Russia

1. Hitler attacks Stalingrad
“I saw then that Hitler had lost touch with reality. He lived
in a fantasy world of maps and flags.”

2. Hitler Strikes EastHitler Strikes East
The Battle of StalingradThe Battle of Stalingrad

3.  Operation Barbarossa:
Blitzkrieg invasion of the
Soviet Union
 Barbarossa June 1941
Violation of the Hitler-
Stalin non-aggression pact
 Battle of Stalingrad:
September 1942 – Feb 1943

4. Overview
 Turning point in European war :
– Germany loses battle and entire 6th
Army.
 Hitler unreasonably wanted troops to hold
Stalingrad and dismissed commanders at
will, so few dared to tell him the truth
about conditions and losses.
 Germans too far from supply lines, end up
surrounded by enemy and starved and
froze to death.

5.  Germans advanced quickly at first, but
were unprepared for the Russian winter
and did not have proper winter gear.
 Soviets:
– Fought with penal units
– Had little to ammo
– no radio contact
 Soviets killed 13,000 of their own troops
for deserting and running away.
 However, Germany underestimated the
Soviet will to fight

7.  290,000 Germans trapped behind enemy
lines.
 Urban fighting (far from WW1 trench
warfare)
 Snipers well supplied with ammunition
 No fuel meant no water
 German troops began to starve to death
 Dead bodies not buried
Battle of StalingradBattle of Stalingrad

8. Casualties
German’s 91,000 POWs
 Soviets suffered 1.1 million
casualties including civilians
–485,751 were deaths
Battle of StalingradBattle of Stalingrad