The Battle of Stalingrad

1. The Battle of Stalingrad Topic: The battle of Stalingrad Key Ideas: Importance of Stalingrad, Operation Blue, Operation Saturn, Operation Uranus Key Conclusions to me made: it was a turning point in the war where Germany lost

2. The Battle of Stalingrad • What: • A battle between Germany & its allies and the Soviet Union, for Stalingrad • When: • Winter, 1942-1943 • Effects: • Germany lost their old reputation as being invincible

3. Pictures of the Battle of Stalingrad

4. Key Fact 1: Importance of Stalingrad -Major industrial city on banks of Volga River -Also Russia’s center of communication -(Vital transport route between Caspian Sea and Northern Russia) -Control of the city would cut Soviet transport links with Southern Russia using the Volga River

5. Importance of Stalingrad (continued) • If Germany won Stalingrad, it would also allow them to get the rich oil fields of Caucasus • It was also Stalin’s city. • Hitler wanted to capture the city that had the name of his enemy • City’s capture would also be a propaganda achievement. It would have been good for Hitler, for people to know he had beaten his enemy Caucasus oil fields 1942 Stalingrad 1942

6. Operation Blue - Code name for the attack that Adolf Hitler ordered on the Soviet Union’s oil fields in the Caucasus region in 1942. - Failed due to the sixth army – was effectively destroyed at the BATTLE OF STALINGRAD.

7. Operation Blue (continued) • The operation was divided into 2 groups. • Group A were to attack south towards Rostov, and wipe out through the Transcaucasus heading for the Caspian Sea while taking oil-fields at Maikop. • Group B’s primary task was to provide strong Northern flank along the Don, while cutting the vital Soviet freight traffic on the Volga.

8. Key Fact 3: Operation Saturn -December 1942 until February 1943 -Red Army Operation on Eastern front of WWII -The first stage was to cut off the Germany’s Army Group A. -24th Dec tanks raided Tatsinskaya(The closest air base to Stalingrad) -29th Dec Germany had no choice but to retreat.

9. Key Fact 3: Operation Saturn (Continued) *90,000-prisoners, 5000-returned to Germany *By January the Hungarian Army was destroyed (Second Stage) *Germany had to retreat. *Krusk, Karkov, and Rostov were captured on Feb 1943. *Stalingrad was 400 miles off West, they had to delay the offensive until 25h February.

10. Operation Uranus - A german force was encircled during Operation Uranus. - Zhukov and Vasilevsky were the two leaders. - Zhukov’s Plan was to collect enough resources to keep Paulus German 6Th Amry busy while Soviet troops build 5five new tank armies. - The Germans is surrounded in Stalingrad, The Soviet now attacks the weak fronts held by poorly equipped Romanian armies.

11. Operation Uranus (Continued) - Germans Sixth Army had lost more troop because of the Soviet ground attacks (January 31, 1943). - The Luftwaffe promised to help resupply the Germans but never did because of the lose of transportation vehicles and weather conditions. - By February 2nd 250,000 German Sixth Army troops has surrendered to the Soviet.

12. How Did This Affect the War? • It was a turning point in the war • German troops were stopped during their progression across Russia • Unexpected German defeat gave Soviet Union hope • Germany lost their old reputation as being invincible

13. Conclusion • Re-state event • The Battle of Stalingrad was a war fought between Germany and the Soviet Union for Stalingrad. • What was the result of the event? • More than 1 million casualties • It was the bloodiest war in human history • How did it affect the war? • It was a turning point in the war, where it went from Germany winning, to Germany losing

14. 3 Discussion Questions for Class • If Germany hadn’t been stopped in this battle, how do you think it would affect the war? • If Stalingrad wasn’t named after Stalin, do you think Hitler would still want to attack it? • If one of the operations didn’t happen, do you think that Germany would’ve been stopped during their progression across Russia?