the East. Before Stalingrad Hitler was still on course to win the war in the European theatre but afterwards, he was on the back foot considering the number of troops that were engaged and that died^[8].

Clearly, the battle was a major strategic mistake by Hitler since it wasted vital German resources. Hitler should have concentrated all forces in Southern Russia and used them to capture the vital oil fields of the Caucasus’s since oil was the lifeblood of all the mechanized tanks, planes, and trucks that the Soviet union used during World war II. In Stalingrad, the Germans were bogged down and lost all their previous advantages such as mobility, firepower and aircraft cover.

Despite taking 90% of the city, the Russians held on, and since they well conversant with the winter season, they were able to encircle the city, rendering Germans helpless. Thousands of men had been trapped and surrounded and the first German field marshal had been taken prisoner in history – a major propaganda coup for Stalin and a slap in the face for Hitler.

Had Soviets lost Stalingrad, they would have lost the war, and the raw material they needed would have fallen into the hands of Germans. This is because their target, Stalingrad and Baku were the major suppliers of oil and other necessities Soviet were using during the World War II.

The Downfall of Hitler

The downfall of Germany came from poor leadership. This is because when the Germans were attacking Russia for the second time, Hitler decided to taken up the role of his Generals and he consulted them no more. Earlier on, the German military had purposed to continue evading the already weak Russian army and to crush the remaining ones as well as capturing the Russia capital city.

Furthermore, they were to capture the rich oil fields Caucasus as well as Stalingrad, the main industrial and transportation centre that was the main waterway of inner Russia. Their aim was not to occupy Stalingrad but to put it under heavy surveillance to ensure that no businesses were operating.

The biggest mistake that Hitler did was his decision to remain in Stalingrad after being deceived by the fact that they had achieved their first objective as per their plans, thus he thought the Russians would not counter attack. His decision lead to heavy losses since he lost the southern campaign and his army was destroyed. All this was because of taking power to himself since he never listened to them and he insisted that they were to fight until the last bullet^[9].

The other reason that leads to the downfall of Hitler and his army was divided interest. He was over confident due to his previous success in the western front and thus he decided to conquer the outstretched Soviet Union in three months. This made him disperse his army through the large socialist nation since he wanted to achieve his objectives very fast and still conquer Moscow to the north and Persian Gulf to the south.

At the same time, he had dismissed his commander-in-chief and he was still directing a Japanese fascist that was preparing to attack Siberia after the fall of Stalingrad. All these tasks divided his attention making it hard for him to perfect the matter at hand. At the end of that summer, Hitler had not achieved any of his objectives since he was too ambitious. He was not able to penetrate the oil fields nor did he capture Stalingrad, thus his army was left unable to advance or to retreat causing immense losses^[10].

When Russians realized that it was so evident from the look of things that they would loose their city to Germans, Stalin came up with a very brilliant strategy that drew Hitler towards destruction^[11]. He realized that the only thing that would save Russia was a good leadership.

He therefore chose two superb commanders with highest military skills and strong will i.e. General Zhukov at national level and Vasily Chuikov at local level. They vowed to either defend the city or die. Since Germany, leadership was weak and Hitler had already dismissed his commander in chief, this counter attack swept them off the ground and the result was that hundreds of thousands of their military men were killed though the damages and killings were both way traffic.

Conclusion

The Soviet Union victory against Germany was the beginning of liberation of humankind from the hands of a dictator Hitler. The Germans were thought to be the most powerful nation in the world and even at the verge of their defeat; they still under estimated the Russian resources. The Russians did their preparation for the counter attack very carefully, putting every detail of their internal organization in perspective, as they knew that a slight mistake would bestow victory upon their rivals.

On the other hand, by the time, Germans realized the ability in Russia, there was little left to do apart from surrendering. Furthermore, the nature of dictatorship in Hitler cost Germany a great deal since he dismissed the opinions of professionals making it hard for them to operate. Actually, after they were defeated, Hitler announced a mourning day to accomplish his blame game over his army commander Paulus.

Apart from its losses, German army lost its formidable image of being unbeatable. Out of the hundreds of thousands of Germans militia who went for war, only five thousand went home safe. Indeed, around three hundred thousand soldiers from Germany died in Stalingrad thus indicating how terribly the Germans had lost the battle to the Russians. The Soviet victory boosted their morale a great deal and fought with vigor until the end of World War II, which lasted almost three years since the defeat of Germany.

Bibliography

Anon. The Battle of Stalingrad. Web.

Duiker, William and Spielvogel, Jackson. World History. NY: Cengage Learning, 2008. Web.

Hansen, Valerie and Curtis, Kenneth. Voyages in the World History. NY: Cengage Learning, 2008. Web.

Trueman, Chris. The Battle of Stalingrad. Web.

Tse-tung, Mao. The Turning Point in World War II, 2004 Web.

Footnotes

1. Anon. The Battle of Stalingrad. N.d.
2. Mao Tse-tung, The Turning Point in World War II. 2004.
3. William, Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel. World History.
4. Mao Tse-tung, 2004.
5. Mao Tse-tung, 2004.
6. Valerie Hansen, and Kenneth, Curtis. Voyages in the World History.
7. William, Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, 2010.
8. Valerie Hansen, and Kenneth, Curtis, 2010.
9. Anon, N.d.
10. Mao Tse-tung, 2004.
11. Chris Trueman. The Battle of Stalingrad. N.d.