Battle of Stalingrad

Date

23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943

Category

Military & conflict

Region

Eastern Europe (Soviet Union)

Era

Modern

Significance

The Battle of Stalingrad was fought from 23 August 1942 to 2 February 1943 between German and Soviet forces for control of the city on the Volga. After months of devastating urban combat, a Soviet counteroffensive launched on 19 November 1942 (Operation Uranus) encircled the German Sixth Army.

Cut off and denied permission to break out, the trapped force surrendered on 2 February 1943, the first of Hitler's field armies to capitulate; some 91,000 surviving Germans were taken prisoner. Total casualties on both sides exceeded a million, making it among the bloodiest battles in history. The defeat ended German offensive capability in the east and marked the strategic turning point of the war on the Eastern Front, after which the initiative passed decisively to the Soviet Union.

Empires active in 23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943

• Soviet Union
  1922 CE – 1991 CE
• Empire of Japan
  1868 CE – 1947 CE
• French Colonial Empire (Second)
  1830 CE – 1962 CE
• British Empire
  1583 CE – 1997 CE
• Spanish Empire
  1492 CE – 1976 CE
• Portuguese Empire
  1415 CE – 1999 CE

Related military & conflict events

• Operation Barbarossa: German invasion of the Soviet Union
  22 June 1941
• Attack on Pearl Harbor
  7 December 1941
• D-Day: the Normandy landings
  6 June 1944
• Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  6 & 9 August 1945
• German invasion of Poland and outbreak of World War II
  1 September 1939
• Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanjing Massacre
  7 July 1937 – 2 September 1945

Further reading

Stalingrad

If you read one book

Stalingrad

Antony Beevor

The landmark popular history of the battle.

Get it on Amazon →

Also worth reading

• Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad — William CraigAmazon →

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