Stalingrad: Turning Point Of The Eastern Front

Battle of Stalingrad

Joseph Goebbels, a Nazi politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda once said ‘’A thousand years hence, every German will speak with awe of Stalingrad and remember that it was there that Germany put a seal on her victory.’’. As it turns out, Joseph was terribly wrong. The Battle of Stalingrad is typically referred to as the turning point of the Eastern Front. Hundreds of thousands of troops were poured into this one critical city. Stalingrad not only symbolized the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, but it provided many surrounding regions with economical influences. With this in mind, The Battle of Stalingrad would prove to be a substantial turning point for World War Two. The victory at Stalingrad would prove to have a huge influence in the economic agenda of the area. Stalingrad was a central hub for nearly all Southern oil refineries and pumps in the USSR. These refineries were found in a remote region known as the Caucasus, rich in oil and remote these regions were the key to cutting off a large majority of oil supply to the Soviets. Without a sufficient supply of oil a drastic disadvantage would soon become
Using both the German 6th Army and the 4th Panzer Army many believed the German Blitzkrieg would be just as swift as usual. Yet, it didn’t. Anyways, German bombing persisted every night amassing mass casualties, both civilian and Military. Whilst, during the day German infantry stormed the city. Block by block fighting persisted between Soviet resistance and the ever amassing German army. However, the USSR launched Operation Uranus. This was a two pronged counter attack to encircle both of the German divisions. Its’ goal was to entrap them into the very city they were fighting to conquer. The operation went extremely smoothly, almost immediately turning the tide to the Soviets. Which led to some of the bloodiest fighting ever recorded in World War