A German Defeat That Turned the Tide of WWII
The Germans focused on the fight for the city of Stalingrad, with its capture as an ultimate end. The Soviets saw the defense of the city as simply a means to a more ambitious end. They fed enough forces and supplies into Stalingrad to keep the battle going and the Germans engaged. In the meantime, they massed huge armies hundreds of miles to either side. Their goal was to launch a pincer attack, Operation Uranus, that would bag the Germans inside the city, as well as the Axis armies that guarded their flanks.
Uranus went like clockwork, as the Soviets smashed through the Italian, Romanian, and Hungarian armies tasked with the protection of the Germans in Stalingrad. Within four days, the Soviet pincers met. The disaster was made worse by Hitler’s blunder when he insisted that the Germans inside Stalingrad stay put and fight until relieved by a rescue force, rather than try and break out. No rescue came. By the time the last Germans in Stalingrad surrendered in February of 1943, the Axis had suffered 728,000 casualties, and the German spell of invincibility was broken.
