-
The Begining1
July 17, 1942: The battle of Stalingrad begins when the Luftwaffe bomb Stalingrad, and shipping vessels on the Volga river. The bombing in the twon destroys the majority of the city. At the end of the war the city of Stalingrad is reduced to rubble. But the Russians were able to stop the German advances. -
The Begining2
German tanks reach the Volga river, just North of Stalingrad. The Germans are continuing to advance on the city, and the Russian army has yet to regroup and decide on a plan to stop the German army. -
The Middle1
September 13, 1942: German ground forces start to fire on the city. At this point in the battle the German infantry has reached the city. The Russian defense lines were broken many times. The Russians tried to set up lines to stop the German invasion, but the German army always proved to flank their defenses and the Russians would need to regroup. -
The Middle2
September 23, 1942: After the Russians regroup from the surprise German attack, they are able to stop the Germans from advancing into the city. But unfortunately by the time they stop the German advances most of the damage is already done. Of course there will still be damage, and deaths in the fighting aftwerwards, but the majority of the damage has already happened in the bombings. German advancment in Stalingrad is halted. -
The End1
January 8, 1943: Soviets make an offer for the Germans to surrender, which they outright refuse. Until later in the winter the frostbitten and starved German troops surrender. The Germans were not prepared to be fighting in cold conditions like the Russian winter. They also burned everything down preventing the Germans from salvaging anything from the city -
The End2
The trapped German troops surrender. The German army starved, and endured for another month until finally they surrender in February. This battle is very important. It marks the end of Germany's campaign on Russia. After their loss the Russians began pushing German forces out of the country -
The End of the War!