The Unknown War is an American 20-part series that documents the World War II conflict between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
Today, SouthFront shares the 5th part of the series titled “The Defense of Stalingrad”. Traumatized by the defeat at Moscow, the Nazi top brass tried to induce Japan into war against the Soviet Union in January 1942. Hitler unveiled a plan to attack on the southern front toward Stalingrad and the Caucasus, seize oil-rich areas and open a path to Turkey and Iran.
“This summer the Soviets will be crushed. It will all be over,” Hitler boasted.
In the spring of 1942, German forces advanced 1,000 miles deep into Russia. The series recounts the dramatic events before the Battle of Stalingrad, where the Soviet army is defeated at Kharkov, Kerch and forced to abandon Sevastopol after a 250-day siege.
The main brutal and bloody battles between the Russian and German armies begin to unfold in Stalingrad. Almost the entire city was eventually reduced to ruins. Of the 46,000 buildings, 41,000 were completely destroyed.
Luftwaffe bombs residential areas of Stalingrad, October 1942
Street fighting in Stalingrad
Soviet soldiers storm a building in Stalingrad, February 1943
The center of Stalingrad, February 2, 1943.
2 million soldiers fought at Stalingrad for 200 days and nights. The victory or defeat of one side could have determined the outcome of World War II. Many in the West doubted that the Soviet army would defeat the powerful Wehrmacht, but Soviet soldiers fought fearlessly and tirelessly, and Hitler’s army suffered the greatest losses in its history.
The Battle of Stalingrad, which ended with the encirclement, defeat and capture of a select group of the Wehrmacht, marked the beginning of the Soviet High Command’s seizure of the strategic initiative and determined the further outcome of World War II.
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