The Battle of Stalingrad is one of the largest in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. It began on July 17, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943. According to the nature of the fighting, the Battle of Stalingrad is divided into two periods: defensive, which lasted from July 17 to November 18, 1942, the purpose of which was the defense of the city of Stalingrad (from 1961 - Volgograd), and offensive, which began on November 19, 1942 and ended on February 2, 1943 year with the defeat of the group operating in the Stalingrad direction Nazi troops.
For two hundred days and nights on the banks of the Don and Volga, and then at the walls of Stalingrad and directly in the city itself, this fierce battle continued. She turned around huge territory with an area of about 100 thousand square kilometers with a front length of 400 to 850 kilometers. Participated in it from both sides on different stages fighting over 2.1 million people. In terms of goals, scope and intensity of combat operations, the Battle of Stalingrad surpassed all previous battles in world history.
From the outside Soviet Union V Battle of Stalingrad V different time troops of the Stalingrad, South-Eastern, South-Western, Don, left wing of the Voronezh fronts, the Volga military flotilla and the Stalingrad air defense corps region (operational-tactical formation of Soviet troops) took part air defense). General leadership and coordination of the actions of the fronts near Stalingrad on behalf of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (SHC) was carried out by the deputy Supreme Commander Army General Georgy Zhukov and chief General Staff Colonel General Alexander Vasilevsky.
The fascist German command planned in the summer of 1942 to defeat Soviet troops in the south of the country, to seize the oil regions of the Caucasus, the rich agricultural regions of the Don and Kuban, disrupt communications connecting the center of the country with the Caucasus, and create conditions for ending the war in their favor. This task was entrusted to Army Groups "A" and "B".
For the offensive in the Stalingrad direction from the composition German group Army "B" was allocated the 6th Army under the command of Colonel General Friedrich Paulus and the 4th Panzer Army. By July 17, 6th german army consisted of about 270 thousand people, three thousand guns and mortars, about 500 tanks. It was supported by aviation from the 4th Air Fleet (up to 1,200 combat aircraft). The Nazi troops were opposed by the Stalingrad Front, which had 160 thousand people, 2.2 thousand guns and mortars, and about 400 tanks. It was supported by 454 aircraft of the 8th Air Force and 150-200 long-range bombers. The main efforts of the Stalingrad Front were concentrated in the large bend of the Don, where the 62nd and 64th armies occupied the defense in order to prevent the enemy from crossing the river and breaking through the shortest route to Stalingrad.
The defensive operation began on the distant approaches to the city at the border of the Chir and Tsimla rivers. July 22, having suffered big losses, Soviet troops retreated to the main line of defense of Stalingrad. Having regrouped, enemy troops resumed their offensive on July 23. The enemy tried to encircle Soviet troops in the large bend of the Don, reach the area of the city of Kalach and break through to Stalingrad from the west.
Bloody battles in this area continued until August 10, when the troops of the Stalingrad Front, having suffered heavy losses, retreated to the left bank of the Don and took up defense on the outer perimeter of Stalingrad, where on August 17 they temporarily stopped the enemy.
The Supreme Command headquarters systematically strengthened the troops in the Stalingrad direction. By the beginning of August, the German command also introduced new forces into the battle (8th Italian Army, 3rd Romanian Army). After a short break, having a significant superiority in forces, the enemy resumed the offensive along the entire front of the outer defensive perimeter of Stalingrad. After fierce battles on August 23, his troops broke through to the Volga north of the city, but they couldn’t master it right away. August 23 and 24 German aviation launched a fierce massive bombardment of Stalingrad, turning it into ruins.
Increasing strength German troops On September 12 we came close to the city. Fierce street battles broke out and continued almost around the clock. They went for every block, alley, for every house, for every meter of land. On October 15, the enemy broke through to the area of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. On November 11, German troops made their last attempt to capture the city.
They managed to get to the Volga south of the Barrikady plant, but they could not achieve more. With continuous counterattacks and counterattacks, Soviet troops minimized the enemy’s successes, destroying them manpower and technology. On November 18, the advance of German troops was finally stopped along the entire front, and the enemy was forced to go on the defensive. The enemy's plan to capture Stalingrad failed.
© East News / Universal Images Group/Sovfoto
© East News / Universal Images Group/Sovfoto
Still during the defensive battle Soviet command began to concentrate forces to launch a counteroffensive, preparations for which were completed in mid-November. By the beginning of the offensive operation, Soviet troops had 1.11 million people, 15 thousand guns and mortars, about 1.5 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery units, and over 1.3 thousand combat aircraft.
The enemy opposing them had 1.01 million people, 10.2 thousand guns and mortars, 675 tanks and assault guns, 1216 combat aircraft. As a result of the massing of forces and means in the directions of the main attacks of the fronts, a significant superiority of Soviet troops over the enemy was created - on the South-Western and Stalingrad fronts in people - by 2-2.5 times, in artillery and tanks - by 4-5 or more times.
Offensive Southwestern Front and the 65th Army of the Don Front began on November 19, 1942 after an 80-minute artillery preparation. By the end of the day, the defenses of the 3rd Romanian Army were broken through in two areas. The Stalingrad Front launched its offensive on November 20.
Having struck the flanks of the main enemy group, the troops of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts closed the encirclement ring on November 23, 1942. It included 22 divisions and more than 160 individual parts 6th Army and partly the 4th Tank Army of the enemy, with a total number of about 300 thousand people.
12 December German command made an attempt to release the encircled troops with a strike from the area of the village of Kotelnikovo (now the city of Kotelnikovo), but did not achieve its goal. On December 16, the Soviet offensive began in the Middle Don, which forced the German command to finally abandon the release of the encircled group. By the end of December 1942, the enemy was defeated in front of the outer front of the encirclement, its remnants were thrown back 150-200 kilometers. This created favorable conditions to eliminate the group surrounded at Stalingrad.
To defeat the encircled troops by the Don Front, under the command of Lieutenant General Konstantin Rokossovsky, an operation was carried out under code name"Ring". The plan provided for the sequential destruction of the enemy: first in the western, then in the southern part of the encirclement ring, and subsequently - the dismemberment of the remaining group into two parts by a blow from west to east and the liquidation of each of them. The operation began on January 10, 1943. On January 26, the 21st Army linked up with the 62nd Army in the Mamayev Kurgan area. The enemy group was cut into two parts. On January 31, the southern group of troops led by Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus stopped resisting, and on February 2, the northern group stopped, which was the completion of the destruction of the encircled enemy. During the offensive from January 10 to February 2, 1943, over 91 thousand people were captured and about 140 thousand were destroyed.
During the Stalingrad offensive operation, the German 6th Army and 4th Tank Army, the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies, and the 8th Italian Army were defeated. Total losses The enemy numbered about 1.5 million people. In Germany, national mourning was declared for the first time during the war.
The Battle of Stalingrad made a decisive contribution to achieving a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet armed forces seized the strategic initiative and held it until the end of the war. Defeat fascist bloc near Stalingrad undermined trust in Germany on the part of its allies and contributed to the intensification of the Resistance movement in European countries. Japan and Türkiye were forced to abandon plans active actions against the USSR.
The victory at Stalingrad was the result of the unbending resilience, courage and mass heroism of the Soviet troops. For military distinction shown during the Battle of Stalingrad, 44 formations and units were given honorary titles, 55 were awarded orders, 183 were converted into guards units. Tens of thousands of soldiers and officers were awarded government awards. 112 of the most distinguished soldiers became Heroes of the Soviet Union.
In honor of heroic defense In the city, the Soviet government established on December 22, 1942 the medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad,” which was awarded to more than 700 thousand participants in the battle.
On May 1, 1945, in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Stalingrad was named a hero city. May 8, 1965 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the victory Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War the hero city was awarded the order Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
The city has over 200 historical sites associated with its heroic past. Among them are the memorial ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" on Mamayev Kurgan, the House of Soldiers' Glory (Pavlov's House) and others. In 1982, the Panorama Museum "Battle of Stalingrad" was opened.
Day February 2, 1943 according to Federal law dated March 13, 1995 “About the days military glory And memorable dates Russia" is celebrated as the day of military glory of Russia - the Day of the defeat of Nazi troops by Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad.
The material was prepared based on informationopen sources
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The Battle of Stalingrad is one of major battles The Second World War and the Great Patriotic War, which marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the war. The battle was the first large-scale defeat of the Wehrmacht, accompanied by the surrender of a large military group.
After the counter-offensive of Soviet troops near Moscow in the winter of 1941/42. the front has stabilized. When developing the plan for the new campaign, A. Hitler decided to abandon the new offensive near Moscow, which the General Staff insisted on, and concentrate his main efforts on south direction. The Wehrmacht was tasked with defeating Soviet troops in the Donbass and Don, breaking through North Caucasus and capture oil fields North Caucasus and Azerbaijan. Hitler insisted that, having lost its source of oil, the Red Army would not be able to wage an active fight due to lack of fuel, and for its part, the Wehrmacht, for a successful offensive in the center, needed additional fuel, which Hitler expected to receive from the Caucasus.
However, after the unsuccessful offensive for the Red Army near Kharkov and, as a result, the improvement of the strategic situation for the Wehrmacht, Hitler in July 1942 ordered the division of Army Group South into two parts, giving each of them independent task. Army Group "A" of Field Marshal Wilhelm List (1st Panzer, 11th and 17th armies) continued to develop the offensive in the North Caucasus, and Army Group "B" of Colonel General Baron Maximilian von Weichs (2nd, 6th Army, later - 4th Panzer Army, as well as the 2nd Hungarian and 8th Italian army) received orders to break through to the Volga, take Stalingrad and cut off the lines of communication between the southern flank Soviet front and the center, thereby isolating it from the main group (if successful, Army Group B was supposed to strike along the Volga towards Astrakhan). As a result, from that moment on, Army Groups A and B advanced in divergent directions, with the gap between them constantly widening.
The task of directly capturing Stalingrad was assigned to the 6th Army, which was considered the best in the Wehrmacht (commander - Lieutenant General F. Paulus), whose actions were supported from the air by the 4th air fleet. Initially, it was opposed by the troops of the 62nd (commanders: Major General V.Ya. Kolpakchi, from August 3 - Lieutenant General A.I. Lopatin, from September 9 - Lieutenant General V.I. Chuikov) and 64th ( commanders: Lieutenant General V.I. Chuikov, from July 23 - Major General M.S. Shumilov) armies, which, together with the 63rd, 21st, 28th, 38th, 57th and 8th 1st Air Army on July 12, 1942 formed a new Stalingrad Front (commander: Marshal of the Soviet Union S.K. Timoshenko, from July 23 - Lieutenant General V.N. Gordov, from August 10 - Colonel General A.I. Eremenko ).
The first day of the Battle of Stalingrad is considered to be July 17, when those advanced to the river line. Then the advanced detachments of the Soviet troops came into contact with German units, which, however, did not show much activity, since in those days preparations for the offensive were just being completed. (The first combat contact took place on July 16 - at the positions of the 147th Infantry Division of the 62nd Army.) On July 18-19, units of the 62nd and 64th armies reached the front lines. The fighting continued for five days local significance, although German troops reached directly the main line of defense of the Stalingrad Front.
At the same time, the Soviet command took advantage of the lull at the front to speed up the preparation of Stalingrad for defense: it mobilized local population, sent to build field fortifications (four defensive lines were equipped), the formation of militia units was deployed.
July 23rd started German offensive: units of the northern flank were the first to attack, two days later they were joined by the southern flank. The defense of the 62nd Army was broken through, several divisions were surrounded, the army and the entire Stalingrad Front found themselves in an extremely difficult situation. Under these conditions, on July 28, People's Commissar of Defense Order No. 227 was issued - “Not a step back!”, prohibiting the withdrawal of troops without an order. In accordance with this order, the formation of penal companies and battalions began at the front, as well as barrage detachments. At the same time, the Soviet command strengthened the Stalingrad group by all possible means: during a week of fighting, 11 rifle divisions, 4 tank corps, 8 separate tank brigades, and on July 31, the 51st Army, Major General T.K., was also transferred to the Stalingrad Front. Kolomiets. On the same day, the German command also strengthened its group by deploying the 4th Panzer Army of Colonel General G. Hoth, which was advancing to the south, to Stalingrad. From now on German command declared the task of capturing Stalingrad a priority and having crucial for the success of the entire offensive southern section Soviet-German front.
Although success on the whole was on the side of the Wehrmacht and the Soviet troops, suffering heavy losses, were forced to retreat, nevertheless, thanks to the resistance, the plan to break through to the city on the move through Kalach-on-Don was thwarted, as well as the plan to encircle the Soviet group in the bend Don. The pace of the offensive - by August 10, the Germans had advanced only 60-80 km - did not suit Hitler, who stopped the offensive on August 17, ordering the start of preparations for a new operation. The most combat-ready German units, primarily tank and motorized formations, were concentrated in the directions of the main attack; the flanks were weakened by the transfer of them to Allied troops.
On August 19, German troops again went on the offensive and resumed their offensive. On the 22nd they crossed the Don, gaining a foothold on a 45-km bridgehead. Next XIV tank corps gene. G. von Withersheim to the Volga on the Latoshinka-Market section, finding himself only 3 km from the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, and cut off parts of the 62nd Army from the main Red Army. At the same time, at 16:18, a massive bomb strike throughout the city itself, the bombing continued on August 24, 25, 26. The city was almost completely destroyed.
Attempts by the Germans next days the capture of the city from the north was stopped thanks to the stubborn resistance of Soviet troops, who, despite the enemy's superiority in manpower and equipment, managed to launch a series of counterattacks and stop the offensive on August 28. After this, the next day the German command attacked the city from the southwest. Here the offensive developed successfully: German troops broke through defensive line and began to go to the rear Soviet group. To avoid inevitable encirclement, Eremenko withdrew his troops to the internal line of defense on September 2. On September 12, the defense of Stalingrad was officially entrusted to the 62nd (operating in the northern and central parts of the city) and 64th (in the southern part of Stalingrad) armies. Now the battles were going on directly for Stalingrad.
On September 13, the German 6th Army attacked new blow- now the troops were given the task of breaking through central part cities. By the evening of the 14th the Germans captured the ruins railway station and at the junction of the 62nd and 64th armies in the Kuporosny area they fell to the Volga. By September 26, German troops entrenched in occupied bridgeheads had completely shelled the Volga, which remained the only way delivery of reinforcements and ammunition to units of the 62nd and 64th armies defending in the city.
The fighting in the city entered a protracted phase. There was a fierce struggle for Mamayev Kurgan, the Red October plant, tractor plant, artillery plant "Barricades", separate houses and buildings. The ruins changed hands several times; in such conditions, the use of small arms was limited, and soldiers often engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The advance of German troops, who had to overcome heroic resistance Soviet soldiers, developed extremely slowly: from September 27 to October 8, despite all the efforts, the German strike group managed to advance only 400-600 m. In order to turn the situation around, Gen. Paulus pulled additional forces into this area, increasing the number of his troops in the main direction to 90 thousand people, whose actions were supported by up to 2.3 thousand guns and mortars, about 300 tanks and about thousand aircraft. The Germans outnumbered the 62nd Army in personnel and artillery by 1:1.65, in tanks by 1:3.75, and in aviation by 1:5.2.
German troops moved to decisive offensive on the morning of October 14th. The German 6th Army launched a decisive offensive against the Soviet bridgeheads near the Volga. On October 15, the Germans captured the tractor plant and broke through to the Volga, cutting off the 62nd Army group that was fighting north of the plant. However, the Soviet soldiers did not lay down their arms, but continued to resist, creating another hotbed of fighting. The position of the city’s defenders was complicated by a lack of food and ammunition: with the onset of cold weather, transportation across the Volga under constant enemy fire became even more difficult
The last decisive attempt to take control of the right bank of Stalingrad was made by Paulus on November 11. The Germans managed to capture the southern part of the Barrikady plant and take a 500-meter section of the Volga bank. After this, the German troops were completely exhausted and the fighting moved into a positional stage. By this time, Chuikov’s 62nd Army held three bridgeheads: in the area of the village of Rynok; eastern part plant "Red October" (700 by 400 m), which was held by the 138th rifle division Colonel I.I. Lyudnikova; 8 km along the Volga bank from the Red October plant to 9 January Square, incl. northern and eastern slopes of Mamayev Kurgan. ( South part the city continued to be controlled by units of the 64th Army.)
Stalingrad strategic offensive(November 19, 1942 – February 2, 1943)
The plan for encircling the Stalingrad enemy group - Operation Uranus - was approved by I.V. Stalin on November 13, 1942. It envisaged attacks from bridgeheads north (on the Don) and south (Sarpinsky Lakes region) of Stalingrad, where a significant part of the defending forces were Germany's allies, to break through the defenses and envelop the enemy in converging directions to Kalach-on-Don - Soviet. The 2nd stage of the operation provided for the sequential compression of the ring and the destruction of the encircled group. The operation was to be carried out by forces of three fronts: Southwestern (General N.F. Vatutin), Don (General K.K. Rokossovsky) and Stalingrad (General A.I. Eremenko) - 9 field, 1 tank and 4 air armies. Fresh reinforcements were poured into the front units, as well as divisions transferred from the reserve Supreme High Command, large reserves of weapons and ammunition were created (even to the detriment of supplying the group defending in Stalingrad) regrouping and formation strike forces in the directions of the main attack was carried out secretly from the enemy.
On November 19, as envisaged by the plan, after powerful artillery barrage, the troops of the Southwestern and Don Fronts went on the offensive, and on November 20, the troops of the Stalingrad Front. The battle developed rapidly: Romanian troops, who occupied the areas that were in the direction of the main attacks, could not stand it and fled. The Soviet command, introducing previously prepared mobile groups into the breakthrough, developed an offensive. On the morning of November 23, troops of the Stalingrad Front took Kalach-on-Don, on the same day units of the 4th Tank Corps of the Southwestern Front and the 4th mechanized corps The Stalingrad Front met in the area of the Sovetsky farm. The encirclement ring was closed. Then from rifle units was formed inner front encirclement, and tank and motorized rifle units began to push back the few German units on the flanks, forming an external front. I found myself surrounded German group- parts 6 and 4 tank armies- under the command of General F. Paulus: 7 corps, 22 divisions, 284 thousand people.
November 24 Soviet Headquarters gave the order to the Southwestern, Don and Stalingrad fronts to destroy the Stalingrad group of Germans. On the same day, Paulus approached Hitler with a proposal to begin a breakthrough from Stalingrad in a southeast direction. However, Hitler categorically prohibited a breakthrough, saying that by fighting surrounded, the 6th Army was drawing large enemy forces onto itself, and ordered the defense to continue, waiting for the encircled group to be released. All German troops in the area (both inside and outside the ring) were then combined into new group armies "Don", headed by Field Marshal E. von Manstein.
The attempt of the Soviet troops to quickly liquidate the encircled group, squeezing it from all sides, failed, and therefore military operations were suspended and the General Staff began the systematic development of a new operation, codenamed “Ring”.
For its part, the German command forced the implementation of Operation Winter Thunderstorm (Wintergewitter) to relieve the blockade of the 6th Army. For this purpose, Manstein formed a strong group in the area of the village of Kotelnikovsky under the command of General G. Goth, the main impact force which was the General's LVII Panzer Corps tank troops F. Kirchner. The breakthrough must be carried out in the area occupied by the 51st Army, whose troops were exhausted by battles and were seriously short-staffed. Having gone on the offensive on December 12, the Goth group failed the Soviet defense and crossed the river on the 13th. Aksai, however, then got bogged down in battles near the village of Verkhne-Kumsky. Only on December 19, the Germans, having brought up reinforcements, managed to push the Soviet troops back to the river. Myshkova. Due to the emerging threatening situation The Soviet command transferred part of the forces from the reserve, weakening other sectors of the front, and was forced to reconsider the plans for Operation Saturn in terms of their limitations. However, by this time the Hoth group, which had lost more than half of its armored vehicles, was exhausted. Hitler refused to give the order for a counter breakthrough of the Stalingrad group, which was 35-40 km away, continuing to demand that Stalingrad be held to the last soldier.
On December 16, Soviet troops with the forces of the Southwestern and Voronezh fronts began carrying out Operation Little Saturn. The enemy's defenses were broken through and mobile units were introduced into the breakthrough. Manstein was forced to urgently begin transferring troops to the Middle Don, weakening, among other things. and the group of G. Goth, which was finally stopped on December 22. Following this, the troops of the Southwestern Front expanded the breakthrough zone and threw the enemy back 150-200 km and reached the Novaya Kalitva - Millerovo - Morozovsk line. As a result of the operation, the danger of releasing the blockade of the encircled Stalingrad enemy group was completely eliminated
The implementation of the Operation Ring plan was entrusted to the troops of the Don Front. On January 8, 1943, the commander of the 6th Army, General Paulus, was presented with an ultimatum: if the German troops do not lay down their arms by 10 o’clock on January 9, then all those surrounded will be destroyed. Paulus ignored the ultimatum. On January 10, after a powerful artillery barrage, the Don Front went on the offensive. main blow was inflicted by the 65th Army of Lieutenant General P.I. Batova. However, the Soviet command underestimated the possibility of resistance from the encircled group: the Germans, relying on a deeply echeloned defense, put up desperate resistance. Due to new circumstances on January 17 Soviet offensive was suspended and the regrouping of troops and the preparation of a new strike began, which followed on January 22. On this day, the last airfield was taken, through which the 6th Army communicated with outside world. After this, the situation with the supply of the Stalingrad group, which, on Hitler’s orders, was carried out by air by the Luftwaffe, became even more complicated: if before it was also completely insufficient, now the situation has become critical. On January 26, in the area of Mamayev Kurgan, the troops of the 62nd and 65th armies, advancing towards each other, united. The Stalingrad group of Germans was cut into two parts, which, in accordance with the operation plan, were to be destroyed in parts. On January 31, the southern group capitulated, along with Paulus, who was promoted to field marshal general on January 30. February 2 laid down arms northern group, commanded by General K. Strecker. This ended the Battle of Stalingrad. 24 generals, 2,500 officers, more than 91 thousand soldiers were captured, more than 7 thousand guns and mortars, 744 aircraft, 166 tanks, 261 armored vehicles, more than 80 thousand cars, etc. were captured.
Results
As a result of the victory of the Red Army in the Battle of Stalingrad, it managed to seize the strategic initiative from the enemy, which created the preconditions for preparing a new large-scale offensive and, in the future, the complete defeat of the aggressor. The battle marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the war, and also contributed to the strengthening of the international authority of the USSR. In addition, such a serious defeat undermined the authority of Germany and its armed forces and contributed to increased resistance on the part of the enslaved peoples of Europe.
Dates: 17.07.1942 - 2.02.1943
Place: USSR, Stalingrad region
Results: Victory of the USSR
Opponents: USSR, Germany and its allies
Commanders: A.M. Vasilevsky, N.F. Vatutin, A.I. Eremenko, K.K. Rokossovsky, V.I. Chuikov, E. von Manstein, M. von Weichs, F. Paulus, G. Goth.
Red Army: 187 thousand people, 2.2 thousand guns and mortars, 230 tanks, 454 aircraft
Germany and allies: 270 thousand people, approx. 3000 guns and mortars, 250 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1200 aircraft
Strengths of the parties(at the start of the counteroffensive):
Red Army: 1,103,000 people, 15,501 guns and mortars, 1,463 tanks, 1,350 aircraft
Germany and its allies: approx. 1,012,000 people (including about 400 thousand Germans, 143 thousand Romanians, 220 Italians, 200 Hungarians, 52 thousand Hiwis), 10,290 guns and mortars, 675 tanks, 1,216 aircraft
Losses:
USSR: 1,129,619 people. (including 478,741 irrevocable people, 650,878 ambulances), 15,728 guns and mortars, 4,341 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2,769 aircraft
Germany and its allies: 1,078,775 people. (including 841 thousand people - irrevocable and sanitary, 237,775 people - prisoners)
