In February 1943, the German army surrendered at Stalingrad - Was Hitler's interference the main reason for this defeat?

This essay hasn't yet been marked by one of our teachers

You can view 6 essays on Modern European History, 1789-1945 that have been Marked by Teachers

The first 200 words of this essay...

In February 1943, the German Army Surrendered at Stalingrad.

Was Hitler's Interference the Main Reason for this Defeat?

Explain your Answer.

Operation Barbarossa was the German code name for the attack on Russia, and it was certainly set to be a big attack. For Barbarossa Hitler assembled three million troops, 3500 tanks and 2700 aircraft, it was also in anticipation and expectation to be very big, Hitler himself claimed 'When Barbarossa commences, the world will hold its breath'. There were a variety of reasons shown while Hitler spoke of his bold plans to move east and invade the Soviet Empire, both given military and political. Hitler needed Russia's plentiful raw materials to support his army and population, there was lots of oil in the Caucasus and wheat in Ukraine. Hitler also had an obsession with racial ideals, he felt that the Russians were an 'inferior' Slav race, and therefore only fit as slaves for the idealistic Germany Hitler was creating. This feeling of superiority also gave Hitler the confidence as he decided there would be little resistance against the racially superior German's. It was also well established that Hitler loathed the communist power, which contributed to