Battle of Stalingrad historical background. Battle of Stalingrad. The meaning of the Battle of Stalingrad. V.I. Chuikov, "Battle of the Century"

Battle of Stalingrad
	Stalingrad, Stalingrad region, USSR
	Decisive victory for the USSR, destruction of the German 6th Army, failure of the Axis offensive on the Eastern Front
Opponents
	Germany
	Croatia
	Finnish volunteers
Commanders
A. M. Vasilevsky (Representative of Headquarters)	E. von Manstein (Army Group Don)
N. N. Voronov (coordinator)	M. Weichs (Army Group "B")
N. F. Vatutin (Southwestern Front)	F. Paulus (6th Army)
V. N. Gordov (Stalingrad Front)	G. Goth (4th tank army)
A. I. Eremenko (Stalingrad Front)	W. von Richthofen (4th Air Fleet)
S. K. Timoshenko (Stalingrad Front)	I. Gariboldi (Italian 8th Army)
K.K. Rokossovsky (Don Front)	G. Jani (Hungarian 2nd Army)
V. I. Chuikov (62nd Army)	P. Dumitrescu (Romanian 3rd Army)
M. S. Shumilov (64th Army)	C. Constantinescu (Romanian 4th Army)
R. Ya. Malinovsky (2nd guards army)	V. Pavicic (Croatian 369th Infantry Regiment)
Strengths of the parties
By the beginning of the operation, 386 thousand people, 2.2 thousand guns and mortars, 230 tanks, 454 aircraft (+200 self-propelled guns and 60 self-air defense)	At the beginning of the operation: 430 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and mortars, 250 tanks and assault guns, 1200 aircraft. As of November 19, 1942, there were more than 987,300 people in the ground forces (including):
Additionally, 11 army departments, 8 tank and mechanized corps, 56 divisions and 39 brigades were introduced from the Soviet side. On November 19, 1942: in the ground forces - 780 thousand people. Total 1.14 million people	400,000 soldiers and officers
	143,300 soldiers and officers
	220,000 soldiers and officers
	200,000 soldiers and officers
	20,000 soldiers and officers
	4,000 soldiers and officers, 10,250 machine guns, artillery pieces, and mortars, about 500 tanks, 732 aircraft (402 of them out of order)
1,129,619 people (irretrievable and sanitary losses), 524 thousand units. shooter weapons, 4341 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2777 aircraft, 15.7 thousand guns and mortars	1,500,000 (irretrievable and sanitary losses), approximately 91 thousand captured soldiers and officers 5,762 guns, 1,312 mortars, 12,701 machine guns, 156,987 rifles, 10,722 machine guns, 744 aircraft, 1,666 tanks, 261 armored vehicles, 80,438 motor vehicles, 10,679 motorcycles ov, 240 tractors, 571 tractors, 3 armored trains and other military equipment

Battle of Stalingrad- a battle between the troops of the USSR, on the one hand, and the troops of Nazi Germany, Romania, Italy, Hungary, on the other, during the Great Patriotic War. The battle was one of the most important events of the Second World War and, along with the Battle of Kursk, was a turning point in the course of military operations, after which German troops lost the strategic initiative. The battle included the Wehrmacht's attempt to capture the left bank of the Volga in the area of ​​Stalingrad (modern Volgograd) and the city itself, the standoff in the city, and the Red Army counteroffensive (Operation Uranus), which brought the Wehrmacht's 6th Army and other German allied forces inside and around the city they were surrounded and partly destroyed, partly captured. According to rough estimates, the total losses of both sides in this battle exceed two million people. The Axis powers lost large numbers of men and weapons and were subsequently unable to fully recover from the defeat.

For Soviet Union, which also suffered heavy losses during the battle, the victory at Stalingrad marked the beginning of the liberation of the country, as well as the occupied territories of Europe, leading to the final defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Previous Events

On June 22, 1941, Germany and its allies invaded the Soviet Union, quickly moving inland. Having suffered defeats during the battles in the summer and autumn of 1941, Soviet troops counterattacked during the Battle of Moscow in December 1941. Exhausted German troops, poorly equipped for winter combat and with their rear stretched, were stopped on the approaches to the capital and driven back.

In the winter of 1941-1942, the front eventually stabilized. Plans for a new attack on Moscow were rejected by Hitler, despite the fact that his generals insisted on this option - he believed that an attack on Moscow would be too predictable.

For all these reasons, the German command was considering plans for new offensives in the north and south. An attack on the south of the USSR would ensure control over the oil fields of the Caucasus (regions of Grozny and Baku), as well as over the Volga River, the main transport artery connecting the European part of the country with Transcaucasia and Central Asia. A German victory in the south of the Soviet Union could have seriously damaged the Soviet military machine and economy.

The Soviet leadership, encouraged by the successes near Moscow, tried to seize the strategic initiative and in May 1942 launched large forces on the offensive near Kharkov. The offensive began from the Barvenkovsky salient south of Kharkov, which was formed as a result of the winter offensive of the Southwestern Front (a feature of this offensive was the use of a new Soviet mobile formation - a tank corps, which in terms of the number of tanks and artillery was approximately equal to the German tank division, but was significantly inferior to it in number motorized infantry). At this time, the Germans were simultaneously planning an operation to cut off the Barvenkovsky ledge.

The Red Army's offensive was so unexpected for the Wehrmacht that it almost ended in disaster for Army Group South. However, the Germans decided not to change plans and, thanks to the concentration of troops on the flanks of the ledge, broke through the defenses of the Soviet troops. Most of the Southwestern Front was surrounded. In the subsequent three-week battles, known as the “second battle of Kharkov,” the advancing units of the Red Army suffered a heavy defeat. According to German data alone, more than 200 thousand people were captured (according to Soviet archival data, the irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 170,958 people), and a lot of heavy weapons were lost. After this, the front south of Voronezh was practically open (See map May - July 1942). The key to the Caucasus, the city of Rostov-on-Don, which was defended with such difficulty in November 1941, was lost.

After the Red Army's Kharkov disaster in May 1942, Hitler intervened in strategic planning by ordering Army Group South to split into two. Army Group A was to continue the offensive into the North Caucasus. Army Group B, including the 6th Army of Friedrich Paulus and the 4th Panzer Army of G. Hoth, was supposed to move east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.

The capture of Stalingrad was very important to Hitler for several reasons. It was the main industrial city on the banks of the Volga and a vital transport route between the Caspian Sea and northern Russia. The capture of Stalingrad would provide security on the left flank of the German armies advancing into the Caucasus. Finally, the very fact that the city bore the name of Stalin - Hitler's main enemy - made the capture of the city a winning ideological and propaganda move.

The summer offensive was codenamed "Fall Blau" (German). "blue option"). The 6th and 17th armies of the Wehrmacht, 1st and 4th tank armies took part in it.

Operation Blau began with the offensive of Army Group South against the troops of the Bryansk Front to the north and the troops of the Southwestern Front to the south of Voronezh. It is worth noting that, despite a two-month break in active hostilities, for the troops of the Bryansk Front the result was no less catastrophic than for the troops of the Southwestern Front, battered by the May battles. On the very first day of the operation, both Soviet fronts were broken through tens of kilometers deep and the Germans rushed to the Don. Soviet troops could only put up weak resistance in the vast desert steppes, and then began to flock to the east in complete disorder. Attempts to re-form the defense also ended in complete failure when German units entered the Soviet defensive positions from the flank. In mid-July, several divisions of the Red Army fell into a pocket in the south of the Voronezh region, near the village of Millerovo.

One of the important factors that thwarted the German plans was the failure offensive operation to Voronezh.

Having easily captured the right bank part of the city, the enemy was unable to build on the success and the front line aligned with the Voronezh River. The left bank remained with the Soviet troops and repeated attempts by the Germans to dislodge the Red Army from the left bank were unsuccessful. The German troops ran out of resources to continue offensive operations and the battles for Voronezh entered the positional phase. Due to the fact that the main forces of the German army were sent to Stalingrad, the offensive on Voronezh was stopped, the most combat-ready units from the front were removed and transferred to the 6th Army of Paulus. Subsequently, this factor played a significant role important role in the defeat of German troops at Stalingrad (see Voronezh-Kastornensk operation).

After the capture of Rostov, Hitler transferred the 4th Panzer Army from Group A (advancing into the Caucasus) to Group B, aimed east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.

The 6th Army's initial offensive was so successful that Hitler intervened again, ordering the 4th Panzer Army to join Army Group South (A). As a result, a huge traffic jam developed when the 4th and 6th armies needed several roads in the area of ​​​​operation. Both armies were stuck tightly, and the delay turned out to be quite long and slowed down the German advance by one week. With the advance slowing, Hitler changed his mind and reassigned the 4th Panzer Army's objective back to the Stalingrad direction.

Balance of forces in the Stalingrad defensive operation

Germany

• Army Group B. The 6th Army (commander - F. Paulus) was allocated for the attack on Stalingrad. It included 13 divisions, which numbered about 270 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and mortars, and about 500 tanks.

The army was supported by the 4th Air Fleet, which had up to 1,200 aircraft (the fighter aircraft aimed at Stalingrad, in the initial stage of the battle for this city, consisted of about 120 Messerschmitt Bf.109F-4/G-2 fighter aircraft (various domestic sources give figures ranging from 100 to 150), plus about 40 obsolete Romanian Bf.109E-3).

USSR

• Stalingrad Front (commander - S.K. Timoshenko, from July 23 - V.N. Gordov). It included the 62nd, 63rd, 64th, 21st, 28th, 38th and 57th combined arms armies, the 8th Air Army (Soviet fighter aircraft at the beginning of the battle here numbered 230-240 fighters, mainly Yak-1) and the Volga military flotilla - 37 divisions, 3 tank corps, 22 brigades, which numbered 547 thousand people, 2200 guns and mortars, about 400 tanks, 454 aircraft, 150-200 long-range bombers and 60 air defense fighters.

Start of the battle

By the end of July, the Germans pushed the Soviet troops behind the Don. The defense line stretched for hundreds of kilometers from north to south along the Don. To organize defense along the river, the Germans had to use, in addition to their 2nd Army, the armies of their Italian, Hungarian and Romanian allies. The 6th Army was only a few dozen kilometers from Stalingrad, and the 4th Panzer, located south of it, turned north to help take the city. To the south, Army Group South (A) continued to push further into the Caucasus, but its advance slowed. Army Group South A was too far to the south to provide support to Army Group South B in the north.

In July, when German intentions became completely clear to the Soviet command, it developed plans for the defense of Stalingrad. Additional Soviet troops were deployed on the eastern bank of the Volga. The 62nd Army was created under the command of Vasily Chuikov, whose task was to defend Stalingrad at any cost.

Battle in the city

There is a version that Stalin did not give permission to evacuate the city residents. However, documentary evidence on this matter has not yet been found. In addition, the evacuation, although at a slow pace, still took place. By August 23, 1942, out of 400 thousand residents of Stalingrad, about 100 thousand were evacuated. On August 24, the Stalingrad City Defense Committee adopted a belated resolution on the evacuation of women, children and the wounded to the left bank of the Volga. All citizens, including women and children, worked to build trenches and other fortifications.

The massive German bombing on August 23 destroyed the city, killing more than 40 thousand people, destroying more than half of the housing stock of pre-war Stalingrad, thereby turning the city into a huge territory covered with burning ruins.

The burden of the initial fight for Stalingrad fell on the 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment, a unit staffed primarily by young female volunteers with no experience in destroying ground targets. Despite this, and without adequate support available from other Soviet units, the anti-aircraft gunners remained in place and fired at the advancing enemy tanks of the 16th Panzer Division until all 37 air defense batteries were destroyed or captured. By the end of August, Army Group South (B) reached the Volga north of the city, and then south of it.

On initial stage Soviet defense relied heavily on the "People's Militia of Workers", recruited from workers not involved in war production. Tanks continued to be built and were manned by volunteer crews consisting of factory workers, including women. The equipment was immediately sent from factory assembly lines to the front line, often without even painting and without sighting equipment installed.

By September 1, 1942, the Soviet command could only provide its troops in Stalingrad with risky crossings across the Volga. In the midst of the ruins of the already destroyed city, the Soviet 62nd Army built defensive positions with firing points located in buildings and factories. The battle in the city was fierce and desperate. The Germans, moving deeper into Stalingrad, suffered heavy losses. Soviet reinforcements were transported across the Volga from the eastern bank under constant bombardment by German artillery and aircraft. The average life expectancy of a newly arrived Soviet private in the city sometimes fell below twenty-four hours. German military doctrine was based on the interaction of military branches in general and especially close interaction between infantry, sappers, artillery and dive bombers. To counter this, the Soviet command decided to take a simple step - to constantly keep the front lines as close to the enemy as physically possible (usually no more than 30 meters). Thus, the German infantry had to fight on their own, or risk being killed by their own artillery and horizontal bombers, with support only available from dive bombers. A painful struggle went on for every street, every factory, every house, basement or staircase. The Germans, calling a new urban war (German. Rattenkrieg, Rat War), they joked bitterly that the kitchen had already been taken over, but they were still fighting for the bedroom.

The battle on Mamayev Kurgan, a blood-soaked height overlooking the city, was unusually merciless. The height changed hands several times. At the grain elevator, a huge grain processing complex, the fighting took place so closely that Soviet and German soldiers could feel each other's breath. The fighting at the grain elevator continued for weeks until the Soviet army gave up ground. In another part of the city, an apartment building, defended by the Soviet platoon in which Yakov Pavlov served, was turned into an impregnable fortress. Despite the fact that this building was subsequently defended by many other officers, its original name stuck to it. From this house, later called Pavlov's House, one could see the square in the city center. The soldiers surrounded the building with minefields and set up machine gun positions.

Seeing no end to this terrible struggle, the Germans began to bring heavy artillery to the city, including several giant 600-mm mortars. The Germans made no effort to transport troops across the Volga, allowing Soviet troops to erect a huge number of artillery batteries on the opposite bank. Soviet artillery on the eastern bank of the Volga continued to identify German positions and treat them with increased fire. The Soviet defenders used the emerging ruins as defensive positions. German tanks could not move among piles of cobblestones up to 8 meters high. Even if they were able to move forward, they came under heavy fire from Soviet anti-tank units located in the ruins of buildings.

Soviet snipers, using the ruins as cover, also inflicted heavy losses on the Germans. The most successful sniper (known only as "Zikan") - he had 224 people to his credit by November 20, 1942. Sniper Vasily Grigorievich Zaitsev during the battle destroyed 225 enemy soldiers and officers (including 11 snipers).

For both Stalin and Hitler, the Battle of Stalingrad became a matter of prestige in addition to strategic importance. The Soviet command moved the Red Army reserves from Moscow to the Volga, and also transferred air force from almost the entire country to the Stalingrad area. The tension of both military commanders was immeasurable: Paulus even developed an uncontrollable nervous eye tic.

In November, after three months of carnage and a slow, costly advance, the Germans finally reached the banks of the Volga, capturing 90% of the destroyed city and splitting the remaining Soviet troops in two, trapping them in two narrow pockets. In addition to all this, a crust of ice formed on the Volga, preventing the approach of boats and supply loads for the Soviet troops in a difficult situation. Despite everything, the struggle, especially on Mamayev Kurgan and in the factories in the northern part of the city, continued as furiously as before. The battles for the Red October plant, the tractor plant and the Barrikady artillery plant became known throughout the world. While Soviet soldiers continued to defend their positions by firing at the Germans, factory workers repaired damaged Soviet tanks and weapons in the immediate vicinity of the battlefield, and sometimes on the battlefield itself.

Preparing for a counteroffensive

The Don Front was formed on September 30, 1942. It included: 1st Guards, 21st, 24th, 63rd and 66th Armies, 4th Tank Army, 16th Air Army. Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky, who took command, actively began to fulfill the “old dream” of the right flank of the Stalingrad Front - to encircle the German 14th Tank Corps and connect with units of the 62nd Army.

Having taken command, Rokossovsky found the newly formed front on the offensive - following the order of the Headquarters, on September 30 at 5:00, after artillery preparation, units of the 1st Guards, 24th and 65th armies went on the offensive. Heavy fighting raged for two days. But, as noted in the TsAMO document f 206, parts of the armies did not advance, and moreover, as a result of German counterattacks, several heights were abandoned. By October 2, the offensive had run out of steam.

But here, from the reserve of the Headquarters, the Don Front receives seven fully equipped rifle divisions (277, 62, 252, 212, 262, 331, 293 infantry divisions). The command of the Don Front decides to use fresh forces for a new offensive. On October 4, Rokossovsky ordered the development of a plan for an offensive operation, and on October 6 the plan was ready. The date of the operation was set for October 10. But by this time several events occur.

On October 5, 1942, Stalin, in a telephone conversation with A.I. Eremenko, sharply criticized the leadership of the Stalingrad Front and demanded that immediate measures be taken to stabilize the front and subsequently defeat the enemy. In response to this, on October 6, Eremenko made a report to Stalin about the situation and considerations for further actions of the front. The first part of this document is justification and blaming the Don Front (“they had high hopes for help from the north,” etc.). In the second part of the report, Eremenko proposes to conduct an operation to encircle and destroy German units near Stalingrad. There, for the first time, it is proposed to encircle the 6th Army with flank attacks on Romanian units, and after breaking through the fronts, unite in the Kalach-on-Don area.

Headquarters considered Eremenko's plan, but then considered it impracticable (the depth of the operation was too great, etc.).

As a result, the Headquarters proposed the following option for encircling and defeating German troops at Stalingrad: the Don Front was asked to deliver the main blow in the direction of Kotluban, break through the front and reach the Gumrak region. At the same time, the Stalingrad Front is launching an offensive from the Gornaya Polyana area to Elshanka, and after breaking through the front, units move to the Gumrak area, where they join forces with units of the Don Front. In this operation, the front command was allowed to use fresh units (Don Front - 7th Infantry Division, Stalingrad Front - 7th Art. K., 4 Kv. K.). On October 7, General Staff Directive No. 170644 was issued on conducting an offensive operation on two fronts to encircle the 6th Army; the start of the operation was scheduled for October 20.

Thus, it was planned to encircle and destroy only the German troops fighting directly in Stalingrad (14th Tank Corps, 51st and 4th Infantry Corps, about 12 divisions in total).

The command of the Don Front was dissatisfied with this directive. On October 9, Rokossovsky presented his plan for the offensive operation. He referred to the impossibility of breaking through the front in the Kotluban area. According to his calculations, 4 divisions were required for a breakthrough, 3 divisions to develop a breakthrough, and 3 more to cover from enemy attacks; thus, seven fresh divisions were clearly not enough. Rokossovsky proposed delivering the main blow in the Kuzmichi area (height 139.7), that is, according to the same old scheme: encircle units of the 14th Tank Corps, connect with the 62nd Army and only after that move to Gumrak to link up with units of 64 th army. The Don Front headquarters planned 4 days for this: from October 20 to October 24. The “Oryol salient” of the Germans had haunted Rokossovsky since August 23, so he decided to first deal with this “callus” and then complete the complete encirclement of the enemy.

The Stavka did not accept Rokossovsky's proposal and recommended that he prepare the operation according to the Stavka plan; however, he was allowed to conduct a private operation against the Oryol group of Germans on October 10, without attracting fresh forces.

On October 9, units of the 1st Guards Army, as well as the 24th and 66th armies began an offensive in the direction of Orlovka. The advancing group was supported by 42 Il-2 attack aircraft, covered by 50 fighters of the 16th Air Army. The first day of the offensive ended in vain. The 1st Guards Army (298, 258, 207 Rifle Division) did not advance, but the 24th Army advanced 300 meters. The 299th Infantry Division (66th Army), advancing to height 127.7, having suffered heavy losses, made no progress. On October 10, the offensive attempts continued, but by the evening they finally weakened and stopped. The next “operation to eliminate the Oryol group” failed. As a result of this offensive, the 1st Guards Army was disbanded due to losses incurred. Having transferred the remaining units of the 24th Army, the command was transferred to the reserve of Headquarters.

Alignment of forces in Operation Uranus

USSR

• Southwestern Front (commander - N.F. Vatutin). It included the 21st, 5th Tank, 1st Guards, 17th and 2nd Air Armies
• Don Front (commander - K.K. Rokossovsky). It included the 65th, 24th, 66th armies, 16th air army
• Stalingrad Front (commander - A.I. Eremenko). It included the 62nd, 64th, 57th, 8th Air, 51st Armies

Axis powers

• Army Group B (commander - M. Weichs). It included the 6th Army - Commander General of Tank Forces Friedrich Paulus, 2nd Army - Commanding General of Infantry Hans von Salmuth, 4th Panzer Army - Commander Colonel General Hermann Hoth, 8th Italian Army - Commanding General of the Army Italo Gariboldi, 2nd Hungarian Army - Commander Colonel General Gustav Jani, 3rd Romanian Army - Commander Colonel General Petre Dumitrescu, 4th Romanian Army - Commander Colonel General Constantin Constantinescu
• Army Group "Don" (commander - E. Manstein). It included the 6th Army, the 3rd Romanian Army, the Hoth Army Group, and the Hollidt Task Force.
• Two Finnish volunteer units

Offensive phase of the battle (Operation Uranus)

Beginning of the Wehrmacht offensive and counter-operation

On November 19, 1942, the Red Army began its offensive as part of Operation Uranus. On November 23, in the Kalach area, an encirclement ring closed around the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht. It was not possible to completely implement the Uranus plan, since it was not possible to split the 6th Army into two parts from the very beginning (with the attack of the 24th Army between the Volga and Don rivers). Attempts to liquidate those surrounded on the move under these conditions also failed, despite a significant superiority in forces - the superior tactical training of the Germans was telling. However, the 6th Army was isolated and its fuel, ammunition and food supplies were progressively dwindling, despite attempts to supply it by air by the 4th Air Fleet under the command of Wolfram von Richthofen.

Operation Wintergewitter

The newly formed Wehrmacht Army Group Don, under the command of Field Marshal Manstein, attempted to break the blockade of the encircled troops (Operation Wintergewitter (German). Wintergewitter, Winter thunderstorm)). It was originally planned to begin on December 10, but the offensive actions of the Red Army on the outer front of the encirclement forced the start of the operation to be postponed to December 12. By this date, the Germans managed to present only one full-fledged tank formation - the 6th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht and (from infantry formations) the remnants of the defeated 4th Romanian Army. These units were subordinate to the control of the 4th Panzer Army under the command of G. Hoth. During the offensive, the group was reinforced by the very battered 11th and 17th tank divisions and three air field divisions.

By December 19, units of the 4th Tank Army, which had actually broken through the defensive formations of the Soviet troops, encountered the 2nd Guards Army, which had just been transferred from the Headquarters reserve, under the command of R. Ya. Malinovsky. The army consisted of two rifle and one mechanized corps. During the oncoming battles, by December 25, the Germans retreated to the positions they were in before the start of Operation Wintergewitter, losing almost all their equipment and more than 40 thousand people.

Operation Little Saturn

According to the plan of the Soviet command, after the defeat of the 6th Army, the forces involved in Operation Uranus turned west and advanced towards Rostov-on-Don as part of Operation Saturn. At the same time, the southern wing of the Voronezh Front attacked the 8th Italian Army north of Stalingrad and advanced directly west (towards the Donets) with an auxiliary attack to the southwest (towards Rostov-on-Don), covering the northern flank of the Southwestern front during a hypothetical offensive. However, due to the incomplete implementation of “Uranus”, “Saturn” was replaced by “Little Saturn”. A breakthrough to Rostov (due to the lack of seven armies pinned down by the 6th Army at Stalingrad) was no longer planned; the Voronezh Front, together with the Southwestern Front and part of the forces of the Stalingrad Front, had the goal of pushing the enemy 100-150 km to the west from the encircled 6th Army. 1st Army and defeat the 8th Italian Army (Voronezh Front). The offensive was planned to begin on December 10, but problems associated with the delivery of new units necessary for the operation (those available on the site were tied up at Stalingrad) led to the fact that A. M. Vasilevsky authorized (with the knowledge of I. V. Stalin) a postponement of the start of the operation to 16 December. On December 16-17, the German front on Chira and on the positions of the 8th Italian Army was broken through, and Soviet tank corps rushed into the operational depths. However, in the mid-20s of December, operational reserves (four well-equipped German tank divisions), initially intended to strike during Operation Wintergewitter, began to approach Army Group Don. By December 25, these reserves launched counterattacks, during which they cut off the tank corps of V. M. Badanov, which had just burst into the airfield in Tatsinskaya (86 German aircraft were destroyed at the airfields).

After this, the front line temporarily stabilized, since neither the Soviet nor the German troops had enough forces to break through the enemy’s tactical defense zone.

Combat during Operation Ring

On December 27, N.N. Voronov sent the first version of the “Ring” plan to the Supreme Command Headquarters. Headquarters, in Directive No. 170718 of December 28, 1942 (signed by Stalin and Zhukov), demanded changes to the plan so that it would provide for the dismemberment of the 6th Army into two parts before its destruction. Corresponding changes have been made to the plan. On January 10, the offensive of the Soviet troops began, the main blow was delivered in the zone of the 65th Army of General Batov. However, German resistance turned out to be so serious that the offensive had to be temporarily stopped. From January 17 to 22, the offensive was suspended for regrouping, new attacks on January 22-26 led to the dismemberment of the 6th Army into two groups (Soviet troops united in the Mamayev Kurgan area), by January 31 the southern group was eliminated (the command and headquarters of the 6th was captured 1st Army led by Paulus), by February 2 the northern group of those surrounded under the command of the commander of the 11th Army Corps, Colonel General Karl Strecker, capitulated. Shooting in the city continued until February 3 - the Hiwis resisted even after the German surrender on February 2, 1943, since they were not in danger of being captured. The liquidation of the 6th Army, according to the “Ring” plan, was supposed to be completed in a week, but in reality it lasted 23 days. (The 24th Army withdrew from the front on January 26 and was sent to the General Headquarters reserve).

In total, more than 2,500 officers and 24 generals of the 6th Army were captured during Operation Ring. In total, over 91 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers and officers were captured. According to the Don Front headquarters, the trophies of the Soviet troops from January 10 to February 2, 1943 were 5,762 guns, 1,312 mortars, 12,701 machine guns, 156,987 rifles, 10,722 machine guns, 744 aircraft, 1,666 tanks, 261 armored vehicles, 80,438 vehicles, 10 6 79 motorcycles , 240 tractors, 571 tractors, 3 armored trains and other military equipment.

Results of the battle

The victory of Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad is the largest military-political event during the Second World War. The Great Battle, which ended in the encirclement, defeat and capture of a selected enemy group, made a huge contribution to achieving a radical turning point during the Great Patriotic War and had a decisive influence on the further course of the entire Second World War.

In the Battle of Stalingrad, new features of military art emerged with all their might. Armed Forces THE USSR. Soviet operational art was enriched by the experience of encircling and destroying the enemy.

The victory at Stalingrad had a decisive influence on the further course of the Second World War. As a result of the battle, the Red Army firmly seized the strategic initiative and now dictated its will to the enemy. This changed the nature of the actions of German troops in the Caucasus, in the areas of Rzhev and Demyansk. The attacks of the Soviet troops forced the Wehrmacht to give the order to prepare the Eastern Wall, on which they intended to stop the advance of the Soviet Army.

The outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad caused confusion and confusion in the Axis countries. A crisis began in the pro-fascist regimes in Italy, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia. Germany's influence on its allies sharply weakened, and disagreements between them noticeably worsened. The desire to maintain neutrality has intensified in Turkish political circles. Elements of restraint and alienation began to prevail in the relations of neutral countries towards Germany.

As a result of the defeat, Germany faced the problem of restoring the losses incurred in equipment and people. The head of the economic department of the OKW, General G. Thomas, stated that the losses in equipment were equivalent to the amount of military equipment of 45 divisions from all branches of the military and were equal to the losses for the entire previous period of fighting on the Soviet-German front. Goebbels said at the end of January 1943 that “Germany will be able to withstand Russian attacks only if it manages to mobilize its last human reserves.” Losses in tanks and vehicles amounted to six months of the country's production, in artillery - three months, in small arms and mortars - two months.

Reaction in the world

Many statesmen and politicians highly praised the victory of the Soviet troops. In a message to J.V. Stalin (February 5, 1943), F. Roosevelt called the Battle of Stalingrad an epic struggle, the decisive result of which is celebrated by all Americans. On May 17, 1944, Roosevelt sent Stalingrad a letter:

British Prime Minister W. Churchill, in a message to J.V. Stalin on February 1, 1943, called the victory of the Soviet Army at Stalingrad amazing. The King of Great Britain sent Stalingrad a gift sword, on the blade of which in Russian and English languages engraved inscription:

During the battle and especially after its end, the activities of public organizations in the USA, England, and Canada intensified, advocating more effective assistance to the Soviet Union. For example, members of trade unions in New York raised 250 thousand dollars to build a hospital in Stalingrad. The Chairman of the United Garment Workers Union stated:

American astronaut Donald Slayton, a participant in World War II, recalled:

The victory at Stalingrad had a significant impact on the lives of the occupied peoples and instilled hope for liberation. A drawing appeared on the walls of many Warsaw houses - a heart pierced by a large dagger. On the heart is the inscription " Greater Germany", and on the blade - "Stalingrad".

Speaking on February 9, 1943, the famous French anti-fascist writer Jean-Richard Bloch said:

The victory of the Soviet Army highly raised the political and military prestige of the Soviet Union. Former Nazi generals in their memoirs recognized the enormous military-political significance of this victory. G. Doerr wrote:

Defectors and prisoners

According to some reports, from 91 to 110 thousand German prisoners were captured at Stalingrad. Subsequently, our troops buried 140 thousand enemy soldiers and officers on the battlefield (not counting the tens of thousands of German troops who died in the “cauldron” within 73 days). According to the testimony of the German historian Rüdiger Overmans, almost 20 thousand “accomplices” captured in Stalingrad - former Soviet prisoners who served in auxiliary positions in the 6th Army - also died in captivity. They were shot or died in the camps.

In the reference book "Second World War”, published in Germany in 1995, indicates that 201 thousand soldiers and officers were captured at Stalingrad, of whom only 6 thousand returned to their homeland after the war. According to the calculations of the German historian Rüdiger Overmans, published in a special issue of the historical magazine “Damals” dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad, a total of about 250 thousand people were encircled at Stalingrad. Approximately 25 thousand of them were evacuated from the Stalingrad cauldron and more than 100 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers and officers died in January 1943 during the completion of the Soviet Operation Ring. 130 thousand people were captured, including 110 thousand Germans, and the rest were the so-called “voluntary helpers” of the Wehrmacht (“hiwi” is an abbreviation for the German word Hilfswilliger (Hiwi), the literal translation of “voluntary helper”). Of these, about 5 thousand people survived and returned home to Germany. The 6th Army included about 52 thousand “Khivi”, for whom the headquarters of this army developed the main directions for training “voluntary assistants”, in which the latter were considered as “reliable comrades-in-arms in the fight against Bolshevism.”

In addition, in the 6th Army... there were approximately 1 thousand people of the Todt organization, consisting mainly of Western European workers, Croatian and Romanian associations, numbering from 1 thousand to 5 thousand soldiers, as well as several Italians.

If we compare German and Russian data on the number of soldiers and officers captured in the Stalingrad area, the following picture appears. Russian sources exclude from the number of prisoners of war all the so-called “voluntary assistants” of the Wehrmacht (more than 50 thousand people), whom the Soviet competent authorities never classified as “prisoners of war”, but considered them as traitors to the Motherland, subject to trial under martial law. As for the mass death of prisoners of war from the “Stalingrad cauldron”, most of them died during the first year of their captivity due to exhaustion, the effects of cold and numerous diseases received while surrounded. Some data can be cited on this score: only in the period from February 3 to June 10, 1943, in the German prisoner of war camp in Beketovka (Stalingrad region), the consequences of the “Stalingrad cauldron” cost the lives of more than 27 thousand people; and of the 1,800 captured officers housed in the former monastery in Yelabuga, by April 1943 only a quarter of the contingent remained alive.

Participants

• Zaitsev, Vasily Grigorievich - sniper of the 62nd Army of the Stalingrad Front, Hero of the Soviet Union.
• Pavlov, Yakov Fedotovich - commander of a group of fighters who defended the so-called in the summer of 1942. Pavlov's house in the center of Stalingrad, Hero of the Soviet Union.
• Ibarruri, Ruben Ruiz - commander of a machine gun company, lieutenant, Hero of the Soviet Union.
• Shumilov, Mikhail Stepanovich - commander of the 64th Army, Hero of the Soviet Union.

Memory

Awards

On the front side of the medal is a group of fighters with rifles at the ready. Above the group of fighters, on the right side of the medal, a banner flutters, and on the left side you can see the outlines of tanks and planes flying one after another. At the top of the medal, above the group of fighters, there is a five-pointed star and the inscription along the edge of the medal “FOR THE DEFENSE OF STALINGRAD.”

On the reverse side of the medal is the inscription “FOR OUR SOVIET MOTHERLAND.” Above the inscription are a hammer and sickle.

The medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad” was awarded to all participants in the defense of Stalingrad - servicemen of the Red Army, Navy and NKVD troops, as well as civilians who took a direct part in the defense. The period of defense of Stalingrad is considered to be July 12 - November 19, 1942.

As of January 1, 1995, the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" was awarded to approximately 759 561 Human.

• In Volgograd, on the headquarters building of military unit No. 22220, there was a huge wall panel depicting a medal.

Monuments to the Battle of Stalingrad

• Mamayev Kurgan is “the main height of Russia.” During the Battle of Stalingrad, some of the fiercest battles took place here. Today, a monument-ensemble “To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad” has been erected on Mamayev Kurgan. The central figure of the composition is the sculpture “The Motherland is Calling!” It is one of the seven wonders of Russia.
• The panorama “The Defeat of Nazi Troops at Stalingrad” is a picturesque canvas on the theme of the Battle of Stalingrad, located on the Central Embankment of the city. Opened in 1982.
• “Lyudnikov Island” - an area of ​​700 meters along the Volga bank and 400 meters in depth (from the river bank to the territory of the Barricades plant), a defense area of ​​the 138th Red Banner rifle division under the command of Colonel I. I. Lyudnikov.
• The destroyed mill is a building that has not been restored since the war, an exhibit of the Battle of Stalingrad Museum.
• “Rodimtsev’s Wall” is a quay wall that serves as shelter from massive German air raids for soldiers of Major General A. I. Rodimtsev’s rifle division.
• The "House of Soldier's Glory", also known as the "Pavlov's House", was a brick building that occupied a dominant position over the surrounding area.
• Alley of Heroes - a wide street connects the embankment to them. 62nd Army near the Volga River and the Square of Fallen Fighters.

• On September 8, 1985, a memorial monument dedicated to the Heroes of the Soviet Union and full holders of the Order of Glory, natives of the Volgograd region and heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad was unveiled here. The artistic works were carried out by the Volgograd branch of the RSFSR Art Fund under the direction of the main artist of the city, M. Ya. Pyshta. The team of authors included the chief architect of the project A. N. Klyuchishchev, architect A. S. Belousov, designer L. Podoprigora, artist E. V. Gerasimov. On the monument are the names (surnames and initials) of 127 Heroes of the Soviet Union, who received this title for heroism in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943, 192 Heroes of the Soviet Union - natives of the Volgograd region, of whom three are twice Heroes of the Soviet Union, and 28 holders of the Order of Glory of three degrees.
• Poplar on the Alley of Heroes is a historical and natural monument of Volgograd, located on the Alley of Heroes. The poplar survived the Battle of Stalingrad and has numerous evidence of military action on its trunk.

In the world

Named in honor of the Battle of Stalingrad:

• Stalingrad Square (Paris) is a square in Paris.
• Stalingrad Avenue (Brussels) - in Brussels.

In many countries, including France, Great Britain, Belgium, Italy and a number of other countries, streets, gardens, and squares were named after the battle. Only in Paris is the name “Stalingrad” given to a square, a boulevard and one of the metro stations. In Lyon there is the so-called “Stalingrad” bracant, where the third largest antique market in Europe is located.

Also, the central street of the city of Bologna (Italy) is named in honor of Stalingrad.

Battle of Stalingrad(from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943) - this is one of the most important battles of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War between the USSR and Germany (support for the armies of the Axis countries). The actions took place in the Voronezh, Rostov, Volgograd regions and the Republic of Kalmykia.

The goal of the offensive of the Wehrmacht army was to capture the great bend of the Don, the Volgodonsk isthmus and Stalingrad; the implementation of this plan would make it possible to block communication between the center. regions of the USSR and the Caucasus, with the aim of further capturing the Caucasian oil fields. But the plan didn't work out Soviet army July - November 1942 exhausted the Germans in defensive battles, then in November. - Jan. 1942 surrounded a group of their troops (Operation Uranus) and forced them to capitulate on February 2. 1943

Map of military operations in the Battle of Stalingrad:

Table of the main events of the Battle of Stalingrad briefly

	Main events of the Battle of Stalingrad
Battles on the distant and near approaches to Stalingrad and the defense of the city.
July 1942	Creation of the Stalingrad Front. Delivery of a powerful blow on the Stalingrad front by the German army under the command of General von Paulus
	Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad
Aug. - Sep. 1942	Fighting on the outskirts and in the city itself
Sep. - November 1942	Reflection by Soviet troops under the command of generals Chuikov V.I. (62nd Army) and Shumilova M.S. (64th Army) about 700 enemy attacks
The total losses of the Nazis amounted to 1.5 million people, 3,500 tanks and assault guns, and up to 3,000 aircraft. Operations “Uranus”, “Little Saturn”, “Ring” - destruction of an encircled group of enemy troops.
	The beginning of the offensive of the Red Army by the forces of the Southwestern, Don and Stalingrad fronts
	Encirclement of the German army (22 German divisions, 330 thousand people) in the area of ​​​​the city of Kalach
	Liquidation of the encircled group at Stalingrad (Operation Uranus). The Germans surrendered on February 2, 1943, including 24 generals and Field Marshal Paulus.
Results, significance and consequences of the Battle of Stalingrad	The beginning of a radical change in the Great Patriotic War. The strategic initiative passes to the Soviet command. A powerful stimulus for the rise of the Resistance movement. Japan and Türkiye remain neutral. Germany is forced to begin withdrawing troops from the Caucasus. Germany's influence on its allies decreased. Three days of mourning declared in Germany

Strengths of the parties and losses in the Battle of Staligrad

		Germany (Axis countries)
Strengths of the parties at the beginning of the battle	386 thousand people 2200 guns and mortars 230 tanks 454 aircraft 200 aircraft YES 60 air defense aircraft	430 thousand people 3000 guns and mortars 250 tanks and assault guns 1200 aircraft
	780 thousand people	More than 987 thousand people
	1,129,619 people (irretrievable and sanitary losses) 524.8 thousand small arms 4341 self-propelled guns and tanks 2769 combat aircraft 15,728 guns and mortars	About 1.5 million people

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A source of information:

1. History of Russia in diagrams and tables / V.I. Korenev - Orel.: 2007.

2. History of Russia in tables, diagrams and maps / V.V. Kasyanov. - Rostov-on-Don: 2011

3. Materials from the site ru.wikipedia.org.

The significance of the Battle of Stalingrad in history is very great. It was after its completion The Red Army launched a full-scale offensive, which led to the complete expulsion of the enemy from the territory of the USSR, and the Wehrmacht allies abandoned their plans ( Türkiye and Japan planned a full-scale invasion in 1943 to the territory of the USSR) and realized that it was almost impossible to win the war.

In contact with

The Battle of Stalingrad can be briefly described if we consider the most important things:

• background of events;
• a general picture of the disposition of enemy forces;
• progress of the defensive operation;
• progress of the offensive operation;
• results.

Brief background

German troops invaded the territory of the USSR and, moving quickly, winter 1941 found themselves near Moscow. However, it was during this period of time that the Red Army troops launched a counteroffensive.

At the beginning of 1942, Hitler's headquarters began to develop plans for the second wave of the offensive. The generals suggested continue the attack on Moscow, but the Fuhrer rejected this plan and proposed an alternative - an attack on Stalingrad (modern Volgograd). The attack to the south had its reasons. If you're lucky:

• control of the oil fields of the Caucasus passed into the hands of the Germans;
• Hitler would have access to the Volga(which would cut off the European part of the USSR from the Central Asian regions and Transcaucasia).

If the Germans captured Stalingrad, Soviet industry would have suffered serious damage from which it would have been unlikely to recover.

The plan to capture Stalingrad became even more realistic after the so-called Kharkov disaster (complete encirclement of the Southwestern Front, loss of Kharkov and Rostov-on-Don, complete “opening” of the front south of Voronezh).

The offensive began with the defeat of the Bryansk Front and from a positional stop of German forces on the Voronezh River. At the same time, Hitler could not decide on the 4th Tank Army.

The transfer of tanks from the Caucasus to the Volga direction and back delayed the start of the Battle of Stalingrad for a whole week, which gave the opportunity for Soviet troops to better prepare for the defense of the city.

Balance of power

Before the start of the offensive on Stalingrad, the balance of enemy forces looked as follows*:

*calculations taking into account all nearby enemy forces.

Start of the battle

The first clash between the troops of the Stalingrad Front and the 6th Army of Paulus took place July 17, 1942.

Attention! Russian historian A. Isaev found evidence in military journals that the first clash took place a day earlier - on July 16. One way or another, the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad was mid-summer 1942.

Already by July 22–25 German troops, having broken through the defenses of Soviet forces, reached the Don, which created a real threat to Stalingrad. By the end of July, the Germans successfully crossed the Don. Further progress was very difficult. Paulus was forced to resort to the help of allies (Italians, Hungarians, Romanians), who helped surround the city.

It was during this very difficult time for the southern front that I. Stalin published order No. 227, the essence of which was reflected in one short slogan: “ No step back! He called on the soldiers to strengthen their resistance and prevent the enemy from getting closer to the city.

In August Soviet troops saved three divisions of the 1st Guards Army from complete disaster who entered the battle. They launched a timely counterattack and slowed down the enemy's rapid advance, thereby foiling the Fuhrer’s plan to rush to Stalingrad.

In September, after certain tactical adjustments, German troops went on the offensive, trying to take the city by storm. The Red Army could not resist this onslaught, and was forced to retreat to the city.

Street fighting

August 23, 1942 Luftwaffe forces launched a powerful pre-assault bombardment of the city. As a result of the massive attack, ¼ of the city’s population was destroyed, its center was completely destroyed, and severe fires began. On the same day shock the 6th Army group reached the northern outskirts of the city. At this moment, the defense of the city was carried out by the militia and forces of the Stalingrad air defense, despite this, the Germans advanced into the city very slowly and suffered heavy losses.

On September 1, the command of the 62nd Army decided to cross the Volga and entering the city. The crossing took place under constant air and artillery fire. The Soviet command managed to transport 82 thousand soldiers to the city, who in mid-September stubbornly resisted the enemy in the city center; a fierce struggle to maintain bridgeheads near the Volga unfolded on Mamayev Kurgan.

The battles in Stalingrad entered the world military history How one of the most brutal. They fought for literally every street and every house.

Firearms and artillery weapons were practically not used in the city (for fear of ricochet), only piercing and cutting weapons. often went hand-to-hand.

The liberation of Stalingrad was accompanied by a real sniper war (the most famous sniper was V. Zaitsev; he won 11 sniper duels; the story of his exploits still inspires many).

By mid-October the situation had become extremely difficult as the Germans launched an attack on the Volga bridgehead. On November 11, Paulus’s soldiers managed to reach the Volga and force the 62nd Army to take a tough defense.

Attention! Most of the city's civilian population did not have time to evacuate (100 thousand out of 400). As a result, women and children were taken out under fire across the Volga, but many remained in the city and died (counts of civilian casualties are still considered inaccurate).

Counteroffensive

A goal such as the liberation of Stalingrad became not only strategic, but also ideological. Neither Stalin nor Hitler wanted to retreat and could not afford defeat. The Soviet command, realizing the complexity of the situation, began preparing a counteroffensive back in September.

Marshal Eremenko's plan

September 30, 1942 was The Don Front was formed under the command of K.K. Rokossovsky.

He attempted a counteroffensive, which completely failed by early October.

At this time A.I. Eremenko proposes to Headquarters a plan to encircle the 6th Army. The plan was fully approved and received the code name "Uranus".

If it were 100% implemented, all enemy forces concentrated in the Stalingrad area would be surrounded.

Attention! A strategic mistake during the implementation of this plan at the initial stage was made by K.K. Rokossovsky, who tried to take the Oryol ledge with the forces of the 1st Guards Army (which he saw as a threat to the future offensive operation). The operation ended in failure. The 1st Guards Army was completely disbanded.

Chronology of operations (stages)

Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe command to transfer cargo to the Stalingrad ring in order to prevent the defeat of the German troops. The Germans coped with this task, but the fierce opposition of the Soviet air armies, which launched a “free hunt” regime, led to the fact that German air traffic with the blocked troops was interrupted on January 10, just before the start of Operation Ring, which ended defeat of German troops at Stalingrad.

Results

The following main stages can be distinguished in the battle:

• strategic defensive operation(defense of Stalingrad) - from June 17 to November 18, 1942;
• strategic offensive operation (liberation of Stalingrad) - from 11/19/42 to 02/02/43.

The Battle of Stalingrad lasted in total 201 days. It is impossible to say exactly how long the further operation to clear the city of Khivi and scattered enemy groups took.

Victory in the battle affected both the state of the fronts and the geopolitical balance of power in the world. The liberation of the city was of great importance. Brief results of the Battle of Stalingrad:

• Soviet troops acquired invaluable experience in encircling and destroying the enemy;
• were established new schemes for military-economic supply of troops;
• Soviet troops actively prevented the advance of German groups in the Caucasus;
• the German command was forced to devote additional forces to the implementation of the Eastern Wall project;
• Germany's influence on the Allies was greatly weakened, neutral countries began to take a position of non-acceptance of German actions;
• The Luftwaffe was greatly weakened after attempting to supply the 6th Army;
• Germany suffered significant (partly irreparable) losses.

Losses

The losses were significant for both Germany and the USSR.

The situation with the prisoners

At the end of Operation Cauldron, 91.5 thousand people were in Soviet captivity, including:

• ordinary soldiers (including Europeans from among the German allies);
• officers (2.5 thousand);
• generals (24).

German Field Marshal Paulus was also captured.

All prisoners were sent to a specially created camp No. 108 near Stalingrad. For 6 years (until 1949) surviving prisoners worked on construction sites in the city.

Attention! The captured Germans were treated quite humanely. After the first three months, when the mortality rate among prisoners reached its peak, they were all placed in camps near Stalingrad (some in hospitals). Those who were able to work worked a regular working day and received wages for their work, which they could spend on food and household items. In 1949, all surviving prisoners, except war criminals and traitors, were sent to Germany.

Street fighting in Stalingrad

Historical significance of the battle

The Battle of Stalingrad and its historical significance have been thoroughly studied today. The liberation of Stalingrad played a very important role. We are talking not only about the Great Patriotic War, but also about the Second World War, since it became clear to the allies of the USSR and the Axis countries (allies of Germany) that the Wehrmacht's plans finally failed and the strategic initiative of an offensive nature was concentrated in the hands of the Soviet command.

On July 17, 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad began - one of the main turning point battles of the Great Patriotic War.

200 days and nights of fierce fighting ended in a decisive victory for the Russian troops. After the defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler declared three days of mourning in the Third Reich. The word Stalingrad has become synonymous with the steadfastness of the Russian army and the courage of the Russian soldier.

Film 1st."Over the Abyss"
Film 2."Fracture."

For reference:

At the beginning of 1942, Hitler abandoned plans for a new offensive against Moscow and concentrated his attention on the southern direction. The key to Caucasian oil and transport communications between the European part of the USSR, Transcaucasia and Central Asia was Stalingrad - a large industrial center, an important source of supplies for the front and, moreover, a city bearing the name of the leader: its capture would also have propaganda significance.

The 6th Army was allocated for the attack on Stalingrad under the command of Field Marshal Friedrich von Paulus. It included 13 divisions (270 thousand people), 3,000 guns and mortars and about 500 tanks. The hastily created Stalingrad Front was inferior to it in terms of personnel by 1.7 times, in tanks and artillery - by 1.3, and in aviation - by more than 2 times. The offensive began in July 1942. Very quickly, the fighting moved from the approaches and outskirts to the streets and squares of the city. The massive German bombing on August 23 destroyed Stalingrad: more than 40 thousand people died, half of the buildings turned into burning ruins, and Soviet soldiers fought for each of them until their last breath (see on our website the film adaptation of the novel by Vasily Grossman - series "Life and Fate") . According to General Chuikov, the Nazi losses during the attempts to take the famous “Pavlov’s House” exceeded the losses during the capture of Paris.

On November 19, 1942, the Red Army began its offensive as part of Operation Uranus, and 4 days later, in the Kalach area, the encirclement ring around Paulus’s army closed. The Nazis desperately resisted. New attacks - already in January 43rd - led to the dismemberment of the 6th Army into two groups (Soviet troops united in the Mamayev Kurgan area), by the end of the month the southern one was destroyed, the command and headquarters led by Paulus were captured, and after The northern group capitulated for two days.

The total losses of both sides in the Battle of Stalingrad - the largest during the Second World War - exceed two million people. About 90 thousand soldiers, more than 2,500 officers and 24 generals were captured. The trophies of the Soviet troops were thousands of guns, mortars and machine guns, more than 700 aircraft, over one and a half thousand tanks and other military equipment - the same amount Germany had lost before on the entire Eastern Front.

The defeat of the Nazis in the Battle of Stalingrad - along with the successful defense of Moscow and the battle on the Kursk Bulge - is key crucial moment The Second World War as a whole: German troops then finally lost the strategic initiative, and confusion and confusion in the Axis countries led to a crisis in the pro-fascist regimes in Italy, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.

The Battle of Stalingrad is one of the largest in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. It began on July 17, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943. According to the nature of the fighting, the Battle of Stalingrad is divided into two periods: defensive, which lasted from July 17 to November 18, 1942, the purpose of which was the defense of the city of Stalingrad (from 1961 - Volgograd), and offensive, which began on November 19, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943 year with the defeat of the group of fascist German troops operating in the Stalingrad direction.

For two hundred days and nights on the banks of the Don and Volga, and then at the walls of Stalingrad and directly in the city itself, this fierce battle continued. It unfolded over a vast territory of about 100 thousand square kilometers with a front length of 400 to 850 kilometers. More than 2.1 million people took part in it on both sides at different stages of the hostilities. In terms of goals, scope and intensity of military operations, the Battle of Stalingrad surpassed all previous battles in world history.

From the side of the Soviet Union in the Battle of Stalingrad in different time troops of the Stalingrad, South-Eastern, South-Western, Don, left wing of the Voronezh fronts, the Volga military flotilla and the Stalingrad air defense corps region (the operational-tactical formation of the Soviet air defense forces) took part. General management and coordination of the actions of the fronts near Stalingrad on behalf of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (SHC) was carried out by Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief Army General Georgy Zhukov and Chief General Staff Colonel General Alexander Vasilevsky.

The fascist German command planned in the summer of 1942 to defeat Soviet troops in the south of the country, seize the oil regions of the Caucasus, the rich agricultural regions of the Don and Kuban, disrupt communications connecting the center of the country with the Caucasus, and create conditions for ending the war in its favor. This task was entrusted to Army Groups "A" and "B".

For the offensive in the Stalingrad direction, the 6th Army under the command of Colonel General Friedrich Paulus and the 4th Tank Army were allocated from the German Army Group B. By July 17, the German 6th Army had about 270 thousand people, three thousand guns and mortars, and about 500 tanks. It was supported by aviation from the 4th Air Fleet (up to 1,200 combat aircraft). The Nazi troops were opposed by the Stalingrad Front, which had 160 thousand people, 2.2 thousand guns and mortars, and about 400 tanks. It was supported by 454 aircraft of the 8th Air Force and 150-200 long-range bombers. The main efforts of the Stalingrad Front were concentrated in the large bend of the Don, where the 62nd and 64th armies occupied the defense in order to prevent the enemy from crossing the river and breaking through by the shortest route to Stalingrad.

The defensive operation began on the distant approaches to the city at the border of the Chir and Tsimla rivers. On July 22, having suffered heavy losses, Soviet troops retreated to the main line of defense of Stalingrad. Having regrouped, enemy troops resumed their offensive on July 23. The enemy tried to encircle Soviet troops in the large bend of the Don, reach the area of ​​​​the city of Kalach and break through to Stalingrad from the west.

Bloody battles in this area continued until August 10, when the troops of the Stalingrad Front, having suffered heavy losses, retreated to the left bank of the Don and took up defense on the outer perimeter of Stalingrad, where on August 17 they temporarily stopped the enemy.

The Supreme Command headquarters systematically strengthened the troops in the Stalingrad direction. By the beginning of August, the German command also introduced new forces into the battle (8th Italian Army, 3rd Romanian Army). After a short break, having a significant superiority in forces, the enemy resumed the offensive along the entire front of the outer defensive perimeter of Stalingrad. After fierce battles on August 23, his troops broke through to the Volga north of the city, but were unable to capture it on the move. On August 23 and 24, German aircraft launched a fierce massive bombardment of Stalingrad, turning it into ruins.

Building up their forces, German troops came close to the city on September 12. Fierce street battles broke out and continued almost around the clock. They went for every block, alley, for every house, for every meter of land. On October 15, the enemy broke through to the area of ​​the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. On November 11, German troops made their last attempt to capture the city.

They managed to get to the Volga south of the Barrikady plant, but they could not achieve more. With continuous counterattacks and counterattacks, Soviet troops minimized the enemy's successes, destroying his manpower and equipment. On November 18, the advance of German troops was finally stopped along the entire front, and the enemy was forced to go on the defensive. The enemy's plan to capture Stalingrad failed.

© East News / Universal Images Group/Sovfoto

© East News / Universal Images Group/Sovfoto

Even during the defensive battle, the Soviet command began to concentrate forces to launch a counteroffensive, preparations for which were completed in mid-November. By the beginning of the offensive operation, Soviet troops had 1.11 million people, 15 thousand guns and mortars, about 1.5 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery units, and over 1.3 thousand combat aircraft.

The enemy opposing them had 1.01 million people, 10.2 thousand guns and mortars, 675 tanks and assault guns, 1216 combat aircraft. As a result of the massing of forces and means in the directions of the main attacks of the fronts, a significant superiority of Soviet troops over the enemy was created - on the South-Western and Stalingrad fronts in people - by 2-2.5 times, in artillery and tanks - by 4-5 or more times.

The offensive of the Southwestern Front and the 65th Army of the Don Front began on November 19, 1942 after an 80-minute artillery preparation. By the end of the day, the defenses of the 3rd Romanian Army were broken through in two areas. The Stalingrad Front launched its offensive on November 20.

Having struck the flanks of the main enemy group, the troops of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts closed the encirclement ring on November 23, 1942. It included 22 divisions and more than 160 separate units of the 6th Army and partly the 4th Tank Army of the enemy, with a total number of about 300 thousand people.

On December 12, the German command attempted to release the encircled troops with a strike from the area of ​​the village of Kotelnikovo (now the city of Kotelnikovo), but did not achieve the goal. On December 16, the Soviet offensive began in the Middle Don, which forced the German command to finally abandon the release of the encircled group. By the end of December 1942, the enemy was defeated in front of the outer front of the encirclement, its remnants were thrown back 150-200 kilometers. This created favorable conditions to eliminate the group surrounded at Stalingrad.

To defeat the encircled troops by the Don Front, under the command of Lieutenant General Konstantin Rokossovsky, an operation codenamed “Ring” was carried out. The plan provided for the sequential destruction of the enemy: first in the western, then in the southern part of the encirclement ring, and subsequently - the dismemberment of the remaining group into two parts by a blow from west to east and the liquidation of each of them. The operation began on January 10, 1943. On January 26, the 21st Army linked up with the 62nd Army in the Mamayev Kurgan area. The enemy group was cut into two parts. On January 31, the southern group of troops led by Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus ceased resistance, and on February 2, the northern group stopped resistance, which was the completion of the destruction of the encircled enemy. During the offensive from January 10 to February 2, 1943, over 91 thousand people were captured and about 140 thousand were destroyed.

During the Stalingrad offensive operation, the German 6th Army and 4th Tank Army, the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies, and the 8th Italian Army were defeated. The total enemy losses were about 1.5 million people. In Germany, national mourning was declared for the first time during the war.

The Battle of Stalingrad made a decisive contribution to achieving a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet armed forces seized the strategic initiative and held it until the end of the war. The defeat of the fascist bloc at Stalingrad undermined confidence in Germany on the part of its allies and contributed to the intensification of the Resistance movement in European countries. Japan and Türkiye were forced to abandon plans for active action against the USSR.

The victory at Stalingrad was the result of the unbending resilience, courage and mass heroism of the Soviet troops. For military distinction shown during the Battle of Stalingrad, 44 formations and units were given honorary titles, 55 were awarded orders, 183 were converted into guards units. Tens of thousands of soldiers and officers were awarded government awards. 112 of the most distinguished soldiers became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

In honor of the heroic defense of the city, the Soviet government established the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad” on December 22, 1942, which was awarded to more than 700 thousand participants in the battle.

On May 1, 1945, in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Stalingrad was named a hero city. On May 8, 1965, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, the hero city was awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

The city has over 200 historical sites associated with its heroic past. Among them are the memorial ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" on Mamayev Kurgan, the House of Soldiers' Glory (Pavlov's House) and others. In 1982, the Panorama Museum "Battle of Stalingrad" was opened.

The day of February 2, 1943, in accordance with the Federal Law of March 13, 1995 "On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia" is celebrated as the Day of Military Glory of Russia - the Day of the defeat of Nazi troops by Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad.

The material was prepared based on informationopen sources

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