There Battle of Stalingrado It was probably the most decisive set of clashes of the Second World Warfought in what is today Russian territory between theSoviet red army (victorious) and the Axis troops (Nazis, fascists and allies, defeated), starting fromSummer of 1942 and up to February 2, 1943ended with the victory of the Soviets. The eastern front of the war had been “inaugurated” on June 22, 1941, when theBarbarossa operationthe German attack onSoviet Union and requested the greatest use of men and means of the whole conflict: between 1941 and 1945 they fought about 29 million soldiers of the red army and 17 million of the axis. In 1941 and, again, in 1942 the Germans conquered one great portion of the Russian territory But, having arrived in Stalingrado, they were surrounded and rejected From the counter -offensive of the Red Army, which on February 2, 1943 influenced the Nazis and their allies a defeat from which they would never have completely recovered. It was important because he represented the first great defeat of Nazi Germany and the beginning of the end for Nazi -fascism. Two years later Stalingrado, the Soviet flag waved in Berlin and the war in Europe – thanks also to the Anglo -American victories – finally completed.
The Second World War on the eastern front
The eastern front, which opposed Nazi Germany and its allies to the Soviet Union, was the most important, by number of men and means, of the Second World War. The clash began on June 22, 1941, when the German troops invaded the USSR. Despite having signed a non -aggression pact in 1939, Hitler believed it was essential to defeat the Soviet Union to impose Germany domination over Europe. He decided to attack her already in 1941 because he had not been able to defeat the United Kingdom And he believed that, conquering the Soviet territory, he would strengthen Germany further and forced the British to surrender. The Nazis, following the idea of the superiority of the Aryan race, believed that the Russians, like the other Slavs, they were “underneiomini” (Untermentchen) and that the victory should have been enslaved to the interests of the Reich. The Russian ruling class had to be exterminated.

In 1941, the USSR was invaded by 3,500,000 men from Germany and other axis countries, including Italy. The invaders they advanced quicklyoccupying Ukraine, Belarus, Baltic Republics and most of western Russia, reaching the surroundings of Leningrado and Moscowhowever, without conquering the two cities. The Germans made terrible atrocity In the territories they had occupied, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians, including Jews and all political commissioners.

Upon arrival of the winter of 1941, theRed He launched a counter -offensive that forced the Germans to sell a part of the territories they had conquered, but in the following summer wehrmacht attacked again. Stalingrado, located on Volga riverit was the main objective of the advance: it was strategic for the position and had a great symbolic value because it began the name of the Soviet leader, Josif Stalin (the name had been assigned to her in 1925, previously called Caricyn).
The German advance and the Soviet counterattack in Stalingrado
The advance of 1942 was quick and in November the 6th Armyguided by the general Friedrich Paulusreached the surroundings of Stalingrado. Stalin ordered his army to resist all costs: he was aware that if the Germans had conquered the city, it would have been difficult to organize a new defensive line. Thus began one fierce battle. Stalingrado became a pile of rubble, in which home was fighting for the house. The Germans reached the banks of the Volga in some places and in November seemed close to victory.

The Russian soldiers, however, defended Stalingrad home by house, inflicting serious losses to the enemy and preventing the bank of the Volga. In addition, the red army managed to launch a counter -offensive to tenside, theUranus operationwith which he attacked the German lines from the north and the south, in order to separate the 6th armed from the rest of the axis troops. The operation began on November 19th and overwhelmed the Romanian and German lines. Stalingrado was surrounded and the 6th Army was isolated, as required by Soviet plans.
The final attack and the defeat
The Germans tried to break the encirclement in December, launching an attack from the west, the winter storm operation. The operation failed and the red army was able to launch another offensive, The small Saturn operationeven more removing the other axis troops from the 6th Army and Stalingrado, which was surrounded. Low temperatures and the deficiency of provisions and armaments They made impossible to the Germans resist, despite the aviation had tried to supply the soldiers surrounded by air. The Soviets progressively advanced towards the areas of the city occupied by the enemy. It continued to fight home for the house, with huge losses to conquer every single building. The city took on a ghostly appearance.

For the Germans, however, there was no escape and the February 2nd Paulus ordered the surrender. Overall, about 1,500,000 Axis soldiers had taken part in the battle and 1,800,000 of the Red Army, as well as a large amount of tanks and planes. The losses had been enormous: the axis had lost about A million men among deaths, wounded and prisoners; The USSR had had 500,000 dead and missing, in addition to 650,000 injured.
The battle of Stalingrad had Deep consequencesbecause the red army started a counter -offensive that in 1945 would bring it to conquer Berlin and to provoke – together with the Anglo -American attack from the west – the definitive defeat of Nazi -fascism.
The memory of the battle of Stalingrado
Due to its enormous importance, the battle of Stalingrado is an important element of the Russian national-popular culture And it is known all over the world, despite the fact that since 1961 the city has changed its name and has become Vulgograd (a measure taken as part of the decreasing process started by the Soviet leader Nikita Kruscev)
In 1967 a monument was inaugurated in the city in memory of the Soviet victory, one great statue entitled The mother homeland calls!85 meters high. Furthermore, several films and songs are dedicated to the battle of Stalingrado, as well as streets and squares of many countries, including Italy.

Sources:
Antony Beevor, Stalingrado, Rizzoli, 1998
Giorgio Rochat, The Italian Wars 1935-1943, Einaudi, 2005
Friedrich Paulus, Stalingrado. The battle that changed the destinies of the world, Pgreco 2018