Why was The Battle of Stalingrad so Deadly?

**Sanitized Transcript:**

The Battle of Stalingrad is arguably one of the most merciless and destructive battles in history, resulting in nearly two million total casualties between August 23, 1942, and February 2, 1943. The German siege resulted in a decisive victory for the Soviets, although at the cost of over a million Russian casualties. The numbers from the Battle of Stalingrad seemed extraordinarily high on both sides. So, why was the Battle of Stalingrad so deadly?

Stalingrad, now known as Volgograd, was a large industrial city that spanned along the Volga River and became an important target for the Germans. Capturing such a significant industrial city would have damaging effects on the Soviet Union as a whole, and seizing a city named after the Soviet head of state would serve as a great benefit for German propaganda and psychological warfare. By this point, the Germans had already captured a large portion of today’s Ukraine and Belarus but had failed in a prior attempt to gain a foothold in Moscow during the winter of 1941-1942.

Despite the triumph for the Soviets at Moscow, their Red Army had been worn down, losing a notable number of men and weaponry. With apparent confidence that the damaged Soviet troops would be unable to stop another advance, the German Chancellor called for Operation Blue. The operation was to be carried out by the German Army Group South under the command of Field Marshal Fedor von Bock. However, as the offensive began on July 9, 1942, Germany decided to adjust their plan. Instead of capturing Stalingrad before moving on to conquer the rest, the German Führer wanted to aim for both goals simultaneously.

Army Group South was divided into Army Group A and Army Group B, with the first led by Field Marshal Wilhelm List and the latter under the command of Fedor von Bock, who was shortly replaced by Field Marshal Maximilian von Weichs. As Army Group A captured Rostov and continued on their path, the Fourth Panzer Army, led by Hermann Hoth, was reassigned to assist Army Group A. Meanwhile, Joseph Stalin made his first major move in response to the growing threat. In an extreme reaction to the inevitable clash with Germany, the Soviet leader issued Order Number 227, often referred to as the “Not One Step Back” order. This order declared that no Russian fighter should retreat or back down for any reason unless given an explicit order, and those who disobeyed would be deemed traitors and executed on the spot.

Additionally, Stalin refused to evacuate the citizens of Stalingrad, claiming that his troops would fight harder knowing they had civilian lives to protect. The troops consisted of the 21st, 62nd, 63rd, and 64th Armies, alongside the Eighth Air Army, all commanded by Semyon Timoshenko. The Stalingrad front responded quickly to the German advancement as Hermann Hoth and his men approached from the southwest, while the German Sixth Army, led by Frederick Paulus, joined from the west.

Initially, the Soviets were able to hold off the incursion fairly well, although they began to lose territory slowly. When the Battle of Stalingrad officially commenced, Germany’s Sixth Army had pushed the Soviet 62nd and 64th Armies to the outskirts of the city. The German Luftwaffe dropped repeated bombs on Stalingrad, laying waste to most of its wooden buildings and structures. Over the first 48 hours, many civilians were killed, yet some continued to work in factories that had not been demolished, such as the Stalingrad Tractor Factory, which produced Soviet T-34 tanks.

As the struggle continued, other civilians who survived the initial days were forced to build trenches and fortifications for the Soviet troops. By this point, all Russian forces were diverted to the bank of the Volga River as the Germans seemed to take an early upper hand, eventually pushing Soviet troops back to a small portion of land along the river. The German airstrikes made this position difficult, as ships coming through the Volga were the Soviets’ only supply route, and their own air forces were no match for Wolfram von Richthofen’s air fleet.

Despite continuous aerial reinforcements on the Russian side, the Luftwaffe held undeniable control of the airspace over the city. The Soviets’ 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment was under immense pressure to fend off increasing German air attacks while the German 16th Panzer Division advanced from the ground. Despite having no training to deal with ground assaults, the 1077th fighters engaged the Panzers shot for shot until the latter was finally able to disable or destroy all 37 of the Soviet anti-aircraft guns. The Germans were shocked to discover they had been fighting an entire regiment of women the entire time.

Meanwhile, civilian militia groups made up of men and women who were not working in factories were sent out, poorly equipped to join the defensive fight. Small units on both sides engaged in close combat throughout Stalingrad, fighting over blocks and buildings. In September, the Soviets attempted to launch multiple offensives against the Germans but were beaten down, particularly by the Luftwaffe. Nonetheless, the German troops repeatedly failed to take key crossing points along the Volga and were only able to hold the south of Stalingrad.

By November 8, the German Luftwaffe had been spread thin as important units had to be diverted to face the Allies in North Africa. Additionally, by mid-November, the Russians launched a new counter-offensive, code-named Operation Uranus, planned by Generals Georgy Zhukov, Alexander Vasilevsky, and Nikolai Voronov. Beginning on November 19, the attack was organized in two spearheads, both north and south of the German forces, taking the latter completely by surprise.

Strategically, the Soviets opted not to strike against Germany’s Sixth Army and Fourth Panzer Army but instead aimed for the weaker flanks, which were less protected, under-supplied, and made up of demoralized Hungarian, Romanian, and Italian troops. The Germans’ weaker flanks proved easy to penetrate for the Soviets, and both spearheads reunited on November 23, completely encircling Germany’s armies in Stalingrad. A plea was made to the German Chancellor to allow a retreat to reunite with the forces outside the city, but the armies stuck in Stalingrad were simply told to stand and fight.

As winter arrived, supplies, including food, dwindled for the trapped German troops. The Luftwaffe was supposed to supply the ground forces but failed to deliver enough. Finally, as December progressed, Germany’s Chancellor ordered the formation of a special army corps to rescue their fellow fighters from Stalingrad. In a disastrous move, the Chancellor again refused to let the trapped forces attempt to break through the encirclement. Manstein and his army were unable to advance through the Soviet line, which launched Operation Saturn to tighten their grasp around the enclosed Germans.

Germany’s Chancellor again told his men to keep fighting to the death if necessary. Nonetheless, following the Soviet launch of Operation Ring on January 10, 1943, German Field Marshal Frederick Paulus, reminded that no field marshal had ever surrendered, reached his limit on January 31. Paulus, accompanied by 22 of his generals, surrendered. Two days later, the remaining 91,000 troops of the German Sixth and Fourth Panzer Armies surrendered to the Soviet Union. Of the 91,000 men who surrendered, only a few thousand would ever return home, while the rest died in Soviet prisons or labor camps.

Two hundred and fifty thousand German and Romanian bodies were recovered by the Russians after the battle ended, and the total number of casualties among the German, Hungarian, Romanian, and Italian troops from Stalingrad is believed to exceed 900,000. Approximately 40,000 civilians are believed to have perished as well, a predictable outcome in response to Stalin’s refusal to evacuate his citizens before combat began and others being forced to fight.

The answer to why there were so many casualties in the Battle of Stalingrad is likely a combination of factors. Civilian involvement in the conflict played a role, as did Stalin’s “Not One Step Back” order, which prevented any retreats and mandated instant execution for any soldier who attempted to back down. Additionally, civilians and troops within the city were weakened by a lack of necessary food and supplies, which had been cut off during and even before the battle began. Many Soviet soldiers sent as reinforcements drowned while attempting to cross the Volga River, and others were poorly equipped. The life expectancy of a Russian soldier in Stalingrad during the battle was around 24 hours.

The mass deployment of troops for this battle and the psychological and economic importance of the city made the battle more deadly, as the Germans focused on clearing the city rather than protecting their flanks. Meanwhile, Soviet soldiers were not allowed to retreat and many were forced to fight unprepared. Essentially, the Battle of Stalingrad was a deadly struggle for both sides, but it appears that the politics and policies of Stalin’s Soviet Union, along with the general tide of the battle, resulted in an even more devastating toll for the Russian side, despite their eventual triumph.

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