Hitler’s confidence spurred the men, and he was sure that his army matched the soviets for size, but had a greater strength, this was not for long, and Hitler’s supply lines were poor. Whereas the Russians had strong supply lines through which, during the fighting Stalin was able to transport 1500 factories to the east away from the danger and into safety of the heart of Russia. Plus while all this was happening it meant that tanks and munitions were able to be continually replaced, to manage all this Stalin bargained the lives of many men, and on the retreat he destroyed anything that may be of use to the Germans, turning the Russian soil into a baron wasteland. The numbers worryingly increased though for the men captured by the German’s, and by the end of 1941 the tally was up to three million soviet troops, although Stalin was well backed because he was thought to have used the men wisely.
Germany, was also running low on troops, this was not particularly aided by the attempted help of their weak allies in the form of Romania and Hungary, who attempted to protect the flanks of there 6th army, whilst the main body was still on par for Rostov in the South. But, these weak troops did not make up losses and men and munitions Hitler was starting to sorely need.
The Nazi power still powered to move further and further towards the heart of Russia, yet the Russians seemed to prepare for a turning point in the war, and this was hoped to come at Stalingrad (now known as Volgograd). A large city on the edge of River Volga, valid however, because of the importance of the name it bears, as well as the fact of the industrialised advancement of the city. It is surrounded by the tall rolling hills, and deep ravines, this tough terrain, was a good aspect to the advantage of the Soviet Forces, this also a factor Hitler had not considered in his planning for the attack of Russia. Hitler’s complacency was shown in effect as he expected every order he gave to be carried out, in perfect ease without any trouble, and the Generals to just follow orders and get the job done quickly.
Hitler’s complacency however, was to be challenged by the readiness of the city in preparation. The civilians had dug bunkers, and mounds around the city to help, and the troops in the city had an entire network of underground tunnels throughout the city. Making them easily able to move within the city to change position without the German’s knowing and putting down fire, or just from safety of the bombing.
Hitler’s main objective and reason for attacking Stalingrad was just to keep the Russians away from German main army, and protect their movement south towards the Caucasus and oil fields, as well as the produce from Rostov. This diversion would keep his army supplied with fuel, and anything else, also producing more ‘Living Space’. At this point Hitler was very confident as to the progress being made, and was positively certain that the Russians no longer had any more reserves, but this turned out to be far from the truth. The Russians were in fact building up reserves, and the supply lines remained strong coming form the newly positioned factories in the safety of the east. It was from this confidence that the German attack of the 6th army was aimed straight at Stalingrad to take the city, and as this happened, Stalin ordered ‘not a step back’, and banned any civilian from leaving the city. Because of the strictness applied by the Russian officers this is therefore what happened, the Russians refused to retreat, and showed determination to hold their ground and not give up that sacred town. It was also a credit that, not only were the soldiers very patriotic, the people of the town pitched in to save their homes.
There was also a sense of twisted fate, as the German attack helped the Russians in a way. At the start of the attack on Stalingrad, the Luftwaffe had heavily bombed the city, and so as the rest of the army caught up, it was actually easier for the Soviets to defend the large piles of rubble, especially with the snipers, than to defend actual buildings. The Russians therefore moved to take all sites available, and as the attack went on the Russian’s had managed to turn the City into one large standing fortress, to stage the Battle of Stalingrad.
Later in the battle, once the Russians had gained a certain control over the city, they were able to send troops to recapture the airfields and landing strips, the Germans had been using, as well as send up their own air force to take control of the skies and further detain the weak German supply lines. Supplies were in great need by the surrounded Germans and none could be had because of the pressure from the air force. Hitler’s 6th army was trapped without nearly enough supplies getting through. For example: 800 tons of supplies were needed.
500 tons was promised.
Yet still only 80 tons were eventually able to be dropped by the German Luftwaffe. Although it seems rather silly, Hitler limited the resources to the 6th army even though he recognized the importance to hold the soviets from the main body of the German army. It also therefore seems very strange for him to send these limited amounts as well as the boxes of condoms (for what great military feat were these needed?). For the Germans trapped morale was quickly slipping, to which Hitler was not helping, and Hitler did not seem to be helping the cause, whilst some soldiers of the 6th army met a breaking point and couldn’t go on, thus surrendering against orders. It is not a good sign, when your army deserts you while you are still optimistic.
In Stalingrad the German army was under the command of General von Paulus, who repeatedly offered the advice to surrender and give up on the city, but Hitler continually turned him down. Towards the end of the Battle at Stalingrad, Hitler promoted von Paulus to a Field Marshall but this had no effect, as the next day he surrendered himself, against Hitler’s wishes. This somewhat confused the Russians due to the fact that they had never been in the presence of such a prestige opposite.
The German army was recognizing the signs of defeat yet, Hitler continued what appeared to be now, a personal vendetta against Stalin himself.
At the start of the German campaign and Operation: Barbarossa they seemed to have a distinct advantage, and it was realistic to believe that they would be able to complete their initial objectives. But it would seem now that Joseph Stalin’s quick thinking to move the factories and destroy the land was paying off, for the Russians got everything needed and the Germans had nothing and were gaining nothing, whilst their allies were being easily broken and no longer holding the flanks. Although, there were many factors contributing to the outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad.
The Luftwaffe no longer controlled the skies and were now working against the army, a perfect example is illustrated by the incidence at the grain elevator. They Russians held the whole German advance back by garrisoning the grain elevator for a week. The most astonishing however was not their strength, but when they eventually broke through, there had only been forty Russian soldiers holding the building.
As well, there were other contributing factors, such as how the attack had lasted a lot longer than expected and the bitterly cold, long Russian winter was able to set in, on the poorly prepared Germans, this was to the cost of Hitler’s over confidence. Their tanks froze up, and on the destroyed land there was no shelter and they ended up just freezing to death. The Soviet campaign was also aided by their sniper divisions, with winter camouflage, able to take advantage of the German inefficiency in the winter.
Once the war in Russia met an end it was said by the German generals the Russians simply had more resources, and contributed the loss to this. This was partly true, however they had remained too scared to voice their opinions with Hitler still in power.
My thoughts however, are that the real contributing factor to a Russian victory was their sheer, bitter determination, and how they refused to lose. In contribution to this, Hitler’s well-voiced thoughts of supremacy spurred on a civilian reaction and so 250 000 people of Russia joined the resistance fighters. The Germans, if they captured resistance fighters were known to hang them, this however was not a deterrent but again spurred a further reaction for the Russians to aid their country in whatever ways possible. Hitler’s hate of communism meant it blurred his vision and so clouded ability to make sound decisions, it was this that showed how Hitler’s views had got the better of him.
So, taking all factors into consideration, it is obvious that the Germans had the potential to win all the way, yet the factors shown just denied them of a victory. I still wonder though, if Hitler had put personal feelings aside, and withdrawn from Stalingrad when he should have done, would this have been such a large turning point in the war.
In conclusion I feel that it was not solely poor decisions from Hitler that led to the German surrender in February 1943, but was the good strategy of the Russians through Stalin, and patriotism and determination of the Soviet society as one, purely refusing to lose, and give up the city of Stalingrad, bearing the profound name of their much loved dictator leader.
