The Battle of Stalingrad was doomed from the start, and here's why

1941 was a disaster for Nazi Germany. After invading the Soviet Union in June, they had expected to defeat the Red Army in 6 weeks. But by December, German forces had been thrown back by the Soviet winter counter-offensive. And there were even bigger problems. Germany had previously relied on the Soviets themselves for supplies of raw materials. But now, at war with their former ally, those supplies were running short.

Worst of all however, in December of 1941 the United States entered the war of the Allies side. Above all, Hitler feared a war on two fronts, particularly against the industrial power of the United States. His window of opportunity to win the war was closing fast. For Hitler the extensive oilfields of the southern Caucasus were the key to victory, without them the war could not be won.

The campaign to capture that oil would culminate in the bloodiest battle of the Second World War, the Battle of Stalingrad. But although it is seen by many as the turning point of the entire war, the outcome of the battle may have been decided well before the Germans even reached the city.

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[thegiggler]

"We'll be in Moscow in 6 weeks, not a problem" - Napoleon
"We'll be in Moscow in 6 weeks, not a problem" - Hitler

[johnkenyon]

Soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a middle age German immigrant to Canada that I knew said she was going on a tourist trip to Stalingrad. When I asked her why she was going there?
Her reply was "I lost three brothers there".

[Zopiexx]

My great grandfather and Great Grand Uncle and Grand Uncle were in the Soviet army or thd Red Army. They all fought defending Moscow, but later, my Great
grandfather went towards Stalingrad to defend it and survived. Then my Grand Uncle and Great Grand Uncle went towards Leningrad, and they didn't make it sadly. Later on, my great grandfather went towards Kursk fought there, and later on, he went to Ukraine to liberate it. Then Poland. And he finally made it to Berlin. Eternal memory to the heroes!

[stephenlathrop]

Moral of the story: None of the soldiers and civilians that gave their lives in this war meant anything to the one's that started it.

[timgosling]

"In 1941 the United States entered the war on the Allies' side". To be clear, it's important to remember that the US had declared war only on Japan. It was Hitler and Mussolini then declaring war on the US that brought that great power formally into the Allied fold. Yes, American sympathies were already mostly with the British Empire and France but it was Hitler's choice to fight the US and all that followed was of his own making.

[jonathanscott]

A friend, now deceased, was injured at Stalingrad before it was encircled, and was sent back to Germany to recuperate. Recovered, he was again sent to the Eastern front. He said his train stopped at the station quite normally, but when he climbed out of the carriage, there was around 2, 000 Russian soldiers in the station. He decided to surrender.

[curious_gage]

It’s crazy to think of the vast distances German soldiers had to walk. 😵

[antonboludo]

One of my German uncles was at that battle. He became a POW from 1943 to 1947. He used the time well, though. He learned Russian, Romanian and Hungarian.

[Jayjay-qeum]

The events of the Battle of Stalingrad have been covered in numeros media works of British, American, German, Russian origin, for its significance as a turning point in the Second World War and for the loss of life associated with the battle. The term Stalingrad has become almost synonymous with large-scale urban battles with high casualties on both sides.

[reimundboxhammer]

My grandfather fought in russia and served in a replenishment companie, he told me that they had big problems to had enough equipment from the first day of operation Barbarossa.
The distances grow from day to day and there where no good roads to use, on the other hand they had all kinds of trucks, captured british and french vehicles and various german made trucks like Opel Blitz, Mercedes, Borgwards and so on. It was a logistical nightmare that become even worse when the rain in the autum converts the roads in muddy swamps so the vehicles get stuck. When the first winter came they had all hands to do to keep the vehicles running and bring the supplies to the front.
He says: "we knew after the first four weeks it was a stupid idea to go to war with russia, the land is too big and the russians fight like hell to defend the motherland"
So i absolute agree with you that they where doomed from the first day on.

(Sorry if i write some wrong grammatiks but i dont like the google translator so i dig out my old scool english) 😉😉

[raywhitehead]

The losses that the Germans had in the First winter of the war is often down played or skipped over. But they were huge, and mostly from freezing to death...

[carlb]

I also just have to say: Excellent video. Thanks IWM. You provide the best historic documentaries out there.

[ozzo]

The soviets were unsung heroes of the war, even tough they paid the most in terms of casualties. it could not have been won without them.

[towgod]

Every event in WWII was affected by the preceding ones. The battle of Malta directly influenced the final battle of Stalingrad. On November 15th, 1941. Luftflotte 2 was pulled out of the battle line on the Eastern Front and sent to Italy to reinforce the beleaguered Axis forces dealing with the RN and RAF onslaught. You cannot pull an entire air fleet out of a combat theatre and not have operations affected.

[nhienleminhhue]

Minor correction: Chuikov's 62nd Army was not the only army stationed in Stalingrad along with it were 2 other armies the 63th, 64th, and the first guard tank guard army. And The Soviets shot roughly 1000 or so Cowards and deserters in and around Stalingrad, others 14.000 or so were sent to other units or penal battalions.

[lorimeyers]

Not long before Case Blue, something like only 18% of the divisions in the Wehrmacht were considered suited for offensive operations. The vast majority of divisions were only considered capable of defensive or static operations. Another thing many forget is the fact that the Wehrmacht, with diminished air superiority, lost a ton of soldiers between the start of Fall Blau and the time they reached the banks of the Volga at Stalingrad in August 1942. Maybe 20-45% divisional strength by the time the battle for Stalingrad even began. This is easily the most fascinating chain of historical and military events in my opinion. Just insane.

[telkoehf]

The battle of Moscow was the end of the war for Germany

[geoffreylee]

The invasion was to have begun in April or May, but the uprising in Yugoslavia stopped that plan. Once over summer had begun and the uprising ended, they were six weeks behind in their plans. Watch the series from the 1970s called The World At War.

[ak]

I had a German language teacher in college that was one of the 5000 German soldiers that survived Stalingrad and prison in the 1980s. At first I was doubtful but he showed us pictures, documents and the cap and jacket he wore when he returned to West Germany. Amazing story. I remember that he ate bread made out of sawdust and glue from wallpaper.

[MWM-djdn]

Thank you. I thank you with the most beautiful words for your esteemed channel and the accurate, wonderful and useful information you provide. I hope you success . I have the utmost respect, appreciation and pride for your wonderful work