WWII Battle of Stalingrad. Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad lasted from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943, and is considered the largest land battle in human history. This battle marked a turning point in the course of the war; during this battle, Soviet troops finally stopped the troops of Nazi Germany and forced them to stop the attack on Russian lands.

Historians believe that the total area where military operations took place during the Battle of Stalingrad is one hundred thousand square kilometers. Two million people took part in it, as well as two thousand tanks, two thousand aircraft, twenty-six thousand guns. Soviet troops eventually defeated a huge fascist army, which consisted of two German armies, two Romanian armies, and another Italian army.

Background to the Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was preceded by other historical events. In December 1941, the Red Army defeated the Nazis near Moscow. Encouraged by the success, the leaders of the Soviet Union gave the order to launch a large-scale offensive near Kharkov. The offensive failed and the Soviet army was defeated. German troops then went to Stalingrad.

The Nazi command needed the capture of Stalingrad for various reasons:

Firstly, the capture of the city, which bore the name of Stalin, the leader of the Soviet people, could break the morale of opponents of fascism, and not only in the Soviet Union, but throughout the world;
Secondly, the capture of Stalingrad could give the Nazis the opportunity to block all vital communications for Soviet citizens that connected the center of the country with its southern part, in particular with the Caucasus.

Progress of the Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad began on July 17, 1942 near the Chir and Tsimla rivers. The 62nd and 64th Soviet armies met with the vanguard of the German Sixth Army. The stubbornness of the Soviet troops did not allow German troops to break through to Stalingrad quickly. On July 28, 1942, an order was issued by I.V. Stalin, which clearly said: “Not a step back!” This famous order was discussed many times later by historians, and there were different attitudes towards it, but it had a great impact on the masses.

The history of the Battle of Stalingrad was briefly largely determined by this order. According to this order, special penal companies and battalions were created, which included privates and officers of the Red Army who had committed any offense before the Motherland. Since August 1942, the battle has taken place in the city itself. On August 23, a German air raid kills forty thousand people in the city and reduces the central part of the city to burning ruins.

Then the 6th German Army begins to break into the city. She is opposed by Soviet snipers and assault groups. A desperate fight takes place for every street. In the second half of September, German troops pressed back the 62nd Army and broke through to the Volga. At the same time, the river is controlled by the Germans, and all Soviet ships and boats are fired upon.

The significance of the Battle of Stalingrad lies in the fact that the Soviet command managed to create a superiority of forces, and the Soviet people, with their heroism, were able to stop the powerful and technically well-equipped German army. On November 19, 1943, the Soviet counteroffensive begins. The onslaught of Soviet troops led to the fact that part of the German army was surrounded.

More than ninety thousand people were captured - soldiers and officers of the German army, of whom no more than twenty percent returned to Germany. On January 24, the commander of the German troops, Friedrich Paulus, who was later awarded the rank of Field Marshal by Hitler, asked the German command for permission to declare surrender. But this was categorically denied to him. Nevertheless, on January 31 he was forced to announce the surrender of German troops.

Results of the Battle of Stalingrad

The defeat of German troops caused the weakening of fascist regimes in Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, and Romania. The result of the battle was that the Red Army stopped defending and began to advance, and German troops were forced to withdraw to the west. Victory in this battle benefited the political goals of the Soviet Union, and accelerated many other countries.

2-02-2016, 18:12

The military history of Russia knows many examples of courage, heroism and military valor. But the battle that changed the course of the Great Patriotic War - the battle for Stalingrad - deserves special mention.

The date of the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad is considered to be July 17, 1942. It was on this day that units of the 62nd Army entered into battle with the advanced units of the Wehrmacht - this is how the first, defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad began. Under the pressure of superior enemy forces, Soviet troops were forced to constantly retreat, occupying either poorly equipped or completely unequipped lines.

By the end of July, German troops reaching the Don created the threat of a breakthrough to Stalingrad. That is why on July 28, 1942, the order of the Supreme Command Headquarters No. 227, better known as the order “Not a step back!”, was communicated to the troops of the Stalingrad and other fronts. However, despite the stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops, the enemy managed to break through the defenses of the 62nd Army and reach Stalingrad.

On August 23, Stalingrad experienced its longest and most destructive bombardment. After the raid, which claimed the lives of more than 90 thousand people, the city turned into burning ruins - almost half of the city was destroyed. It was on this day that the city defense committee addressed the population of the city, in which “everyone who is able to bear arms” was called upon to defend their hometown. The call was heard and thousands of citizens joined the units of the 62nd and 64th armies defending the city.

In early September, the enemy was able to capture certain areas of the city located in the northern part. Now he was faced with the task of going to the city center to cut the Volga. The enemy's attempts to break through to the river led to colossal losses: in the first ten days of September alone, the Germans lost more than 25 thousand people killed. As a result, the commanders of the German armies operating near Stalingrad were summoned to Hitler's headquarters, where they received orders to capture the city as soon as possible. By mid-September, about 50 enemy divisions were involved in the Stalingrad direction, and the Luftwaffe, flying up to 2,000 sorties a day, continued to destroy the city. On September 13, after a powerful artillery barrage, the enemy launched the first assault on the city, hoping that superior forces would allow them to take the city outright. There will be four such assaults in total.

It is after the first assault that the fighting in the city will begin - the most fierce and intense. Fights in which every house was turned into a fortress. On September 23, the defense of the famous Pavlov House began. The enemy will not be able to take this house, which has become a symbol of the courage of the defenders of Stalingrad, despite the fact that it was defended by about three dozen soldiers, and will be marked as a “fortress” on Paulus’s operational map. There were no pauses or lulls in the battles on the territory of the city - the battles went on continuously, “grinding” soldiers and equipment.

It was only by mid-November that the advance of German troops was stopped. The plans of the German command were thwarted: instead of a non-stop and rapid advance to the Volga, and then to the Caucasus, German troops were drawn into grueling battles in the Stalingrad area.

The Soviets held back the enemy's advance and were able to create the preconditions for a counteroffensive. Operation Uranus, a strategic offensive operation of the Soviet troops, began on November 19, 1942. Colonel General A.I. described the events of those days best of all. Eremenko “... just yesterday we, gritting our teeth tightly, said to ourselves “Not a step back!”, And today the Motherland ordered us to move forward!” The Soviet troops, who launched a rapid offensive, inflicted terrible blows on the enemy, and in just a few days the German troops faced the threat of encirclement.

On November 23, units of the 26th Tank Corps, joining forces with units of the 4th Mechanized Corps, surrounded an enemy force of almost 300,000. On the same day, a German group of troops capitulated for the first time. This will later be published by the memoirs of a German intelligence department officer: “stunned and confused, we did not take our eyes off our headquarters maps (...) with all the forebodings, we did not even think about the possibility of such a catastrophe.”

However, the disaster was not long in coming: soon after the encirclement of German troops, the Supreme High Command Headquarters decided to eliminate the encircled enemy group...

On January 24, F. Paulus will ask Hitler for permission to surrender. The request will be rejected. And on January 26, units of the 21st and 62nd armies will meet in the Mamayev Kurgan area: thereby, the Soviet troops will cut the already surrounded enemy group into two parts. On January 31, Paulus will surrender. Only the northern group of troops will offer meaningless resistance. On February 1, 1,000 guns and mortars will rain down an avalanche of fire on enemy positions. As the commander of the 65th Army, Lieutenant General P.I., recalled. Batov “...after three to five minutes the Germans began to jump out and crawl out of the dugouts and basements...”

In the report of I.V. To Stalin, representative of the Supreme Command Headquarters, Marshal of Artillery N.N. Voronov and Colonel General K.K. Rokossovsky reported: “Fulfilling your order, the troops of the Don Front at 16.00 on February 2, 1943 completed the defeat and destruction of the enemy’s Stalingrad group. Due to the complete liquidation of the encircled enemy troops, combat operations in the city of Stalingrad and in the Stalingrad region ceased.”

This is how the Battle of Stalingrad ended - the greatest battle that turned the tide not only in the Great Patriotic War, but also in the Second World War as a whole. And on the day of Military Glory of Russia, the day of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, I would like to pay tribute to the memory of every Soviet soldier who died in those terrible battles and thank those who lived to this day. Eternal glory to you!

Marcel Bashirov

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On July 17, 1942, at the turn of the Chir and Tsimla rivers, the forward detachments of the 62nd and 64th armies of the Stalingrad Front met with the vanguards of the 6th German Army. Interacting with the aviation of the 8th Air Army (Major General of Aviation T.T. Khryukin), they put up stubborn resistance to the enemy, who, in order to break their resistance, had to deploy 5 divisions out of 13 and spend 5 days fighting them. In the end, German troops knocked down the advanced detachments from their positions and approached the main defense line of the troops of the Stalingrad Front. Thus began the Battle of Stalingrad.

The resistance of the Soviet troops forced the Nazi command to strengthen the 6th Army. By July 22, it already had 18 divisions, numbering 250 thousand combat personnel, about 740 tanks, 7.5 thousand guns and mortars. The troops of the 6th Army supported up to 1,200 aircraft. As a result, the balance of forces increased even more in favor of the enemy. For example, in tanks he now had a twofold superiority. By July 22, the troops of the Stalingrad Front had 16 divisions (187 thousand people, 360 tanks, 7.9 thousand guns and mortars, about 340 aircraft).

At dawn on July 23, the enemy’s northern and, on July 25, southern strike groups went on the offensive. Using superiority in forces and air supremacy, the Germans broke through the defenses on the right flank of the 62nd Army and by the end of the day on July 24 reached the Don in the Golubinsky area. As a result, up to three Soviet divisions were surrounded. The enemy also managed to push back the troops of the right flank of the 64th Army. A critical situation developed for the troops of the Stalingrad Front. Both flanks of the 62nd Army were deeply engulfed by the enemy, and its exit to the Don created a real threat of a breakthrough of Nazi troops to Stalingrad.

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 break through the defenses 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 support Army Group South B in the north.

On July 28, 1942, People's Commissar of Defense I.V. Stalin addressed the Red Army with order No. 227, in which he demanded to strengthen resistance and stop the enemy's advance at all costs. The strictest measures were envisaged against those who showed cowardice and cowardice in battle. Practical measures were outlined to strengthen morale and discipline among the troops. “It’s time to end the retreat,” the order noted. - No step back!" This slogan embodied the essence of order No. 227. Commanders and political workers were given the task of bringing to the consciousness of every soldier the requirements of this order.

The stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops forced the Nazi command on July 31 to turn the 4th Tank Army (Colonel General G. Hoth) from the Caucasus direction to Stalingrad. On August 2, its advanced units approached Kotelnikovsky. In this regard, there was a direct threat of an enemy breakthrough to the city from the southwest. Fighting broke out on the southwestern approaches to it. To strengthen the defense of Stalingrad, by decision of the front commander, the 57th Army was deployed on the southern front of the outer defensive perimeter. The 51st Army was transferred to the Stalingrad Front (Major General T.K. Kolomiets, from October 7 - Major General N.I. Trufanov).

The situation in the 62nd Army zone was difficult. On August 7-9, the enemy pushed her troops beyond the Don River, and encircled four divisions west of Kalach. Soviet soldiers fought in encirclement until August 14, and then in small groups they began to fight their way out of encirclement. Three divisions of the 1st Guards Army (Major General K. S. Moskalenko, from September 28 - Major General I. M. Chistyakov) arrived from the Headquarters Reserve and launched a counterattack on the enemy troops and stopped their further advance.

Thus, the German plan - to break through to Stalingrad with a swift blow on the move - was thwarted by the stubborn resistance of Soviet troops in the large bend of the Don and their active defense on the southwestern approaches to the city. During the three weeks of the offensive, the enemy was able to advance only 60-80 km. Based on an assessment of the situation, the Nazi command made significant adjustments to its plan.

On August 19, Nazi troops resumed their offensive, striking in the general direction of Stalingrad. On August 22, the 6th German Army crossed the Don and captured a 45 km wide bridgehead on its eastern bank, in the Peskovatka area, on which six divisions were concentrated. On August 23, the enemy's 14th Tank Corps broke through to the Volga north of Stalingrad, in the area of the village of Rynok, and cut off the 62nd Army from the rest of the forces of the Stalingrad Front. The day before, enemy aircraft launched a massive air strike on Stalingrad, carrying out about 2 thousand sorties. As a result, the city suffered terrible destruction - entire neighborhoods were turned into ruins or simply wiped off the face of the earth.

On September 13, the enemy went on the offensive along the entire front, trying to capture Stalingrad by storm. Soviet troops failed to contain his powerful onslaught. They were forced to retreat to the city, where fierce fighting broke out on the streets.

At the end of August and September, Soviet troops carried out a series of counterattacks in the southwestern direction to cut off the formations of the enemy's 14th Tank Corps, which had broken through to the Volga. When launching counterattacks, Soviet troops had to close the German breakthrough in the Kotluban and Rossoshka station area and eliminate the so-called “land bridge”. At the cost of enormous losses, Soviet troops managed to advance only a few kilometers.

Soviet machine gunners during street fighting on the outskirts of Stalingrad.

Captured camels are used as draft power by the German army at Stalingrad.

Evacuation of nurseries and kindergartens from Stalingrad.

German dive bomber Junkers Ju-87 Stuka in the sky over Stalingrad.

Romanian prisoners of war captured near the village of Raspopinskaya near the city of Kalach.

Soldiers and commanders of the 298th Infantry Division near Stalingrad.

Women dig trenches in the area of the Don River.

The commander of the 6th Army, Wehrmacht Colonel General F. Paulus, with members of his staff during the battles near Stalingrad.

Oberefreiter of the 578th Wehrmacht Infantry Regiment Hans Eckle in a combat position in a trench between the Don and Volga.

The command staff of the 2nd company of the 178th rifle regiment of the NKVD troops of the USSR for the protection of especially important industrial enterprises on Mamayev Kurgan.

Armor-piercers G.S. Barennik and Ya.V. Sheptytsky with a PTRD-41 in a combat position in a trench during the battle for Stalingrad.

A German soldier writes a letter in the basement of a house in Stalingrad.

A militiaman from among the workers of the Stalingrad Red October plant, sniper Pyotr Alekseevich Goncharov (1903 - 1944), armed with a registered SVT-40 sniper rifle at a firing position near Stalingrad. In the battles for Stalingrad he destroyed about 50 enemy soldiers.

Armored boats of the Volga Flotilla fire at the positions of German troops in Stalingrad.

Wehrmacht armored personnel carriers in the steppe near Stalingrad.

A convoy of the 2nd Wehrmacht Panzer Division crosses the bridge over the Don.

Wehrmacht infantry and StuG III self-propelled guns advance through a Soviet village shortly after crossing the Don.

Oberefreiter of the 578th Wehrmacht Infantry Regiment Hans Eckle at a combat position between the Don and Volga.

The driver performs work on the engine of a ZIS-5 car near Stalingrad.

German machine gunners change position north of Stalingrad.

German soldiers with an MG-34 machine gun and a 50-mm leGrW36 mortar in a position on the outskirts of Stalingrad.

A Soviet prisoner of war helps soldiers of the 369th Wehrmacht Regiment dismantle a wrecked car in Stalingrad.

Soviet soldiers in positions in the trenches near Stalingrad.

German self-propelled gun StuG III near the ruins of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant.

Former houses on the outskirts of the town of Serafimovich, destroyed by German troops.

Cinematographer Valentin Orlyankin films a panorama of Stalingrad from the boat.

Red Army soldiers, brought from the other side of the river, walk along the banks of the Volga in Stalingrad.

Soldiers of the 578th Wehrmacht Infantry Regiment at a halt during the attack on Stalingrad.

German officers confer at a crossroads during the attack on Stalingrad.

A German self-propelled gun StuG III with armored soldiers moves along Kurskaya Street in Stalingrad.

A Soviet pillbox on the territory occupied by German troops near Stalingrad.

View of the cemetery destroyed during the fighting in Stalingrad.

A resident of Stalingrad stokes the stove of a destroyed house in the occupied southern part of the city.

A resident of the occupied area of Stalingrad prepares food on the site of a destroyed house.

View from a German plane of the fires in the destroyed Stalingrad.

German tank Pz.Kpfw. III, knocked out at Stalingrad.

Soviet sappers are building a crossing across the Volga.

Red Army soldiers in battle on the railway near Stalingrad.

A German soldier walks past a damaged and burning Soviet T-60 tank during the attack on Stalingrad.

Red Army artillerymen at the F-22-USV gun on the street of Stalingrad.

A column of Red Army soldiers passes near the Central Department Store of Stalingrad.

Artillerymen of the Red Army Guards unit are crossing the Volga on A-3 landing boats.

Calculation of the German ZSU Sd.Kfz. 10/4 prepares to open fire at Stalingrad.

Sculptural composition and graves of German soldiers near the building of the 7th hospital in Stalingrad.

Soviet machine gunners of the Stalingrad Front near the river.

Soviet soldiers repulse the attacks of German troops rushing to Stalingrad.

Soviet mortar men change positions near Stalingrad.

Red Army soldiers run near barbed wire barriers during the fighting in Stalingrad.

Soviet infantry in battle on the outskirts of Stalingrad.

A group of Soviet military personnel in the steppe near Stalingrad.

The crew of the Soviet 45-mm anti-tank gun 53-K changes position during the battles on the outskirts of Stalingrad.

Soviet units after landing on the banks of the Volga near Stalingrad.

Soviet soldiers fire from the glass roof of one of the factory workshops in Stalingrad.

Soviet machine gunners in battle on the streets of Stalingrad.

Red Army soldiers in battle near a burning house in Stalingrad.

Destroyed Soviet multiple rocket launcher BM-8-24 on the chassis of a T-60 tank near Stalingrad.

Destroyed houses in the part of Stalingrad occupied by German troops.

Soviet soldiers move through the ruins of a destroyed building in Stalingrad.

A woman with a knot on the ashes in Stalingrad.

The crew of a Soviet 50-mm company mortar changes position in a workers' village near Stalingrad.

View from a Soviet hideout in Stalingrad.

A fallen Soviet soldier on the banks of the Volga near Stalingrad.

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 combat operations, the Battle of Stalingrad surpassed all previous battles in world history.

On the part of the Soviet Union, the 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 in the Battle of Stalingrad at different times. General management and coordination of the actions of the fronts near Stalingrad on behalf of the Supreme High Command Headquarters (SHC) was carried out by Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief Army General Georgy Zhukov and Chief of the 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.

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 for the liquidation of 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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The Battle of Stalingrad became a turning point in the Great Patriotic War and throughout the Second World War. The battle is divided into two periods: the first, defensive, which lasted from July 17 to November 18, 1942; second, offensive, from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943.

Defensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad

After the defeat near Moscow, Hitler and his command decided that during the new summer campaign of 1942 it was necessary to strike not along the entire length of the Soviet-German front, but only on the southern flank. The Germans no longer had enough strength for more. It was important for Hitler to capture Soviet oil, the Maykop and Baku fields, get grain from Stavropol and Kuban, and take Stalingrad, which divided the USSR into central and southern parts. Then it would be possible to cut the main lines of communication that supplied our troops and obtain the necessary resources to wage an arbitrarily long war. Already on April 5, 1942, Hitler’s fundamental directive No. 41 was issued - the order to conduct Operation Blau. The German group was supposed to advance in the direction of the Don, Volga and Caucasus. After capturing the main strongholds, the German Army Group South was to split into Army Group A (advancing into the Caucasus) and Army Group B (advancing towards Stalingrad), the main force of which was the 6th Army of General Paulus.

Already before the start of the main attack in the south of the USSR, the Germans were able to achieve serious successes. Our spring offensive operations near Kerch and Kharkov ended in major failures. Their failure and the heavy losses of the Red Army units that were surrounded helped the Germans achieve rapid success in their general offensive. Wehrmacht formations began to advance when our units were demoralized and began to withdraw in eastern Ukraine. True, now, taught by bitter experience, the Soviet troops tried to avoid encirclement. Even when they found themselves behind enemy lines, they infiltrated through German positions before the enemy front became dense.

Soon heavy fighting broke out on the approaches to Voronezh and in the bend of the Don. The command of the Red Army tried to strengthen the front, bring up new reserves from the depths, and give the troops more tanks and aircraft. But in oncoming battles, as a rule, these reserves were quickly exhausted, and the retreat continued. Meanwhile, Paulus's army advanced. Its southern flank was to be covered by the 4th Panzer Army under the command of Hoth. The Germans struck Voronezh - they broke into the city, but were unable to completely take control of it. They were detained on the banks of the Don, where the front remained until January 1942.

Meanwhile, the elite German 6th Army, which numbered more than 200 thousand people, advanced inexorably along the bend of the Don towards Stalingrad. On August 23, the Germans carried out a fierce air raid on the city, which involved hundreds of aircraft. And although more than 20 vehicles were shot down by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners and air defense aircraft, the city center, train station and most important enterprises were virtually destroyed. It was not possible to remove civilians from Stalingrad in time. The evacuation was spontaneous: primarily industrial equipment, agricultural implements, and cattle were transported across the Volga. It was only after August 23 that the civilian population rushed east across the river. Of the nearly half a million population of the city, only 32 thousand people remained in place after the fighting. Moreover, to the 500 thousand pre-war population it is necessary to add tens of thousands more refugees from Ukraine, from the Rostov region and even from besieged Leningrad, who by the will of fate ended up in Stalingrad.

Simultaneously with the fierce bombing on August 23, 1942, the German 14th Tank Corps managed to make a multi-kilometer march and break through to the banks of the Volga north of Stalingrad. The fighting took place near the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. From the south, German columns of the 4th Tank Army, transferred from the Caucasus, were advancing towards the city. In addition, Hitler sent the Italian and two Romanian armies to this direction. Near Voronezh, two Hungarian armies took up positions, covering the attack on the main direction. Stalingrad went from being a secondary goal of the summer 1942 campaign to becoming the main objective for the German army.

A. Jodl, chief of staff of the operational leadership of the Wehrmacht, noted that the fate of the Caucasus was now being decided at Stalingrad. It seemed to Paulus that it was necessary to throw one more additional regiment or battalion into the breakthrough and he would decide the outcome of the battle in favor of the German army. But the battalions and regiments left one after another for battle and did not return. The Stalingrad meat grinder ground up Germany's human resources. Our losses were also very large - the Moloch of war was merciless.

In September, protracted battles began in the quarters (or rather, in the ruins) of Stalingrad. The city could fall at any moment. The Germans had already reached the Volga in several places within the city limits. In fact, only small islands of resistance remained from the Soviet front. From the front line to the river bank there was often no more than 150–200 meters. But the Soviet soldiers held out. For several weeks the Germans stormed individual buildings in Stalingrad. The soldiers under the command of Sergeant Pavlov resisted enemy fire for 58 days and never gave up their positions. The L-shaped house, which they defended to the last, was called “Pavlov’s House.”

An active sniper war also began in Stalingrad. To win it, the Germans brought from Germany not just experts in their field, but even leaders of sniper schools. But the Red Army also produced wonderful cadres of sharp shooters. Every day they gained experience. On the Soviet side, the fighter Vasily Zaitsev, who is now known throughout the world from the Hollywood film “Enemy at the Gates,” distinguished himself. He destroyed more than 200 German soldiers and officers in the ruins of Stalingrad.

Nevertheless, in the fall of 1942, the position of the defenders of Stalingrad remained critical. The Germans would probably have been able to completely take the city if not for our reserves. More and more units of the Red Army were transferred across the Volga to the west. One day, the 13th Guards Rifle Division of General A.I. Rodimtsev was also transferred. Despite the losses suffered, she immediately entered the battle and recaptured the Mamaev Kurgan from the enemy. This height dominated the entire city. The Germans also sought to take possession of it at any cost. The battles for Mamayev Kurgan continued until January 1943.

In the most difficult battles of September - early November 1942, the soldiers of the 62nd Army of General Chuikov and the 64th Army of General Shumilov managed to defend the ruins remaining behind them, withstand countless attacks and tie down the German troops. Paulus carried out the last assault on Stalingrad on November 11, 1942, but it also ended in failure.

The commander of the 6th German Army was in a gloomy mood. Meanwhile, our command increasingly began to think about how to radically turn the tide of the battle for Stalingrad. A new, original solution was needed that would affect the entire course of the campaign. .

The offensive period of the Battle of Stalingrad lasted from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943.

Back in mid-September, when the Germans sought to destroy the Soviet troops in Stalingrad as soon as possible, G. K. Zhukov, who became the First Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief, instructed some senior officials in the General Staff of the Red Army to develop a plan for an offensive operation. Returning from the front, he, together with the Chief of the General Staff A. M. Vasilevsky, reported to I. Stalin about the plan of the operation, which was supposed to tip the scales of the grandiose confrontation in favor of the Soviet troops. Soon the first calculations were made. G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky proposed bilateral coverage of the Stalingrad enemy group and its subsequent destruction. Having listened to them carefully, I. Stalin noted that it was necessary, first of all, to hold the city itself. In addition, such an operation requires the involvement of additional powerful reserves, which will play a decisive role in the battle.

Reserves from the Urals, the Far East and Siberia arrived in increasing quantities. They were not immediately introduced into battle, but accumulated until time “H.” During this period, a lot of work was carried out at the headquarters of the Soviet fronts. The newly formed Southwestern Front of N.F. Vatutin, the Don Front of K.K. Rokossovsky, and the Stalingrad Front of A.I. Eremenko were preparing for the offensive.

And now the moment has come for the decisive throw.

On November 19, 1942, despite the fog, thousands of guns on the Soviet front opened fire on the enemy. Operation Uranus began. Rifle and tank units went on the attack. Aviation was waiting for more favorable weather, but as soon as the fog cleared, it took an active part in the offensive.

The German group was still very strong. The Soviet command believed that about 200 thousand people were opposing them in the Stalingrad area. In fact, there were over 300 thousand of them. In addition, on the flanks, where the main attacks of the Soviet troops were carried out, there were Romanian and Italian formations. Already by November 21, 1942, the success of the Soviet offensive was evident, which exceeded all expectations. Moscow radio reported that the Red Army had advanced more than 70 km and captured 15 thousand enemy troops. This was the first time such a major breakthrough of enemy positions had been announced since the Battle of Moscow. But these were only the first successes.

On November 23, our troops took Kotelnikovo. The cauldron slammed shut behind the enemy troops. Its internal and external fronts were created. More than 20 divisions were surrounded. At the same time, our troops continued to develop their offensive in the direction of Rostov-on-Don. At the beginning of January 1943, the forces of our Transcaucasian Front also began to move. The Germans, unable to withstand the onslaught and fearing that they would end up in a new gigantic cauldron, began to hastily retreat from the foothills of the Caucasus. They finally abandoned the idea of taking possession of Grozny and Baku oil.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Command Headquarters was actively developing the plan for a whole cascade of powerful operations that were supposed to crush the entire German defense on the Soviet-German front. In addition to Operation Uranus (encircling the Germans at Stalingrad), Operation Saturn was planned - encircling the German armies in the North Caucasus. In the central direction, preparations were being made for Operation Mars - the destruction of the 9th German Army, and then Operation Jupiter - the encirclement of the entire Army Group Center. Unfortunately, only Operation Uranus was successful. The fact is that Hitler, having learned about the encirclement of his troops at Stalingrad, ordered Paulus to hold on at all costs, and ordered Manstein to prepare a relief strike.

In mid-December 1942, the Germans made a desperate attempt to rescue Paulus's army from encirclement. According to Hitler's plan, Paulus should never have left Stalingrad. He was forbidden to strike towards Manstein. The Fuhrer believed that since the Germans had entered the banks of the Volga, they should not leave there. The Soviet command now had two options at its disposal: either continue the attempt to envelop the entire German group in the North Caucasus with a huge pincer (Operation Saturn), or transfer part of its forces against Manstein and eliminate the threat of a German breakthrough (Operation Little Saturn). We must give credit to the Soviet Headquarters - it assessed the situation and its capabilities quite soberly. It was decided to be content with a bird in hand, and not look for a pie in the sky. A devastating blow to Manstein’s advancing units was delivered just in time. At this time, Paulus’s army and Manstein’s group were separated by only a few tens of kilometers. But the Germans were driven back, and the time had come to liquidate the pocket.

On January 8, 1943, the Soviet command offered Paulus an ultimatum, which was rejected. And just two days later, Operation Ring began. The efforts made by the armies of the Don Front of K.K. Rokossovsky led to the fact that the encirclement began to quickly shrink. Historians today express the opinion that not everything was done perfectly then: it was necessary to attack from the north and south in order to first cut the ring in these directions. But the main blow came from west to east, and we had to overcome long-term fortifications of the German defense, which were based, among other things, on positions built by Soviet troops on the eve of the Battle of Stalingrad. The fighting was fierce and lasted for several weeks. The air bridge to the surrounded people failed. Hundreds of German planes were shot down. The diet of German military personnel dropped to a meager level. All the horses were eaten. There have been cases of cannibalism. Soon the Germans lost their last airfields.

Paulus was at that time in the basement of the city's main department store and, despite requests to Hitler for surrender, never received such permission. Moreover, on the eve of complete collapse, Hitler awarded Paulus the rank of field marshal. This was a clear hint: not a single German field marshal had ever surrendered. But on January 31, Paulus chose to surrender and save his life. On February 2, the last northern German group in Stalingrad also stopped resisting.

91 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers and officers were captured. In the city blocks of Stalingrad themselves, 140 thousand corpses of German military personnel were subsequently buried. On our side, the losses were also great - 150 thousand people. But the entire southern flank of the German troops was now exposed. The Nazis began to hastily leave the territory of the North Caucasus, Stavropol, and Kuban. Only a new counter strike from Manstein in the Belgorod area stopped the advance of our units. At the same time, the so-called Kursk ledge was formed, events on which would take place in the summer of 1943.

US President Roosevelt called the Battle of Stalingrad an epic victory. And King George VI of Great Britain ordered a special sword forged for the residents of Stalingrad with the engraving: “To the citizens of Stalingrad, strong as steel.” Stalingrad became the password of Victory. It was truly a turning point in the war. The Germans were shocked; three days of mourning were declared in Germany. The victory at Stalingrad also became a signal for countries allies of Germany, such as Hungary, Romania, Finland, that it was necessary to look for the fastest way out of the war.

After this battle, Germany's defeat was only a matter of time.