by Matthew Dearden

Created on: May 18, 2009

There is perhaps no better battle to study in a Total War class than the battle of Stalingrad. Much more than just a single battle, Stalingrad was actually a long series of engagements stretching from July 17, 1942 until early February of 1943. The conflict is generally known for its brutal house to house fighting and mass amounts of civilian casualties. It is widely known as one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the world. The city of Stalingrad itself was largely destroyed. An appropriate starting place is Operation Blau (Blue). Hitler had two goals in this operation: take the Caucasian oilfields and take the city of Stalingrad, which was on the west bank of the Volga River. On the 12th of July, Hitler put together the Stalingrad front, which was a force of 38 divisions. The huge mobilization was no surprise for the Soviets, who started getting ready themselves. Stalin implemented not only a military buildup, but a political mobilization as well, which would prove to be extremely important in the upcoming months. Stalin issued Order No. 227 which said that no commander could retreat unless explicitly ordered to do so. German hate propaganda was also distributed widely both in the army and to the citizenry. Interestingly, Stalin also gave increased command power to his generals and lauded the officer corps, which was to prove vital in the defense of Stalingrad.

The German attack of Stalingrad began with massive air strikes which killed 40,000 in just two days. Stalin forbade innocent civilians to evacuate the city, but after nearly a week of aerial bombardments by the Luftwaffe, citizens began to leave en masse. There was only one way out-across the Volga to the east-because by this time the Germans had surrounded the city on three sides. The city of Stalingrad was narrow, and sprawled out about seven miles on the banks of the Volga River. Significantly, Russia still held positions on the left and right flanks, as well as most of the river front.

Hitler was not a kind man. He ordered that all men in the city be killed and that all women be deported. This was not simply a "loser-go-home" type of fight. The Germans heavily outnumbered the Russians in the vicinity of Stalingrad, but the Russians were able to strategically place artillery on the east bank of the river that constantly bombarded German positions in and around the city. It is said that there was on average one hundred artillery pieces per kilometer

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