Stalingrad battle. Battle of Stalingrad

Battle of Stalingrad one of the largest in the Great Patriotic war 1941-1945. It began on July 17, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943. By 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 (since 1961 - Volgograd), and offensive, which began on November 19, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943 of the year by the defeat of the grouping of Nazi 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. Participated in it on both sides different stages fighting more than 2.1 million people. In terms of goals, scope and intensity of hostilities, the Battle of Stalingrad surpassed all the battles of world history that preceded it.

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 area (operational-tactical formation of Soviet air defense forces) took part. The general leadership and coordination of the actions of the fronts near Stalingrad on behalf of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (VGK) was carried out by Deputy Supreme Commander General of the Army Georgy Zhukov and Chief of the General Staff Colonel General Alexander Vasilevsky.

The fascist German command planned in the summer of 1942 to crush the Soviet troops in the south of the country, to seize the oil regions of the Caucasus, the rich agricultural regions of the Don and Kuban, to disrupt communications linking the center of the country with the Caucasus, and to create conditions for ending the war in their 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 Panzer Army were allocated from the German Army Group B. By July 17, the German 6th Army had about 270,000 men, 3,000 guns and mortars, and about 500 tanks. It was supported by aviation of the 4th Air Fleet (up to 1200 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 Army, 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 took up defense in order to prevent the enemy from forcing the river and breaking through it by the shortest route to Stalingrad.

The defensive operation began on the distant approaches to the city at the turn of the Chir and Tsimla rivers. On July 22, having suffered heavy losses, the Soviet troops withdrew to the main line of defense of Stalingrad. Having regrouped, on July 23 the enemy troops resumed their offensive. The enemy tried to surround the Soviet troops in the big bend of the Don, go to 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, withdrew to the left bank of the Don and took up defensive positions on the outer bypass of Stalingrad, where on August 17 they temporarily stopped the enemy.

The headquarters of the Supreme High Command systematically strengthened the troops of the Stalingrad direction. By the beginning of August, the German command also brought 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 on the entire front of the outer defensive bypass of Stalingrad. After fierce battles on August 23, his troops broke through to the Volga north of the city, but they could not master it on the move. On August 23 and 24, German aviation undertook a fierce massive bombardment of Stalingrad, turning it into ruins.

Building up strength, German troops on September 12 came close to the city. Fierce street battles unfolded, which lasted almost around the clock. They went for every quarter, lane, 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 break through to the Volga south of the Barrikady plant, but they could not achieve more. With continuous counterattacks and counterattacks, the Soviet troops minimized the successes of the enemy, destroying his manpower and equipment. On November 18, the advance of the German troops was finally stopped on the entire front, 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 for a counteroffensive, preparations for which were completed in mid-November. Back to top offensive operation Soviet troops had 1.11 million people, 15 thousand guns and mortars, about 1.5 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, 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 Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts in people - 2-2.5 times, artillery and tanks - 4-5 and 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 defense of the 3rd Romanian army was broken through in two sectors. The Stalingrad Front launched an offensive on November 20.

Having struck at the flanks of the main enemy grouping, the troops of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts on November 23, 1942 closed the ring of its encirclement. 22 divisions and more than 160 separate units of the 6th Army and partly the 4th tank army adversary, total strength about 300 thousand people.

On December 12, the German command made an attempt to release the encircled troops with a blow from the area of the village of Kotelnikovo (now the city of Kotelnikovo), but did not reach the goal. On December 16, the offensive of the Soviet troops on the Middle Don was launched, 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 driven back 150-200 kilometers. This created favorable conditions for the liquidation of the group surrounded by Stalingrad.

To defeat the encircled troops, the Don Front under the command of Lieutenant General Konstantin Rokossovsky carried out an operation code-named "Ring". The plan provided for the sequential destruction of the enemy: first in the western, then in the southern part of the encirclement, and subsequently, the dismemberment of the remaining grouping into two parts by a strike from west to east and the elimination 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 area of Mamaev Kurgan. The enemy group was divided into two parts. On January 31, the southern grouping of troops led by Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus stopped resistance, and on February 2, the northern one, 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 taken prisoner, about 140 thousand were destroyed.

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

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 the confidence in Germany on the part of its allies, and contributed to the intensification of the resistance movement in European countries. Japan and Turkey were forced to abandon plans for active action against the USSR.

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

In honor of heroic defense On December 22, 1942, the Soviet government established the medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad", 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. May 8, 1965 in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the victory 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.

Day February 2, 1943 in accordance with federal law dated March 13, 1995 "About the days military glory and anniversaries Russia" is celebrated as the day of military glory of Russia - the Day of the defeat of the Nazi troops by the Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Material prepared on the basis of informationopen sources

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Having concentrated significant forces in the southern direction by mid-November, the Soviet command began to carry out Operation Saturn to encircle and defeat the German (6th and 4th tank armies) and Romanian (3rd and 4th armies) troops near Stalingrad . On November 19, units of the South-Western Front broke through the defenses of the 3rd Romanian Army and on November 21 took five Romanian divisions from Raspopinskaya. On November 20, the troops of the Stalingrad Front punched a hole in the defense of the 4th Romanian Army south of the city. On November 23, units of the two fronts joined at the Soviet and surrounded the Stalingrad grouping of the enemy (6th Army of F. Paulus; 330 thousand people). To save her, the Wehrmacht command at the end of November created the Don Army Group (E. Manstein); On December 12, she launched an offensive from the Kotelnikovsky area, but on December 23 she was stopped on the Myshkova River. On December 16, the troops of the Voronezh and South-Western Fronts launched Operation Little Saturn on the Middle Don, defeated the 8th Italian Army, and by December 30 reached the Nikolskoye-Ilyinka line; the Germans had to abandon plans to deblockade the 6th Army. Their attempt to organize its supply by air was thwarted by the active actions of Soviet aviation. On January 10, the Don Front launched Operation Ring to destroy the German troops surrounded in Stalingrad. On January 26, the 6th Army was cut into two parts. On January 31, the southern grouping led by F. Paulus capitulated. The defeat is almost complete, there was still a doomed northern group (surrendered on February 2); 91 thousand people were captured.

The Battle of Stalingrad, despite the heavy losses of the Soviet troops (about 1.1 million; the losses of the Germans and their allies amounted to 800 thousand), was the beginning of a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. The Red Army for the first time carried out a successful offensive operation on several fronts to encircle and defeat an enemy grouping. The Wehrmacht suffered a major defeat and lost the strategic initiative. Japan and Turkey abandoned their intention to enter the war on the side of Germany.

The central square of Stalingrad on the day of the surrender of German troops in the Battle of Stalingrad. Soviet T-34 tanks are leaving the square.

Tankers of the 24th Soviet tank corps (from December 26, 1942 - the 2nd guards) on the armor of the T-34 tank during the liquidation of the group of German troops surrounded near Stalingrad.

Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus (left), commander of the Wehrmacht 6th Army encircled in Stalingrad, his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Arthur Schmidt and his adjutant Wilhelm Adam after surrendering. Stalingrad, Beketovka, headquarters of the Soviet 64th Army.

The captured General Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus (Friedrich Paulus, right), commander of the 6th Wehrmacht Army surrounded in Stalingrad, and his adjutant Wilhelm Adam are being escorted to the headquarters of the Soviet 64th Army.

Captured German officers of the 6th Wehrmacht Army in Stalingrad. First four, from left to right: Major General Otto Korfes, commander of the 295th Infantry Division; Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard Dissel, Chief of Staff, 295th Infantry Division; General of Artillery Max Pfeffer, commander of the 4th Army Corps; Artillery General Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach, commander of the 51st Army Corps.

Captured Germans on the streets of Stalingrad.

German prisoners captured near Stalingrad share bread.

Soldiers and commanders of the 38th motorized rifle brigade M.S. Shumilov, who captured the headquarters of the 6th German army surrounded in Stalingrad. Third from the right is the brigade commander Colonel I.D. Burmakov.

Red flag over the Square of the Fallen Fighters of the liberated Stalingrad. In the background is the building of the department store, where the headquarters of the encircled 6th Wehrmacht Army, led by Army Commander Field Marshal Paulus, was captured. On the square are German trucks captured by Soviet troops.

Stalingrad after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. The skeleton of a downed German He-111 bomber from the KG.55 "Greif" bomber group (griffin on the emblem).

On the street of the liberated Stalingrad. Winter 1943.

Captured German aircraft near Stalingrad and ... a samovar. The large plane is a DFS 230 transport glider, to the left is a Junkers Yu-87 dive bomber. Photo from Yu.G. Shafer, who was a political worker in the 16th Air Army.

Soviet aircraft technicians remove machine guns from a German fighter Messerschmitt Bf.109. The photo was taken in the Stalingrad area after the end of the battle on the Volga. Taken from Yu.G. Shafer, who during the war was a political worker of the 16th Air Army, then the 8th Guards Army.

Captured Germans from the 11th Infantry Corps of Colonel General Karl Strecker, who surrendered on February 2, 1943. District of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant.

Few people in our country and in the world will be able to challenge the significance of the victory at Stalingrad. The events that took place between July 17, 1942 and February 2, 1943 gave hope to the peoples who were still under occupation. Next, 10 facts from the history of the Battle of Stalingrad will be given, designed to reflect the severity of the conditions in which they fought. fighting, and, perhaps, tell something new that makes you take a different look at this event from the history of World War II

1. To say that the battle for Stalingrad took place in difficult conditions It's like saying nothing. Soviet troops in this sector, there was an urgent need for anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft artillery, and there was also not enough ammunition - in some formations they simply did not exist. The soldiers got what they needed as best they could, mostly taking it from their dead comrades. There were enough dead Soviet soldiers, since most of the divisions thrown to hold the city, named after the main man in the USSR, consisted either of unfired newcomers who arrived from the Stavka reserve, or of soldiers exhausted in previous battles. This situation was exacerbated by open steppe area in which the fighting took place. This factor allowed the enemies to regularly inflict heavy damage on Soviet troops in equipment and people. Young officers, who just yesterday left the walls of military schools, went into battle like ordinary soldiers and died one after another.

2. At the mention of the Battle of Stalingrad, images of street fighting, which are so often shown in documentaries and feature films, pop up in the minds of many. However, few people remember that although the Germans approached the city on August 23, they began the assault only on September 14, and far from the best Paulus divisions participated in the assault. If we develop this idea further, we can come to the conclusion that if the defense of Stalingrad had been concentrated only in the city, it would have fallen, and fallen quite quickly. So what saved the city and held back the enemy onslaught? The answer is continuous counterattacks. Only after repulsing the counterattack of the 1st Guards Army On September 3, the Germans were able to begin preparations for the assault. All offensives by Soviet troops were carried out from the northern direction and did not stop even after the start of the assault. So, on September 18, the Red Army, having received reinforcements, was able to launch another counterattack, because of which the enemy even had to transfer part of the forces from Stalingrad. The next blow was inflicted by the Soviet troops on September 24th. Such countermeasures did not allow the Wehrmacht to concentrate all its forces to attack the city and constantly kept the soldiers on their toes.

If you are wondering why this is so rarely mentioned, then everything is simple. The main task of all these counter-offensives was to reach the connection with the defenders of the city, and it was not possible to fulfill it, while colossal losses were incurred. This can be clearly seen in the fate of the 241st and 167th tank brigades. They had 48 and 50 tanks, respectively, which they pinned hopes on as the main striking force in the counteroffensive of the 24th Army. On the morning of September 30, during the offensive, the Soviet forces were covered by enemy fire, as a result of which the infantry fell behind the tanks, and both tank brigades hid behind a hill, and a few hours later, radio communications with the vehicles that broke deep into the enemy defenses were lost. By the end of the day, out of 98 vehicles, only four remained in service. Later, two more damaged tanks from these brigades were able to be evacuated from the battlefield. The reasons for this failure, like all the previous ones, were the well-built defense of the Germans and poor preparation Soviet troops, for whom Stalingrad became a place of baptism of fire. The chief of staff of the Don Front, Major General Malinin himself, said that if he had at least one well-trained infantry regiment, he would march all the way to Stalingrad, and that it’s not the enemy’s artillery that does its job well and presses the soldiers to the ground, but in the fact that at this time they do not rise to the attack. It is for these reasons that most writers and historians post-war period were silent about such counterattacks. They did not want to darken the picture of the triumph of the Soviet people, or they were simply afraid that such facts would become an occasion for excessive attention to their person by the regime.

3. The soldiers of the Axis who survived the Battle of Stalingrad, later usually noted that it was a real bloody absurdity. They, being by that time already hardened soldiers in many battles, in Stalingrad felt like rookies who did not know what to do. The Wehrmacht command seems to have been subjected to the same sentiments, since during urban battles it sometimes gave orders to storm very insignificant areas, where sometimes up to several thousand soldiers died. Also, the fate of the Nazis locked in the Stalingrad cauldron was not facilitated by the air supply of troops organized by order of Hitler, since such aircraft were often shot down by Soviet forces, and the cargo that nevertheless reached the addressee sometimes did not satisfy the needs of the soldiers at all. So, for example, the Germans, who were in dire need of provisions and ammunition, received a parcel from the sky, consisting entirely of women's mink coats.

Tired and exhausted, the soldiers at that time could only rely on God, especially since the Octave of Christmas was approaching - one of the main Catholic holidays, which is celebrated from December 25 to January 1. There is a version that it was precisely because of the upcoming holiday that Paulus' army did not leave the encirclement of Soviet troops. Based on the analysis of the letters of the Germans and their allies home, they prepared provisions and gifts for friends and waited for these days as a miracle. There is even evidence that the German command turned to the Soviet generals with a request for a ceasefire on Christmas night. However, the USSR had its own plans, so on Christmas the artillery worked at full strength and made the night of December 24-25 the last in their lives for many German soldiers.

4. On August 30, 1942, a Messerschmitt was shot down over Sarepta. Its pilot, Count Heinrich von Einsiedel, managed to land the plane with the landing gear retracted and was taken prisoner. He was a famous Luftwaffe ace from the squadron JG 3 "Udet" and "concurrently" the great-grandson of the "Iron Chancellor" Otto von Bismarck. Such news, of course, immediately hit the propaganda leaflets, designed to raise the spirit of the Soviet fighters. Einsiedel himself was sent to an officer camp near Moscow, where he soon met with Paulus. Since Heinrich was never an ardent supporter of Hitler's theory of a superior race and purity of blood, he went to war with the belief that the Great Reich was waging war on the Eastern Front not with the Russian nation, but with Bolshevism. However, the captivity forced him to reconsider his views, and in 1944 he became a member of the anti-fascist committee "Free Germany", and then a member of the editorial board of the newspaper of the same name. Bismarck was not the only historical image that the Soviet propaganda machine exploited to boost the morale of soldiers. So, for example, propagandists started a rumor that in the 51st Army there was a detachment of machine gunners commanded by Senior Lieutenant Alexander Nevsky - not just the full namesake of the prince who defeated the Germans under Lake Peipsi, but also its direct descendant. He was allegedly presented to the Order of the Red Banner, but such a person does not appear on the lists of holders of the order.

5. During the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet commanders successfully used psychological pressure on the sore points of enemy soldiers. So, in rare moments, when hostilities subsided in certain areas, propagandists through speakers installed near enemy positions transmitted songs native to the Germans, which were interrupted by reports of breakthroughs by Soviet troops in one or another sector of the front. But the most cruel and therefore the most effective was considered a method called "Timer and Tango" or "Timer Tango". During this attack on the psyche, the Soviet troops transmitted through the loudspeakers the steady beat of a metronome, which, after the seventh stroke, was interrupted by a message in German: "Every seven seconds, one German soldier dies at the front." Then the metronome again counted seven seconds, and the message was repeated. This could go on 10 – 20 times, and then a tango melody sounded over the enemy positions. Therefore, it is not surprising that many of those who were locked in the “boiler”, after several such impacts, fell into hysterics and tried to escape, dooming themselves, and sometimes their colleagues, to certain death.

6. After completion Soviet operation The "Ring" in captivity of the Red Army turned out to be 130 thousand enemy soldiers, but only about 5000 returned home after the war. Most of them died in the first year of their captivity from illness and hypothermia, which the prisoners had developed even before they were captured. But there was another reason: total number only 110 thousand prisoners turned out to be Germans, all the rest were from among the “Khivi”. They voluntarily went over to the side of the enemy and, according to the calculations of the Wehrmacht, had to faithfully serve Germany in its liberation struggle with Bolshevism. So, for example, one sixth of the total number of soldiers of the 6th army of Paulus (about 52 thousand people) consisted of such volunteers.

After being captured by the Red Army, such people were already considered not as prisoners of war, but as traitors to the motherland, which, according to the law of wartime, is punishable by death. However, there were cases when captured Germans became a kind of "Khivi" for the Red Army. A vivid example of this is the case that occurred in the platoon of Lieutenant Druz. Several of his fighters, who were sent in search of the "language", returned to the trenches with an exhausted and mortally frightened German. It soon became clear that he did not have any valuable information about the actions of the enemy, so he should have been sent to the rear, but due to heavy shelling, this promised losses. Most often, such prisoners were simply disposed of, but luck smiled at this. The fact is that the prisoner worked as a teacher before the war German language, therefore, on the personal order of the battalion commander, they saved his life and even put him on allowance, in exchange for the fact that the Fritz would train German intelligence officers from the battalion. True, according to Nikolai Viktorovich Druz himself, a month later the German was blown up by a German mine, but during this time he more or less taught the soldiers the language of the enemy at an accelerated pace.

7. On February 2, 1943, the last German soldiers laid down their arms in Stalingrad. Field Marshal Paulus himself surrendered even earlier, on January 31. Officially, the place of surrender of the commander of the 6th Army is his headquarters in the basement of a building that was once a department store. However, some researchers do not agree with this and believe that the documents indicate a different place. According to them, the headquarters of the German field marshal was located in the building of the Stalingrad executive committee. But such a "defilement" of the building of Soviet power, apparently, did not suit ruling regime, and the story has been slightly tweaked. True or not, perhaps it will never be established, but the theory itself has the right to life, because absolutely everything could happen.

8. On May 2, 1943, thanks to the joint initiative of the leadership of the NKVD and the city authorities, a football match took place at the Stalingrad Azot stadium, which became known as the “match on the ruins of Stalingrad”. The Dynamo team, which was assembled from local players, met on the field with the leading team of the USSR - Spartak Moscow. The friendly match ended with the score 1:0 in favor of Dynamo. Until today, it is not known whether the result was rigged, or whether the defenders of the city, hardened in battle, were simply used to fighting and winning. Be that as it may, the organizers of the match managed to do the most important thing - to unite the inhabitants of the city and give them hope that all the attributes of peaceful life are returning to Stalingrad.

9. On November 29, 1943, Winston Churchill, at a ceremony in honor of the opening of the Tehran Conference, solemnly presented Joseph Stalin with a sword forged by special decree of King George VI of Great Britain. This blade was given as a token of British admiration for the courage shown by the defenders of Stalingrad. Along the entire blade was an inscription in Russian and English: “To the inhabitants of Stalingrad, whose hearts are strong as steel. A gift from King George VI as a token of the great admiration of the entire British people."

The decoration of the sword was made of gold, silver, leather and crystal. It is rightfully considered a masterpiece of modern blacksmithing. Today, any visitor to the Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad in Volgograd can see it. In addition to the original, three copies were also released. One is in the London Sword Museum, the other is in the National Museum. military history in South Africa, and the third is part of the collection of the head of the diplomatic mission of the United States of America in London.

10. An interesting fact is that after the end of the battle, Stalingrad could completely cease to exist. The fact is that in February 1943, almost immediately after the surrender of the Germans, the Soviet government faced an acute question: is it worth restoring the city, after all, after fierce fighting, Stalingrad lay in ruins? It was cheaper to build new town. Nevertheless, Joseph Stalin insisted on restoration, and the city was resurrected from the ashes. However, the residents themselves say that after that long time some streets exuded a putrid smell, and Mamayev Kurgan, because of a large number bombs dropped on it for more than two years has not been overgrown with grass.

Battle of Stalingrad - 20th century Cannes

There are events in Russian history that burn with gold on the tablets of its military glory. And one of them - (July 17, 1942–February 2, 1943), which became Cannes of the 20th century.
The gigantic scale battle of the Second World War unfolded in the second half of 1942 on the banks of the Volga. At certain stages, more than 2 million people, about 30 thousand guns, more than 2 thousand aircraft and the same number of tanks took part in it from both sides.
During Battle of Stalingrad The Wehrmacht lost a quarter of its forces concentrated on the Eastern Front. His losses in killed, missing and wounded amounted to about one and a half million soldiers and officers.

Battle of Stalingrad on the map

Stages of the Battle of Stalingrad, its prerequisites

By the nature of the fighting Battle of Stalingrad briefly divided into two periods. These are defensive operations (July 17 - November 18, 1942) and offensive operations (November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943).
After the failure of the Barbarossa plan and the defeat near Moscow, the Nazis were preparing for a new offensive on the Eastern Front. On April 5, Hitler issued a directive that spelled out the goal of the 1942 summer campaign. This is the mastery of the oil-bearing regions of the Caucasus and access to the Volga in the region of Stalingrad. On June 28, the Wehrmacht launched a decisive offensive, taking the Donbass, Rostov, Voronezh ...
Stalingrad was a major communications hub connecting the central regions of the country with the Caucasus and Central Asia. And the Volga is an important transport artery for the delivery of Caucasian oil. The capture of Stalingrad could have catastrophic consequences for the USSR. The 6th Army under the command of General F. Paulus was actively operating in this direction.

Photos of the Battle of Stalingrad

Battle of Stalingrad - fighting on the outskirts

To protect the city, the Soviet command formed the Stalingrad Front, headed by Marshal S. K. Timoshenko. began on July 17, when units of the 62nd Army entered the battle with the vanguard of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht in the bend of the Don. Defensive battles on the outskirts of Stalingrad lasted 57 days and nights. On July 28, People's Commissar of Defense I.V. Stalin issued Order No. 227, better known as "Not a step back!"
By the beginning of the decisive offensive, the German command significantly strengthened Paulus's 6th Army. The superiority in tanks was twofold, in aircraft - almost fourfold. And at the end of July, the 4th Panzer Army was also transferred here from the Caucasian direction. And, nevertheless, the advance of the Nazis to the Volga could not be called fast. In a month, under the desperate blows of the Soviet troops, they managed to overcome only 60 kilometers. To strengthen the southwestern approaches to Stalingrad, the Southeastern Front was created under the command of General A.I. Eremenko. Meanwhile, the Nazis began active operations in the Caucasian direction. But thanks to the dedication of the Soviet soldiers, the German offensive deep into the Caucasus was stopped.

Photo: Battle of Stalingrad - fighting for every piece of Russian land!

Battle of Stalingrad: every house is a fortress

August 19 became black date of the Battle of Stalingrad- the tank grouping of the Paulus army broke through to the Volga. Moreover, cutting off the 62nd Army defending the city from the north from the main forces of the front. Attempts to destroy the 8-kilometer corridor formed by the enemy troops were unsuccessful. Although Soviet soldiers were examples of amazing heroism. 33 fighters of the 87th Infantry Division, defending the heights in the area of Malye Rossoshki, became an insurmountable stronghold in the path of superior enemy forces. During the day, they desperately repulsed the attacks of 70 tanks and a Nazi battalion, leaving 150 dead soldiers and 27 wrecked vehicles on the battlefield.
On August 23, Stalingrad was subjected to the most severe bombardment by German aircraft. Several hundred aircraft struck industrial and residential areas, turning them into ruins. And the German command continued to build up forces in the Stalingrad direction. By the end of September, Army Group B had more than 80 divisions.
The 66th and 24th armies were sent to help Stalingrad from the reserve of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. On September 13, the assault on the central part of the city began with two powerful groups supported by 350 tanks. A struggle for the city, unparalleled in courage and intensity, began - the most terrible stage of the battle of Stalingrad.
For every building, for every inch of land, the fighters fought to the death, staining them with blood. General Rodimtsev called the battle in the building the most difficult battle. After all, there are no familiar concepts of flanks, rear, an enemy can lurk around every corner. The city was constantly subjected to shelling and bombing, the earth was burning, the Volga was burning. From oil tanks pierced by shells, oil rushed in fiery streams into dugouts and trenches. An example of the selfless valor of the Soviet soldiers was the almost two-month defense of Pavlov's house. Having knocked out the enemy from a four-story building on Penzenskaya Street, a group of scouts led by Sergeant Ya. F. Pavlov turned the house into an impregnable fortress.
The enemy sent another 200,000 trained reinforcements, 90 artillery battalions, 40 engineer battalions to storm the city ... Hitler hysterically demanded to take the Volga "citadel" at any cost.
The battalion commander of the Paulus army, G. Welz, later wrote that he recalls this as horrible dream. “In the morning, five German battalions go on the attack and almost no one returns. The next morning, everything repeats again ... "
The approaches to Stalingrad were indeed littered with the corpses of soldiers and the skeletons of burnt tanks. No wonder the Germans called the path to the city "the road of death."

Stalingrad battle. Photo of killed Germans (far right - killed by a Russian sniper)

Battle of Stalingrad - "Thunderstorm" and "Thunder" against "Uranus"

The Soviet command developed the Uranus plan for defeat of the Nazis at Stalingrad. It consisted in cutting off the enemy's strike force from the main forces with powerful flank strikes and, having surrounded it, destroyed it. Army Group B, led by Field Marshal Bock, included 1011.5 thousand soldiers and officers, more than 10 thousand guns, 1200 aircraft, etc. The structure of the three Soviet fronts that defended the city included 1103 thousand personnel, 15501 guns, 1350 aircraft. That is, the advantage of the Soviet side was insignificant. Therefore, a decisive victory could only be achieved through the art of war.
On November 19, units of the South-Western and Don fronts, and on November 20 and Stalingrad - from two sides brought down tons of fire metal. After breaking through the enemy defenses, the troops began to develop an offensive in the operational depth. The meeting of the Soviet fronts took place on the fifth day of the offensive, November 23, in the Kalach, Sovetsky area.
Unwilling to accept defeat Battle of Stalingrad, the Nazi command made an attempt to unblock the encircled army of Paulus. But the operations "Winter Thunderstorm" and "Thunderbolt" initiated by them in mid-December ended in failure. Now the conditions were created for the complete defeat of the encircled troops.
The operation to eliminate them received code name"Ring". Of the 330 thousand who were surrounded by the Nazis, by January 1943 no more than 250 thousand remained. But the group was not going to capitulate. She was armed with more than 4,000 guns, 300 tanks, 100 aircraft. Paulus later wrote in his memoirs: “On the one hand, there were unconditional orders to hold on, promises of help, references to the general situation. On the other hand, there are internal humane motives - to stop the fight, caused by the plight of the soldiers.
On January 10, 1943, Soviet troops launched Operation Koltso. entered its final phase. Pressed against the Volga and cut into two parts, the enemy grouping was forced to surrender.

Battle of Stalingrad (column of captured Germans)

Stalingrad battle. Captured F. Paulus (he hoped that he would be exchanged, and only at the end of the war did he find out that they offered to exchange him for Stalin's son, Yakov Dzhugashvili). Stalin then said: “I don’t change a soldier for a field marshal!”

Battle of Stalingrad, photo of the captured F. Paulus

victory in Battle of Stalingrad was of great international and military-political importance for the USSR. She marked a turning point in the course of the Second World War. After Stalingrad, the period of expulsion of the German occupiers from the territory of the USSR began. Becoming a triumph of Soviet military art, strengthened the camp of the anti-Hitler coalition and caused discord in the countries of the fascist bloc.
Some Western historians, trying to belittle the significance of the battle of Stalingrad, put it on a par with the battle of Tunisia (1943), near El Alamein (1942), etc. But they were refuted by Hitler himself, who declared on February 1, 1943 in his headquarters: “The possibilities of ending the war in the East by means of an offensive are no longer exist…"

Then, near Stalingrad, our fathers and grandfathers again "gave a light" Photo: captured Germans after the Battle of Stalingrad

Of course, 1 German soldier can kill 10 Soviet ones. But when the 11th comes, what will he do?
Franz Halder

Stalingrad was the main goal of the German summer offensive campaign. However, on the way to the city it was necessary to overcome the Crimean defenses. And here the Soviet command unwittingly, of course, but made life easier for the enemy. In May 1942, a massive Soviet offensive began in the Kharkov region. The problem is that this offensive was unprepared and turned terrible disaster. More than 200 thousand people were killed, 775 tanks and 5000 guns were lost. As a result, the complete strategic advantage in the southern sector of hostilities was in the hands of Germany. The 6th and 4th German tank armies crossed the Don and began to move inland. The Soviet army retreated, not having time to cling to the advantageous lines of defense. Surprisingly, for the second year in a row, the German offensive turned out to be completely unexpected for the Soviet command. The only advantage of the 42nd year was only that now the Soviet units did not allow themselves to be easily surrounded.

Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad

July 17, 1942 troops of the 62nd and 64th Soviet army entered the battle on the Chir River. In the future, it is this battle that historians will call the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. For correct understanding Further events, it should be noted that the successes of the German army in the offensive campaign for 42 years were so amazing that Hitler decided, simultaneously with the offensive in the South, to intensify the offensive in the North, capturing Leningrad. This is not just a historical retreat, because as a result of this decision, the 11th German army under the command of Manstein was transferred from Sevastopol to Leningrad. Manstein himself and also Halder opposed this decision, arguing that the German army might not have enough reserves on the southern front. But this was very important, since Germany was simultaneously solving several problems in the south:

The capture of Stalingrad as a symbol of the fall of the leaders of the Soviet people.
capture southern regions with oil. It was a more important and more mundane task.

July 23 Hitler signs directive number 45, which indicates the main goal of the German offensive: Leningrad, Stalingrad, the Caucasus.

On July 24, Wehrmacht troops captured Rostov-on-Don and Novocherkassk. Now the gates to the Caucasus were completely open, and for the first time there was a threat of losing the entire Soviet South. The 6th German Army continued its movement towards Stalingrad. Panic was noticeable in the Soviet troops. In some sectors of the front, the troops of the 51st, 62nd, 64th armies withdrew and retreated even when enemy reconnaissance groups approached. And these are only those cases that are documented. This forced Stalin to start shuffling the generals in this sector of the front and take up general change structures. Instead of the Bryansk Front, the Voronezh and Bryansk Fronts were formed. Vatutin and Rokossovsky were appointed commanders, respectively. But even these decisions could not stop the panic and retreat of the Red Army. The Germans were advancing towards the Volga. As a result, on July 28, 1942, Stalin issued Order No. 227, which was called "not one step back."

At the end of July, General Jodl announced that the key to the Caucasus was in Stalingrad. This was enough for Hitler to make the most important decision of the entire offensive summer campaign on July 31, 1942. According to this decision, the 4th Panzer Army was transferred to Stalingrad.

Map of the Battle of Stalingrad

Order "Not a step back!"

The peculiarity of the order was to combat alarmism. Anyone who retreated without an order was to be shot on the spot. In fact, it was an element of regression, but this repression justified itself in terms of the fact that it was able to inspire fear and make Soviet soldiers fight even more courageously. The only problem was that Order 227 did not analyze the reasons for the defeat of the Red Army during the summer of 1942, but simply carried out repressions against ordinary soldiers. This order emphasizes the hopelessness of the situation that prevailed at that time. The command itself emphasizes:

Despair. The Soviet command now realized that the failure of the summer of 1942 threatened the existence of the entire USSR. Literally a few jerks and Germany will win.
Contradiction. This order simply shifted all responsibility from the Soviet generals to ordinary officers and soldiers. However, the reasons for the failures of the summer of 1942 lie precisely in the miscalculations of the command, which could not foresee the direction of the enemy's main attack and made significant mistakes.
Cruelty. According to this order, everyone was shot, indiscriminately. Now any retreat of the army was punishable by execution. And no one understood why the soldier slept - they shot everyone.

Today, many historians say that Stalin's order No. 227 became the basis for the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad. In fact, it is impossible to answer this question unambiguously. History, as you know, does not tolerate the subjunctive mood, but it is important to understand that by that time Germany was at war with almost the whole world, and its advance to Stalingrad was extremely difficult, during which the Wehrmacht troops lost about half of their headcount. To this we must add that the Soviet soldier knew how to die, which is repeatedly emphasized in the memoirs of the Wehrmacht generals.

The course of the battle

In August 1942, it became absolutely clear that the main target of the German attack was Stalingrad. The city began to prepare for defense.

In the second half of August, reinforced troops of the 6th German Army under the command of Friedrich Paulus (then still just a general) and troops of the 4th Panzer Army under the command of Hermann Gott moved to Stalingrad. On the part of the Soviet Union, armies took part in the defense of Stalingrad: the 62nd under the command of Anton Lopatin and the 64th army under the command of Mikhail Shumilov. In the south of Stalingrad was the 51st Army of General Kolomiets and the 57th Army of General Tolbukhin.

August 23, 1942 was the most terrible day of the first part of the defense of Stalingrad. On this day, the German Luftwaffe launched a powerful air strike on the city. Historical documents indicate that more than 2,000 sorties were made on this day alone. The next day, the evacuation of the civilian population across the Volga began. It should be noted that as early as August 23, German troops in a number of sectors of the front managed to reach the Volga. It was a narrow strip of land north of Stalingrad, but Hitler was delighted with the success. These successes were achieved by the 14th Panzer Corps of the Wehrmacht.

Despite this, the commander of the 14th Panzer Corps, von Wittersgjen, turned to General Paulus with a report in which he said that it was better for the German troops to leave this city, since it was impossible to succeed with such enemy resistance. So strongly von Wittershyen was struck by the courage of the defenders of Stalingrad. For this, the general was removed from command immediately and was put on trial.

On August 25, 1942, fighting began in the vicinity of Stalingrad. In fact, the Battle of Stalingrad, which we briefly consider today, began on this very day. Fights were fought not only for every house, but literally for every floor. Often there was a situation when "puff pies" were formed: German troops were on one floor of the house, and Soviet troops were on the other floor. Thus began the urban battle, where the German tanks no longer have their decisive advantage.

On September 14, the troops of the 71st Infantry Division of Germany, commanded by General Hartmann, managed to reach the Volga on narrow corridor. If we recall what Hitler said about the reasons for the offensive campaign of 1942, then the main goal was achieved - navigation along the Volga was stopped. However, the Fuhrer, under the influence of successes during the offensive campaign, demanded that the Battle of Stalingrad be completed with the complete defeat of the Soviet troops. As a result, a situation developed when the Soviet troops could not retreat because of Stalin's order 227, and the German troops were forced to advance because Hitler maniacally wanted this.

It became obvious that the Battle of Stalingrad would be the place where one of the army was completely killed. The general balance of power was clearly not in favor of the German side, since the army of General Paulus had 7 divisions, the number of which was declining every day. At the same time, the Soviet command transferred 6 fresh divisions here in full force. By the end of September 1942, in the Stalingrad area, 7 divisions of General Paulus were opposed by about 15 Soviet divisions. And these are only the official army units, which do not take into account the militias, of which there were a lot in the city.

On September 13, 1942, the battle for the center of Stalingrad began. Fights were fought for every street, for every house, for every floor. In the city there were no more not destroyed buildings. To demonstrate the events of those days, it is necessary to mention the summary for September 14:

7 hours 30 minutes. German troops came to the Academic street.
7 hours 40 minutes. The first battalion of the mechanized forces is completely cut off from the main forces.
7 hours 50 minutes. Fierce fighting is going on in the area of Mamaev Kurgan and the station.
8 ocloc'k. The station was taken by German troops.
8 hours 40 minutes. We managed to recapture the station.
9 hours 40 minutes. The station is again captured by the Germans.
10 hours 40 minutes. The enemy is half a kilometer from the command post.
13 hours 20 minutes. The station is ours again.

And this is only half of one typical day in the battles for Stalingrad. It was a city war, for all the horrors that Paulus' troops were not ready for. In total, from September to November, it was reflected in more than 700 attacks by German troops!

On the night of September 15, the 13th Guards Rifle Division, commanded by General Rodimtsev, was transferred to Stalingrad. Only on the first day of the fighting of this division, she lost more than 500 people. The Germans, at that time, managed to significantly advance towards the city center, and also to capture the height of "102" or easier - Mamaev Kurgan. The 62nd Army, which fought the main defensive battles, these days had a command post, which was located at a distance of only 120 meters from the enemy.

During the second half of September 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad continued with the same ferocity. At that time, many German generals were already wondering why they were fighting for this city and for every street in it. At the same time, Halder repeatedly emphasized by this time that the German army was in an extreme degree of overwork. In particular, the general spoke of an inevitable crisis, including due to the weakness of the flanks, where the Italians fought very reluctantly. Halder openly addressed Hitler, saying that the German army did not have the reserves and resources for a simultaneous offensive campaign in Stalingrad and the northern Caucasus. On September 24, Franz Halder was removed from his post as Chief of the General Staff of the German Army. He was replaced by Kurt Zeisler.

During September and October, there was no significant change in the state of affairs at the front. Similarly, the Battle of Stalingrad was one huge cauldron in which Soviet and German troops destroyed each other. The confrontation reached its climax, when the troops were a few meters apart, and the battles went literally to the bayonet. Many historians note the irrationality of the conduct of hostilities during the Battle of Stalingrad. In fact, this was the moment when it was not military art that came to the fore, but human qualities, the desire to survive and the desire to win.

For the entire period of the defensive stage of the Battle of Stalingrad, the troops of the 62nd and 64th armies almost completely changed their composition. From what did not change, there were only the name of the army, as well as the composition of the headquarters. As for ordinary soldiers, it was later calculated that the lifetime of one soldier during the Battle of Stalingrad was 7.5 hours.

Start of offensive operations

In early November 1942, the Soviet command already understood that the German offensive against Stalingrad had exhausted itself. The Wehrmacht troops no longer had that power, and were pretty battered in battle. Therefore, more and more reserves began to flow to the city in order to conduct a counter-offensive operation. These reserves began to secretly accumulate in the northern and southern outskirts of the city.

On November 11, 1942, the Wehrmacht troops, consisting of 5 divisions, commanded by General Paulus, made the last attempt at a decisive assault on Stalingrad. It is important to note that this offensive was very close to victory. In almost all sectors of the front, the Germans managed to advance to such a stage that no more than 100 meters remained to the Volga. But the Soviet troops managed to hold back the offensive, and in the middle of November 12 it became clear that the offensive had exhausted itself.

Preparations for the counteroffensive of the Red Army were carried out in the strictest secrecy. This is quite understandable, and it can be clearly demonstrated with the help of one very a simple example. Until now, it is absolutely unknown who is the author of the contour of the offensive operation near Stalingrad, but it is known for certain that the map of the transition of Soviet troops to the offensive existed in a single copy. Also noteworthy is the fact that literally 2 weeks before the start of the offensive of the Soviet troops, the postal communication between families and fighters was completely suspended.

On November 19, 1942, at 6:30 am, artillery preparation began. After that, the Soviet troops went on the offensive. Thus began the famous operation Uranus. And here it is important to note that this development of events was completely unexpected for the Germans. At this point, the disposition was as follows:

90% of the territory of Stalingrad was under the control of Paulus' troops.
Soviet troops controlled only 10% of the cities located near the Volga itself.

General Paulus later stated that on the morning of November 19, the German headquarters was convinced that the Russian offensive was purely tactical. And only by the evening of that day, the general realized that his entire army was under the threat of encirclement. The response was lightning fast. An order was given to the 48th Panzer Corps, which was in the German reserve, to immediately advance into battle. And here, Soviet historians say that the late entry of the 48th Army into battle was due to the fact that the field mice gnawed through the electronics in the tanks, and precious time was lost for the period of its repair.

On November 20, a massive offensive began in the south of the Stalingrad Front. The leading edge of the German defense was almost completely destroyed thanks to a powerful artillery strike, but in the depths of the defense, the troops of General Eremenko met with terrible resistance.

On November 23, in the area of the city of Kalach, a German group of troops with a total strength of about 320 people was surrounded. Later, within a few days, it was possible to completely surround the entire German grouping located in the Stalingrad region. Initially, it was assumed that about 90,000 Germans were surrounded, but it soon became clear that this number was disproportionately higher. The total encirclement was about 300 thousand people, 2000 guns, 100 tanks, 9000 trucks.

Hitler had an important task ahead of him. It was necessary to determine what to do with the army: leave it surrounded or make attempts to get out of it. At this time, Albert Speer assured Hitler that he could easily provide the troops that were in the Stalingrad encirclement with everything they needed through aviation. Hitler only waited for such a message, because he still believed that the Battle of Stalingrad could be won. As a result, the 6th army of General Paulus was forced to take up a circular defense. In fact, this strangled the outcome of the battle. After all, the main trump cards of the German army were on the offensive, not on the defensive. However, the German grouping, which went on the defensive, was very strong. But at that time it turned out that Albert Speer's promise to equip the 6th Army with everything necessary was unrealistic.

Capturing the positions of the 6th German army, which was on the defensive, turned out to be impossible. The Soviet command realized that a long and difficult assault was ahead. At the beginning of December, it became obvious that a huge number of troops, which had enormous strength, had fallen into the encirclement. In such a situation, it was possible to win only by attracting no less force. Moreover, very good planning was needed to succeed against the organized German army.

At this moment, in early December 1942, the German command created the Don Army Group. The command of this army was taken over by Erich von Manstein. The task of the army was simple - to break through to the troops who were surrounded in order to help them get out of it. 13 panzer divisions moved to the troops of Paulus to help. The operation, called "Winter Thunderstorm", began on December 12, 1942. Additional tasks of the troops that moved in the direction of the 6th Army were: the defense of Rostov-on-Don. After all, the fall of this city would speak of a complete and decisive failure on the entire southern front. The first 4 days this offensive of the German troops was successful.

Stalin, after the successful implementation of Operation Uranus, demanded that his generals develop new plan to encircle the entire German group, located in the Rostov-on-Don region. As a result, on December 16, a new offensive of the Soviet army began, during which the 8th Italian army was defeated in the first days. However, the troops failed to reach Rostov, since the movement of German tanks towards Stalingrad forced the Soviet command to change its plans. At this time, the 2nd Infantry Army of General Malinovsky was withdrawn from its positions and was concentrated in the area of the Meshkova River, where one of the decisive events of December 42 took place. It was here that Malinovsky's troops managed to stop the German tank units. By December 23, the thinned tank corps could no longer move forward, and it became obvious that they would not get to Paulus's troops.

Surrender of German troops

On January 10, 1943, a decisive operation began to destroy the German troops that were surrounded. One of major events These days refers to January 14, when the only German airfield was captured, which at that time was still functioning. After that, it became obvious that the army of General Paulus did not even have a theoretical chance of getting out of the encirclement. After that, it became absolutely obvious to everyone that the Battle of Stalingrad was won by Soviet Union. These days, Hitler, speaking on German radio, announced that Germany needed a general mobilization.

On January 24, Paulus sent a telegram to the German headquarters, where he said that the catastrophe near Stalingrad was inevitable. He literally demanded permission to surrender in order to save those German soldiers who were still alive. Hitler forbade surrender.

On February 2, 1943, the Battle of Stalingrad was completed. Over 91,000 German soldiers surrendered. 147,000 dead Germans lay on the battlefield. Stalingrad was completely destroyed. As a result, in early February, the Soviet command was forced to create a special Stalingrad group of troops, which was engaged in cleaning the city of corpses, as well as mine clearance.

We briefly reviewed the Battle of Stalingrad, which introduced a radical change in the course of the Second World War. The Germans had not only suffered a crushing defeat, but they were now required to make incredible efforts in order to keep the strategic initiative on their side. But this has not happened.