Stalingrad The Cauldron of Doom 13 September 1942 2 February 1943 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Stalingrad – The Cauldron of Doom 13 September 1942 – 2 February 1943 Russia’s and Germany’s “Verdun” of World War II 1

Germany’s Furthest Advance into Russia in WWII 2

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German Army Front • Spring / Summer Offensives • Advances S.E. in Effort to Seize Key Oil Producing Regions of the Caucasus Mountains. German 6 th Army • General von Paulus • 300,000 Germans Soldiers • Lacking Significant Armor • Germany will be at the Greatest Extent of their Supply Line • Advance on Stalingrad 4

City of Stalingrad  “Modern” Factor City  Showpiece of Russian Industry  Volga River  Pre-War Population of 850,000 5

Heaviest fighting in the city will take place at the Tractor Factory . 6

Three Dominant Factories  Dzerzhinsky Tractor Factory  Barrikady Ordnance Factory  Red October Steel Plant Red October Plant 7

The Fighting Becomes Static – Does Not Change 8

Intensity and Savagery of the Fighting  Fighting is House to House  In the Sewers  In the Factories  Becomes a Battle of Attrition • Hitler Wants to Capture the City = Stalin’s name • Stalin wants to Save City = His name!  Nikita Khrushchev Serves as a Political Commissar at Stalingrad!  Becomes a Battle of Supply  Russians Reinforcing across the Volga River  Germans Bring in by Air – Importance of Airfields! 9

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Soviets Launch Operation “Uranus” Germans Surrounded!! 11

Becomes a Battle of Logistics  Encirclement Cuts Off Germans  Creates the Kessel (“Cauldron”)  Soviet Supply Line Improves  Moves Across the Volga  Men / Material / Food  German Supply Line Shrinks  Depends on Airfields  Requires 800 Tons Supplies Daily  Luftwaffe only delivers 120 Tons Daily  German Soldiers Begin to die of Malnutrition – Starvation! 12

The End! 13

2 February 1943 – The End Approximately 300,000 Germans Entered  160,000+ Dead (Axis = 500,000+)  130,000 Captured (91,000 at end)  1955 – Only 6,000 Returned to Germany  22 Generals including von Paulus  Most catastrophic defeat in German history! Campaign Cost Axis (Romania, Italy, Spain, Hungary) between 500,000 – 850,000 casualties. 14

Stalingrad Becomes for “The Russia a Symbol of Motherland Sacrifice Calls” 279’ Tall / Weight = 7,900 Tons of Concrete 15

Russia’s Price for Victory at Stalingrad 1.1 Million Casualties • 485,751 Dead  Pre-War Stalingrad = 850,000 Residents (workers)  Post-Battle Stalingrad = 9,800 Civilians left in city Start 14 September 1942 – End 2 February 1943  141 Days of Continuous Combat German War Dead  3,445 Russians Died Each Day! 40,000 in Mass Grave!  14,500 Russian Soldiers (= one division) Executed by Russian Military Police for Cowardice or Desertion! 16

Russia’s Price for Victory at Stalingrad (‘Cont) From 19 November 1942 (Start of Uranus) through 2 February 1943 • 154,885 Dead • 330,892 Wounded Barmaley Fountain 6 Children & a Crocodile Enters Russian The Hero of Stalingrad History as their Soviet General Vasily Chuikov Greatest Victory! • Gains Fame as the Defender of Stalingrad 17