Why Did Germany Lose at the Battle of Stalingrad

Intro: Background: why did Hitler attack, started out strong

Thesis : Although the Germans started with a strong offense, their mistakes throughout the course of the battle enabled the Soviets to come back with an even stronger defense and win the Battle at Stalingrad.

Topic 1-Weaknesses

The German army was determined to take Stalingrad as quickly as possible, but little mistakes paved the way for their defeat.

*Weak spots for the Germans (Germans attacked in small units as they arrived)(German's slow pace)(*Scale of offense (ntcrd #25))

Topic 2-Hitler was stubborn

It was also difficult for the 6^th Army to claim a victory at Stalingrad because of Hitler's stubbornness.

*Hitler was stubborn (Hitler wanted Stalingrad for symbolic importance (among other reasons)) (*Hitler refused to surrender when it was offered)

Topic 3-Strog Soviet Defense

The Soviets were able to defeat Germany because of their small victories.

*Strong active defense (order #227)(everyone was involved) (Fighting in the Caucuses (strong soviet resistance))(Fighting in the city)

Topic 4-Soviet Counter Attack

The beginning of the end for the Germans was when the Soviets played their trump card, in the form of their large-scale counter attack.

*Soviet counter attack (German inability to re-supply) (Georgy Shukov planned the attack)

Conclusion- Effects on both sides

Could Add:

Vasily Zartsev (sniper)

Final day of defeat, conditions (into weaknesses)

Stalingrad was not only a major city in the Soviet Union but a site of a major battle during World War II that changed the course of the war in favor of the allied forces. In the winter of 1942, the winter before the battle began, the Soviets had only barely made it through as the German army persisted in moving eastward. Then against the advice of the Soviet General Georgy Zhukov, Stalin attacked the Germans to the south of Stalingrad to try to retake Kharkov. It was a bloody battle in which the Germans captured a quarter of a million Soviet troops and the Germans gained the confidence to attack Stalingrad (Poroskov). Taking Stalingrad would have been a great success for he Germans because the control of Stalingrad was vital. Having power over the city would give them the much-needed control of the Volga River and the supply of oil in the Caucasus Mountains. Claiming these areas would also isolate the Soviets south of the city, without access to supplies (Showalter). Along with these reasons, the Soviets needed to maintain their control over the city because it was a major transportation and industrial center (Crowley). Important to both Hitler and Stalin, was the city's symbolic name. These reasons led both sides to make great efforts during the battle. Thesis: replace with revised, change officials to generals.

The German army was determined to take Stalingrad as quickly as possible, but little mistakes paved the way for their defeat. The Germans started the battle out on the wrong foot in the days leading up to their first major attack on August 19, 1942. They came from 40 miles away on the Don River and were able to move through gaps in Soviet forces (World Book Encyclopedia). But the whole army did not reach the designated area around Stalingrad at the same time and the commander of the German 6^th Army, General Friedrich von Paulus, sent units to attack as they arrived instead of waiting for the whole army and a full force attack. This enabled the Soviet forces to destroy each unit one by one as they approached. Eventually, General von Paulus realized that he was harming the Germans chance at success more than the Soviet Forces and stopped the repeated attack. He waited to be reinforced by the 4^th Panzer Army and once they arrived, the Germans moved easily through the suburbs of Stalingrad (Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia). On August 23 the Germans reached the Volga River and made 2,000 air attacks on Stalingrad. They hit twenty Soviet ships, several oil storage tanks, and 300,000 Stalin graders were evacuated from the city. The Germans were able to seize key positions around the city and began storming on September 13, 1942 (Poroskov).

The terrain and scale of the attack hindered the German's ability to take Stalingrad. Their offense stretched across 500 miles and if they gained the land that would come with Stalingrad, including the Caucasus Mountains, they would gain 1,300 miles of territory. The Caucasus Mountains caused trouble for the Germans from the beginning. The mountains were heavily reinforced with Soviet troops who knew the land much better than the Germans because it was their home (Showalter). There were not enough troops in the Caucasus because the majorities were stationed at Stalingrad; Hitler believed that Stalingrad was so vital to their campaign that he would not let troops from other countries take the lead in the fighting. It also became difficult for the Germans army to receive and transport materials. As they moved east and deeper into Russia, road and railways became scarce and difficult for large armies to use (Showlater). It was impossible for them to use waterways because they were controlled by the Soviets. With limited transportation options, it was difficult for them to keep up the flow of fuel. Decrease in fuel supply led to a reduced pace and made any surprise attacks on Stalingrad impossible. The German's pace was also slowed by the troops themselves. Early on, they had lost many of their tank troops and the panzer groups had been reorganized so that there was an increased amount of infantry and artillery. Troops became more cautious with their new positions and loss of tanks (History of the Second World War). The began to have maintenance problems with their remaining supplies; artillery and tanks were wearing out and breaking down and they could not receive assistance. Meanwhile, the Soviets were able to restock and held the Germans at the Volga River for five days while they got reinforcements. Through all of this, the Germans army began to regress and became effective only at close combat fighting (Showalter).

Near the end of the battle, Hitler's generals knew that it was a lost cause, but he refused to listen to their warnings and continued fighting. The German army had begun their attack in June of 1942 and had expected to take Stalingrad quickly. But the delays along the way dragged the battle out into Russia's harsh winter months (Showalter). The final days of the battle, the weather conditions were horrible. There was a raging snowstorm and the temperature was below -20º. Romanians that were fleeing the battle hindered tank activity in the battlefield (Poroskov). An attempt was made to send relief troops for the Germans but they were unable to make it through the Soviet forces. Even with these conditions, Hitler refused to surrender and ordered his generals to continue the battle. But the Germans could only last so long without adequate supplies and General Friedrich von Paulus surrendered on January 31, 1943 (World Book Encyclopedia).

The Germans made many blunders during the battle, but the Soviets also made extraordinary efforts that enabled them to defeat the Germans. In the Battle of Stalingrad, all people were included in the battle in some way, whether or not they were part of the army. In the army, all ranks, from solider to general, received the same treatment. Each man was given the same ration everyday: twenty five grams of dried bread, twelve grams of cereal, and five grams of sugar and each person was given thirty cartridges. It was not only men who were on the frontlines either. Women, such as Mana Ulyanova, would pull wounded soldiers from the battlefield so that they could be cared for as quickly as possible. Generals also sacrificed themselves along side the soldiers. Major General V.A. Gladkov had 160 bullet and fragment holes in his coat by the end of the battle (Poroskov). Forces in the Caucasus Mountains were especially resistant. The troops in this region were made up of locally recruited men. The connection to the area made it easier for them to defend it because they felt that they were protecting their homes. They also knew the area and were familiar with the mountains so when the Germans troops arrived, they had the upper hand (History of the Second World War). Another group of Soviets were even more eager to protect their country. Vasily Zartsev was the main sniper for the Soviet Army, his motto was being "there is no land for us behind the Volga"(Poroskov). He alone killed 242 Germans soldiers and his apprentices killed another 1,106. Altogether, 400 Soviet snipers killed over 6,000 Germans (Poroskov).

A major reason for the support of all of the people was Order 227. Issued on July 28, 1942 by Stalin, it was relayed to all fighting units. The order said that retreat was not an option and that all Soviet soil had to be defended (Showalter). It relayed Stalin's thought that the problem in the military was a lack of discipline. If the order was not followed, there was a great penalty. Anybody could be executed for being named a coward and if a person was lucky, they were placed in a penalty battalion. Anybody who was put in one of these battalions was stripped of their ranks and medals and was sent to the most dangerous spots of the battle. Families of the men became victim of repression. The members of the battalions had nothing to lose and became the Germans worst nightmare. One group of four men, armed with only two armor piercing rifles, faced thirty German tanks and destroyed fifteen of them. Another man, whose place was shot down over Stalingrad, directed his plane at a group of German tanks (Poroskov).

Throughout the battle, the Soviets held their ground, no matter what the Germans threw at them. In the beginning, the Germans army was persistent and tried to push through Soviet defenses around Stalingrad. Once inside the city, combat was reduced to urban street fighting. Although the Germans were able to raise their Swastika flag in the center or town, the city was still filled with Russians (Crowley). The railway station in the city changed hands between the Soviets and the Germans more than ten times throughout the war and the house of Sergeant Pavlov, a major point in the city, was a strong area of resistance, the Soviets able to hold it for the entire battle (Poroskov). The Soviets also held strong outside of the city. At one point the 62^nd Russian Army was isolated outside of Stalingrad by a German advance. But the Germans headed southeast which made it possible for the Russians to filter back into Stalingrad. On their way back into the city, they blew up the dam on the Manych River, which delayed the Germans for two days (History of the Second World War). Directly outside of the city, the Russian army was again cut off from the fronts and the German army was relentless with their attacks, sometimes launching ten or more assaults a day. In order for the Russian army to keep up, the Stalingrad Tractor Plant would repair damaged tanks at night or during calm periods. As the end of the war neared, the German Army still occupied western Stalingrad but Soviet counterattacks wore the Germans down and they were unable to redirect their forces. The Soviets were able to encompass the German 6th Army using their massive counterattack planed by Georgy Zhukov (Poroskov).

The beginning of the end for the Germans came when the Soviets put into action their counterattack, planned by Georgy Zhukov.