Stalingrad Invasion

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The battle for Stalingrad was said to be the bloodiest battle in the Second World War. The German invasion of Poland in 1939 marked the beginning of world war two, Germany then shocked the world by rapidly invading and defeating Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France. On June 22, 1941, Germany and its allies launched Operation Barbarossa, a massive invasion of the Soviet Union from the Baltic shore in the north to the Black Sea in the South. The Soviets were caught by surprise. The Soviets knew Germany would attack but did not expect the invasion so soon. Initially, the invasion was a dramatic success. The invasion progressed eastward, reaching the gates of Moscow by the beginning of 1942, but Soviet willpower and much greater …show more content…
The Soviet Sixty-second Army under the command of General Vasili I. Chuikov, was charged of defending the city at all cost. The Soviets fought the Germans street for street, house for house and sometimes room for room. General Chuikov’s army was successful in defending the city and holding the German Sixth Army in Stalingrad, allowing the Soviets to conduct a counteroffensive that took the Germans by surprise. The Soviets attacked from two flanks and within four days the German’s Sixth Army was completely encircled. General Paulus was then forced to surrender his army after two months of the encirclement. Each side lost over one million Soldiers between dead, wounded, missing, or captured, thus making it the bloodiest battle in the war. General Vasili I. Chuikov was key to the successful defense of Stalingrad and the surrender of the German Army. General Chuikov understood the operational environment, visualized his end state, directed all aspects of this battle, he led the Sixty-second Army to victory, assessed every operation and changed his plans