Battle of Stalingrad GERMANY vs SOVIET UNION Axis

Battle of Stalingrad GERMANY vs. SOVIET UNION

Axis Forces Ally Forces • Germany (Adolf Hitler, Erich Von Manstein) • Romania • Hungary • Spain • Croatia • Initial Forces: 270, 000 • Soviet Union (Joseph Stalin, Georgy Zhukov) • Initial Forces: 187, 000

Stalingrad, Soviet Union Because Stalingrad was such a large city, The battle was fought like a siege. Surrounding parts of the city and going back and forth between gaining and losing ground. The city style fighting did have its advantages and disadvantages. Can you come up with any?

The Battle of Stalingrad was fought from Aug. 23, 1942 -Feb. 2, 1943

Objective: Stalingrad There are two main reasons why Hitler wanted to Stalingrad and why He wanted to attack it when he did. • Time. Hitler wanted to take control of the Red Army before the U. S. got too heavily involved in the war. • Materials. Hitler wanted to take the oil fields and their production away from the Soviets and use it for Germany.

Codenamed Fall Blau (Code Blue), the German armies were to be the driving force that quickly captured the weaker Soviet forces. Due to some mistakes by the German forces, the attack did not proceed as planned. This gave way for the Soviet forces to stand their ground against the German armies. It was still not an easy battle as the soviets were pounded by the Luftwaffe bombing raids. The Plan

Soviet Wins! The Soviet Union won as a result of taking control of key airfields of the Germans. This meant that they were not able to transport supplies in or out. The Soviets also had better experience at fighting in the cold weather. The Germans were not as prepared and as a result, their soldiers could not fight to their best potential. Is this a repeat of history when Napoleon tried to overtake this same general area during the winter months but was also unsuccessful?