Hitler’s Blunder on the Volga River
In the summer of 1942, the Germans launched a major offensive that sought to capture the Soviets’ oil fields in the Caucasus. The city of Stalingrad on the Volga River was intended as the easternmost anchor for a line that stretched between the rivers Don and Volga. It was to be manned in order to protect the advance into the Caucasus from attack in the rear by Soviets to the north. However, the symbolism of a city named after Stalin grabbed the attention of the egomaniacal German and Soviet warlords. As a result, what began as relatively unimportant morphed into a major showdown.
Unfortunately for the Germans, Hitler made a major blunder when he unnecessarily poured more and more resources in a stubborn attempt to capture Stalingrad. The Soviets’ fierce resistance, as with the Germans’ fierce attacks, was initially based on the symbolism of the city’s name. However, the Soviets soon saw potential that went beyond the fight for the city, while the Germans did not. Therein lay the seeds that grew to produce a German disaster. The story of the Battle of Stalingrad could be summarized as the Germans thinking small, while the Soviets thought big.
