Download THE DESERT: NORTH AFRICA 1940-43

AV: The World at War (Ep 9): STALINGRAD, June 1942 – Feb 1943
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By the end of 1941, the Wehrmacht’s plan to destroy Russia by ____________ had failed.

Throughout the winter of 1941-42, the Wehrmacht & its allies had been ordered to stand firm in
defensive positions by Hitler until the Russian offensives ran out of energy in May 1942.

In 1942, the Germans were not strong enough to attack all along the front as they had in 1941
(suffered one million casualties). Hitler chose to advance in the south towards the Caucasus,
where 75% of the USSR’s ______ supplies were located.

The plan: 6th Army & 4th Panzerarmee would strike towards _______________, cutting of the
Caucasus. The remainder of Armee Gruppe South would then capture the oil fields.

The offensive began later than intended, in _____-__________, with 6th Army commanded by
Gen von Paulus.

At first, the Russians seemed to _______ away, no matter how far the Germans advanced. Few
prisoners were taken. The panzers tried to cut off the Russians but were often forced to stop and
wait for their ___________ to catch up.

The Russians had lost 250,000 men in the spring and could not afford to lose more, so they kept
______________. For the Russian generals, it was a planned withdrawal. For the Russian
soldiers, it was a demoralising road. To Hitler, it seemed the ____ _______ had been wiped out.

As a result, with the campaign only _____ weeks old, Hitler began moving his troops south. By
the end of July, Rostov (the “_____ to the Caucasus”) had been captured. Priority was now
given to capturing the oil fields. 4th Panzerarmee and most of the 6th Army’s panzers were sent
to join this thrust. However, the weakened 6th Army was still expected to achieve its target of
Stalingrad.

The 6th Army reached the ________ River, north of Stalingrad in late August, where they cut
off river traffic and dug in. Again, Hitler expected more - 6th Army was ordered to take the city.

Named after Stalin, the city was sited on ________ overlooking the Volga River. It was
composed of mainly wooden residential buildings in the south, had a modern centre & a
northern section dominated by 3 large ____________ with workers’ flats nearby. The whole city
was hilly and intersected by ravines.

Most of the _____________ were left in the city because Stalin believed the army would fight
better as a result (“Not one step back!”). Civilians joined the military, preparing the city’s
_____________. Many were afraid of the Germans and felt it was their patriotic ______ to help.

By late August, 6th Army was not strong enough to capture the city by itself. The ___________
joined in, attacking the city for 3 consecutive days with every available aircraft on the Russian
Front. The shattered buildings were turned into _____________ by the defenders.

The besieged city could only be reinforced and supplied by ________ crossing the river. The
Wehrmacht had it own supply problems, and had no ___________ in case anything went wrong.

The Germans launched their 1st attack in early ___________, meeting fierce Russian resistance.

Back in Germany, the generals of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German High Command)
were becoming alarmed at Hitler’s increasingly unrealistic expectations & plans. They urged
___________ but Hitler did not listen.

In the street-to-street, building-to-building, hand-to-hand fighting, the __________ were much
less effective. Von Paulus’ troops were also unused to close quarters fighting. The Russians only
gave __________ as a last resort.

The German position in the region was dangerous. German troops were being thrown into
Stalingrad to replace the __________ casualties a week. Hitler was warned of the situation but
refused to listen. Instead, their place was taken by Rumanians, Hungarians & Italians (who had
very little in the way of tanks & anti-tank guns).

In October, the Germans renewed their efforts to no avail. Stalingrad was being referred to as
the “mass ________ of the Wehrmacht”. Russian reinforcements were secretly building up to
the north & south of the city, with just enough troops sent into the city to prevent its fall.
Production of war material had also reached the stage where the Red Army & Red Air Force
were finally on a par with the Germans in terms of quality and quantity.

By early November, the Germans held _____% of Stalingrad. However, the Russian winter was
beginning & on November 10, von Paulus asked Hitler’s permission to ____________. He was
refused. Meanwhile, the Russians continued their build-up.

On November 19, the Russians struck at the ______________ armies to the north & south of
Stalingrad. Their aim was to destroy the 6th Army first, then strike at __________, cutting off
the rest of AG South. Their attack succeeded spectacularly & the 6th Army (250,000 men) was
cut off in 4 days.

Von Paulus sought permission to break out towards the main German line but was told to stand
and do his duty. ____________ promised that the Luftwaffe could keep 6th Army supplied from
the air, but only ____% of what was needed got through.

Instead of attacking the Stalingrad _________ as the Germans expected, the Russians continued
to advance westwards. Initially, 6th Army were cold and hungry but confident they would be
___________, but as the Russians advanced, the Stalingrad relief force was forced to pull back
or be cut off themselves.

Russians now had ______ superiority.

Even the Russians had become obsessed with the political & propaganda value of the city.
Instead of ___________ the Germans out, they massed 7 armies to take it by force. Although it
was the Russians attacking, the type of fighting in the city remained ______________.

On January 8 1942, the Russians offered surrender terms but Hitler ordered the troops not to
give in. His theory was that Russians fighting at Stalingrad could not be used ____________
along the front.

The final Russian assault began on January 10. Although expected to last 4 days, the Germans
held out for 2 weeks. When von Paulus messaged Hitler that surrender was inevitable, Hitler
___________ him to Field Marshal and told him to fight to the death. On January 31, 6th Army
surrendered.

Stalingrad was a _________________ for the Wehrmacht:
- 150,000 veteran troops died & 90,000 were captured (only 6,000 survived)
- Romanian, Hungarian & Italian armies on the Russian Front were destroyed.
- enough war material to equip a _____________ of the Wehrmacht was squandered.