Why was The Battle of Stalingrad so Deadly? 

I think a military historian could spend an entire career studying this battle.

I’d say one of the reasons that casualties were so high was because of the nature of the combat in Stalingrad. It was all fought room by room, house by house, so there was lots of extremely intense urban fighting in the city. The Russians and Germans would have been literally a stones throwaway from each other’s trenches and bunkers.

Only the Russians could continue making tanks in Stalingrad all the while being under siege from the nazis. What an incredible story!

Order 227 is actually about retreating without orders (and retreat orders did go out) and the death penalty was only for the officers of those units, and not every single soldier. Furthermore, even those caught retreating would usually get sent to penal battalions and into suicide missions, rather than outright executions, since the USSR could not simply throw away vital manpower.

This battle is an example of Total War, both sides were involved in all out fighting they were either victorious or dead.

“- Lt. Hans von Witzland: The best thing about the cold is... - Fritz Reiser: You don't have to worry about sunburn.” - Stalingrad (1993) movie

Imagine being such a chad that you keep churning out tanks from burning factories

“Germany’s chancellor”, are you not allowed to say Hitler?

When you fight inside a city, then your casualties go up tremendously. Remember, the Soviet Army lost as many soldiers as the Germans but the Soviets had a greater number of men and women that they could throw into the fight. In the final thrusts against the Germans, General Zhukov threw his main forces against the German flanks, and those flanks were defended by mostly Romanians, Italians and Spaniards who had little motivation to fight. As for fighting in a city, General Eisenhower refused to involve Allied troops in attacking Berlin giving that job to the Soviet Army, The Soviets lost over 100,000 soldiers in killed and wounded, something the Allies refused to pay that price in human lives. Remember, the Russians realized that this was a war of extermination. If they lost, the Russian people would either be exterminated or enslaved until they die from starvation, or being overworked. The Russians understood that and fought harder than any people did before.

I lived in Stalingrad (now Volgograd) for about 6 months in 2015. The War Museum there is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. The monument of Мамая Курган (Mamaya Kurgan) is chillingly beautiful. I also met a veteran of the battle who told me a little about his time. According to him women and small children were allowed to evacuate (when there were boats to evacuate on) but the male population was forced to stay.

caught me off guard with "operation uranus" LOL

"But Stalin, they're just citizens living in Stalingrad" "I don't know man, seems kinda soldiers to me"

Last Time i was this early we were still waiting for Steiners Attack

One correction, a major reason for taking Stalingrad is that taking it was necessary to take the oil from the Caucasus Mountains. At this point Germany was very low on oil, and taking Stalingrad would have allowed German forces to cut off Red Army units in the Caucasuses and push in

Part of the reason the battle was so deadly is because the Germans bombed the city to smithereens, which meant there was rubble everywhere, which made it very difficult for the German troops to maneuver their tanks and troops. Furthermore, the Soviets then took advantage of this and utilized the rubble to build up lines of trenches that the Germans were forced to repeatedly go over top of. These trenches connected defensive nodes armed with machine guns, which the Soviets used to create interlocking fields of machine gun fire. The trenches also allowed for constant communication between the defensive nodes. In addition, the Soviets used the sewers to maneuver and have communication. In addition, General Chuikov who Stalin had sent in to take command, utilized a strategy which he called "Hug the Enemy," meaning you wanted to be no more than say a grenade throw away from the enemy. This would make it bloody for the enemy and also deny the enemy his ability to use his heavy weapons as they would kill their own men along with the enemy's. Pushing through all of this thus turned Stalingrad into a literal meat grinder. Division after division of the 6th Army was poured into Stalingrad. This required the army to pull more and more troops from the flanks to re-enforce the center, thus weakening the flanks further and further.

Don't worry, Steiner's counter-attack will save the German 6th Army

It was deadly cause they were killing each other, Duuuuuh.

My grandpa died in the „Kessel“ of Stalingrad with nearly the complete 6th German Army. Watchin this gave me shivers. What an unimaginable hell for both sides. RIP to all the senseless killed humans and animals of this war.

Short answer: prolonged close quarters Urban combat is going to rack up casualties

My great grandpa fought in the battle of Stalingrad. He was a medic and got his ear shot off while in the truck. Proceeded to fight back until his whole company was just about wiped out. He hid in the sewer for 3 days until he heard Russian voices again.

My grandma in this battle was a little girl moving-giving smokes to the soldiers in the front lines

“The Chancellor” 😂

All I have to say: "Red orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad".

Those heroic women of 1077 who fought German Panzers toe to toe! I weep for your lives lost and bow to your courage.

7:13 man my sense of humor hasn't changed since 6th grade

- Why Stalingrad is the largest city on Earth? - ??? - Because it takes a hundred days to get from one end to other other.

Operation Uranus never fails.

One of my uncles was at that battle. He was a POW for 4 years after that. He lost a leg, but came back, but learned fluent Russian, Romanian and Hungarian. He used the time there well, and never complained about anything about his time there.

my great great grandfather was a pilot in the soviet air force in Stalingrad, when winter came he could not fly because the oil had frozen, so he fought on the ground

Funny how this city alone held out longer then all of France did... And even won!

Now that is dedication: You let bombs go off next to your microphone just to recreate the sounds of artillery fire & bombings! Thank you for doing something so risky, just to have great background noise!!! You're a true hero

Highly recommend TIK's documentary on this battle, possibly the best documentary ever made.

Here 11 Second Ago!

"Uranus" very aptly named for how it ended for the Germans

Another terrific video. Love these history videos. Keep it up.

In reality, order "not step back" or you can be ejecuted by treason happened in all armies. The political comisaries were 1 to 10000 soldiers to watch, so the numbers of ejecutions were low. Another point is that the city wasn't evacuated, that is untrue. Not all the citizens, but they rescued half of the population or more

The reason the USSR could call in Siberian forces was because they knew Japan wouldn’t attack unless Moscow fell. Imagine if on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Vladivostok instead of Pearl Harbor

the way they said they were still churning out tanks in the battle of stalingrad even with the enemies overrunning the city must’ve felt like an intense game of battlefield repairing your tank after it’s badly damaged except it’s real life

I love how these videos bring every know it all into one fold!

"inarguably one of the most merciless and destructive battles" Quite frankly, the most merciless and destructive. There were no such bloodiest battles in the human history comparable to Stalingrad - just take a look at the losses combined for goodness sake.

За Волгой для нас земли нет! Good Video! Stalingrad, in MY historical analysis, was even more catastrophic, deadly, overwhelming and HUMILIATING for the so-called Axis "Satellite" Armies in Russia, which included General Dumitrescu's 3rd Romanian Army, General Constantinescu's 4th Romanian Army, General Gusztáv Jány's 2nd Hungarian Army and General (Generale d'Armata) Italo Gariboldi's 8th Italian Army. All of these aforementioned armies had obsolete equipments. The bulk of the Romanian armies, for example, were formed by infantry divisions, trained to trench warfare. Moreover, the vast majority of the Romanian equipment was obsolete. The Romanian main anti-tank weapon, for example, was the French 37 mm cannon of 1916! It was not for nothing, therefore, that Operation Uranus focused on the Romanian armies. Note: Gusztáv Jány's 2nd Hungarian Army, in particular, was virtually annihilated at Stalingrad, more precisely during Operation Little Saturn (December 1942 - February 1943). Following the attack carried out by Filipp Golikov's Voronezh Front (which included Ivan Chernyakhovsky's 60th Army, Kirill Moskalenko's 40th Army, Nikandr Chibisov's 38th Army and Pavel Rybalko's 3rd Tank Army), the Hungarian 2nd Army was completely annihilated (the Hungarian casualties reached the figure of 84%)! The Romanian armies, in turn, were completely destroyed by the Soviets after Operation Uranus, more precisely by Nikolai Vatutin's Southwestern Front (which included Dmitry Lelyushenko's 1st Guards Army, Romanenko's 5th Tank Army and Ivan Chistyakov's 21st Army). Ion Antonescu, the Romanian leader, simply lost two ENTIRE ARMIES at Stalingrad (Dumitrescu's 3rd Army and Constantinescu's 4th Army). Altogether, about 18 Romanian divisions were destroyed. The 8th Italian Army, however, was also severely hit and destroyed. All the 10 divisions that made up Generale d'Armata Italo Gariboldi's 8th Italian Army, with no exceptions, were completely annihilated or reduced, including the 9th ID "Pasubio", the 52nd ID "Torino", the 2nd ID "Sforzesca", the 3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta", the 3rd ID "Ravenna", the 5th ID "Cosseria", the 3rd Alpine Division "Julia", the 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense", the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" and the 156th ID "Vicenza". Note (2): The Italians did not participate directly in the Battle of Stalingrad. However, the Italians were the primary targets of Operation "Little Saturn" (December 1942), the "continuation" of Operation Uranus, whose primary objective was the destruction of Gariboldi's 8th Italian Army and Gusztáv Jány's 2nd Hungarian Army. While the 8th Italian Army was surrounded by General Vasily Kuznetsov's 1st Guards Army (supported by Dmitry Lelyushenko's 3rd Guards Army), the Hungarians, as I mentioned before, were attacked and destroyed by Filipp Golikov's Voronezh Front. All the 10 aforementioned Italian divisions were attacked and destroyed. • Generale di Divisione (Divisional general/Major General) Guido Boselli's 9th ID "Pasubio", Roberto Lerici's 52nd ID "Torino", Carlo Pellegrini's 2nd ID "Sforzesca", and Ettore de Blasio's 3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta", for example, were surrounded and destroyed by Kuznetsov's 1st Guards Army. • Generale di Divisione Francesco Dupont's 3rd ID "Ravenna" and Enrico Gazzale's 5th ID "Cosseria", in turn, were also attacked by the Soviet 1st Guards Army during Operation Little Saturn (December 1942), whose primary objective, as I mentioned before, was the complete destruction of the Italian 8th Army. • Umberto Ricagno's 3rd Alpine Division "Julia" and Emilio Battisti's 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense", on the other hand, were destroyed by Fyodor Kharitonov's 6th Soviet Army. • Etelvoldo Pascolini's 156th ID "Vicenza" and Luigi Reverberi's 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina", lastly, were also severely reduced. By the end of 1942, the 8th Italian Army was in shambles. Altogether, the Italians lost 114.520 soldiers in Russia! Stalingrad, therefore, was not only catastrophic for Hitler, where he lost Paulus' 6th Army and its 20 divisions (including Hans-Georg Leyser's 29th Motorized Division, Max Pfeffer's 297th ID, Richard Stempel's 371st ID, Hans-Heinrich von Armin's 113th ID, Heinrich-Anton Deboi's 44th ID, Eccard Freiherr von Gablenz's 384th ID, Alexander von Daniels' 376th ID, Helmuth Schlömer's 3rd Motorized Division, Hans-Adolf von Arenstorff's 60th Motorized Division, Günther Angern's 16th Panzer Division, Richard von Schwerin's 79th ID, Bernhard Steinmetz's 305th ID, Martin Lattmann's 14th Panzer Division, Arno von Lenski's 24th Panzer Division, Carl Rodenburg's 76th ID, Alexander von Hartmann's 71st ID, Werner Sanne's 100th ID, Otto Korfes' 295th ID, Erich Magnus' 389th ID and Georg Pfeiffer's 94th ID), but it was also catastrophic for Mussolini (who lost an entire army at Stalingrad), Antonescu (who lost TWO ENTIRE ARMIES at Stalingrad) and Miklós Horthy (who also lost an entire army at Stalingrad). The central point of all German operations in 1942 (especially Case Blue), in my historical analysis, should have been the Caucasus. The German primary attention should have been Wilhelm List's Army Group A (which included Kleist's 1st Panzer Army, Richard Ruoff's 17th Army and Manstein's 11th Army), NOT Weichs' Army Group B (which included Paulus' 6th Army). Had it not been for the diversion of troops and resources from Army Group A to Army Group B, Kleist's panzers would rapidly reach the Armavir-Salsk-Maykop-Grozny-Baku line (reaching Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia). Hitler's first major mistake within this sector, for example, was to transfer and divert Manstein's 11th Army to Leningrad. List's initial intention was to use the 11th Army as a mobile reserve formation during his campaign, using it whenever the campaign demanded. However, Hitler interfered in List's plans and diverted the 11th Army to Leningrad. Following Hitler's decision, List lost almost half of his infantry force. Nevertheless, Kleist's 1st Panzer Army conquered Armavir, Salsk and Maykop. Ruoff's 17th Army, on the other hand, seized Rostov. Moreover, the 17th Army also destroyed the pockets of resistance left by Kleist's panzers. Army Group A's "Achilles' Heel", however, was not necessarily the Soviet troops themselves, but the lack of fuel! As Kleist reported after the war: "The main cause of our failure was the lack of fuel". If the 1st Panzer Army had received enough fuel, the Germans could have advanced almost unopposed towards Baku. By the end of August, List's advance was completely halted. As Kleist said after the war: "We could have achieved our goal if my forces had not been gradually diverted to Stalingrad". Stalingrad, therefore, was Hitler's greatest obsession! Note (3): Hitler imagined that his position at Stalingrad in October 1942 was similar to Falkenhayn's position at Verdun (September 1916). The conquest/destruction of Stalingrad, in my historical analysis, was a personal confrontation between Hitler and Stalin. Stalingrad was vital for his "great and real task" ("Große und eigentliche Aufgabe"): the struggle with Bolshevism (Die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Bolschewismus). Hitler passionately believed that the Russians "had already used their last reserves during the first winter of the war". Moreover, he assured Paulus that the Russians were at the "end of their forces" ("Die Russen sind am Ende ihrer Kraft"). By the end of October 1942, however, virtually the entire western bank of the Volga was already in German hands (including 90% of Stalingrad itself). The analysis made by General Sir Charles Gwynn (1870-1963), a retired British army officer when the Battle of Stalingrad took place, is perfectly correct: "The Germans must, from a purely military point of view, have begun to doubt whether it is really worth expending men and materials in an attempt to complete the capture of the city by assault. The Germans have already achieved much of their objective, as they practically destroyed Stalingrad as a center of war industries, gaining a position that allows them to interrupt the traffic on the Volga". Gwynn's analysis, in my opinion, was perfectly correct. Stalingrad was completely neutralized by the end of 1942. In October/November 1942, Stalingrad no longer had any strategic importance. Rather than focusing on the Caucasus and Caspian Sea oil fields (mainly Baku), Hitler, for his part, maintained his attention 100% focused on Stalingrad. The reason for that? Simple pride! As I mentioned before, the conquest/destruction of Stalingrad was a matter of honor for Hitler, that is, his true obsession. The destruction of the city bearing Stalin's name (STALINgrad), therefore, was his main goal/obsession. After Stalingrad, the Germans never regained their former military glory. In my own words, Stalingrad became a "symbol of the Soviet resistance and victory" ("Символ советского сопротивления и победы"). Hitler simply lost an entire army because of his foolish obsession/ego.

I can just picture stalin saying, "execute order 227. Not one step back" Soviet general: it shall be done my lord

Very insightful, incisive perspective. I have never heard this thinking before, and it rings very true. 💛🙏🏼

Please more WW2 videos. I would love to see your take on the battle of Midway

Stalingrad was an extremely important junction necessary for the Germans to take in order for them to meet their objectives. It had nothing to do with the city name.

Prior to Stalingrad, the Mongolian "siege of Bagdad" had the deadliest battle ever. A refusal to surrender and insulting the Mongolian general, after Bagdad's capture they spent 40 days killing everyone in the city. Militarily ,Stalingrad was a defeat the Germans would never recover from.

Your description of 227 was misleading as it only applied to officers who ordered unauthorized withdrawals

1:53 You forgot to mention that Germany had to tweek it’s plan by splitting the Army Group South into two because Germany needed oil so badly that it no longer had the time or resources to take Stalingrad and the Caucuses oil fields separately before running out of fuel.

A Russian friend (and fellow Baby Boomer) told me that it was the "Katushka Rockets" that saved the Russians. She wasn't actually there, but her parents were. Interesting factoid from a History Prof. at San Francisco State; until the Germans violated their non-aggression pact with Stalin, the Russians were actually supplying ammunition to the Germans.

Get your facts straight. Sovets started evacuation of people long before German attack. Over 100 thousands were evaluated. A lot of people were evaluated during the battle.

Great video. It was pretty informative.

I like the way the narrator explains with such enthusiasm

I think the name of the city is self-explaining, why it was so deadly and so heavily defended

One madman preventing his forces from breaking out the encirclement and another madman refusing to evacuate civilians and killing his own men while retreating.

Very well-made and explained video. This was the turning point of the war on the east front.

This is the real content of value on RU-vid.

The great battle in history Battle of Stalingrad:🇩🇪Germany, 🇷🇴Romania,🇭🇺Hungary and 🇮🇹Italy vs Soviet Union☭

I was there with Viktor Reznov. And it's pure madness

The Soviets really went through hell and are the MVPs of WWII. Chuikov’s brilliant “hug the enemy” strategy and his command style during the battle of Stalingrad made operation Uranus possible.

Because James Bisonette didn’t sponsor it

Imagine yourself in Stalingrad during WWII

IMPORTANT NOTE ON ORDER 227: the order primarely refered to the officers and commissars who allowed thous disastrous disorganized retreats in the prior year, contrary to popular belief it did not = in a you "will not retreat no matter what and if you even look behind your shoulder you will imidiatly get shot" like it is portrated in popular movies and this vid , because retreats did happen, the problem was that early in the war the soviet army was plagued by officers issuing unapproved retreat orders, AAAND this was true for every single army in the world, i allways found it odd that this was something the soviet got shit for when it came to insubordonation or deserters yet the same treatment was applyed to the americans, british , candians, germans, etc. good vid on the subject, but a little bit more research into order 227 would have bean appreciated, we all know the effect of the decisions of the soviet regime on both it's civilian and armed population, there is no point in makeing up stuff.

Great video. Thanks from Brazil.

Those poor Italians. Lord knows most of them wanted no part of fighting and they ended up in maybe THE worst theater of the entire war.

"It is a brave man who can be a coward in the Red Army" I.V. Stalin.

Also Stalingrad was on the river meaning the Germans couldn’t encircle it like Minsk was or Smolensk and the Soviets could easily send more men into the city. The Germans also bombed the place completely to the ground which lead to the house to house fighting and deaths on both sides

I am studying WWII on the net..... All these videos are so interesting

Excellent reporting comrade.

Not a bad documentary, but I don't think it's fair to say that the surviving civilians were "forced" to build fortications and trenches. I'm sure they understood the importance of these tasks.

If you have never seen the German movie" Stalingrad"made in 1993 it's worth a watch.

So very Good and informative video!! Keep em Commin👍🔥⚔️

In the words of Lawrence Olivier in, "The World at War": -"It was not just a defeat, it was a catastrophe. Enough equipment captured to supply one quarter of the entire German Army. "

While this was going on, another deadly set of battles around Rzhev were going on. Over a million Russians, possibly more were lost in pointless attacks. While German positions were constantly attacked and precious reserves that could have turned the tide at Stalingrad were sent to Rzhev. The Soviets nickname the battlesite: The Rzhev Meat Grinder.

What if you would do the same to the Battle of El Alamain or the Battle if Midway?

Thank - you .

Brought to you by the same people who made "Mommy, why do people die when they're underwater too long?"

POV: its your first time being this early lol

War is when the young and stupid are tricked by the old and bitter into killing each other

Very good video. this is how it was.

Nice way to use the map!

Great video. Good job!

The 1077th were some bad ass ladies, basically fought to the death.

Zhukov and his 3rd Division is legendary

Good vid !!

Stalingrad was the epitome of bravery, determination and human suffering.

I think it had something to do with all the guns, bombs, tanks, artillery and aircraft. Add in some freezing weather and malnutrition and it was pretty damn dangerous.

Sad so much suffering. Hate war. War is hell on Earth.

TIK has some 30 episodes on this battle...I can not recommend that channel enough.

The German 6th army that surrendered to the Red army, was the same elite 6th army that took Paris in 2 weeks...

Just imagine if this was in the mid 40s and the casualties surpassed millions, with todays tech and fighting techniques and strategies just imagine how many casualties will be made in the nezt major war

Mussolini’s fascist regime (ruled in Italy) arrogantly sent more than three hundred thousand Italian soldiers to help Hitler conquer Russia. These Italian forces were approximately equivalent to the Italian forces invading to Abyssinia, but the fate of the Italian soldiers was different, because most of them were destroyed in the snowy steppes of Russia, and very few of them were able to survive surrendering prisoner. These Italian armies really disappeared.

Whut? Duncan Fisher doing a narration while SOBER? Shocked, shocked and amazed I am! . I may be way off base (and I couldn't find a credit for the narrator), but I swear that this is the voice of the great George Ledoux. . Now, back to the Solaris Arena!

Stalin is specifically mentioned in the video but Hitler is only mentioned as "German Chancellor".

Great content, keep it up!

Great docu

Great video, not everything is perfect, but still it's impressive to see such material from english-speaking. But this video is lack of 227 orders text. In my opinion it was very important order during this devastating war.

Any chance you guys could do a video on the Battle of Rzhev, a battle which I think is very much overlooked and important in WW2? The casualties were also horrendous, although not on the scale of Stalingrad.

Please make a video about the Battle of Manila. It is called the Stalingrad of the Pacific.

TY 😸

What is the name of animation app that u use for video making please answer my question