The horrifying brutality of Stalingrad: The battle that broke Hitler's Wehrmacht

In the early years of the Second World War, Hitler’s military campaigns overwhelmed much of Europe with shocking speed.

Poland fell in September 1939, followed by Denmark and Norway in April 1940, and then the Netherlands, Belgium, and France in May and June.

The Wehrmacht, supported by the Luftwaffe and armoured divisions, appeared unstoppable.

By mid-1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the large-scale invasion of the Soviet Union, which opened up the Eastern Front and brought the war into the vast steppes of Russia. 

After the Germans had made initial advances, they reached the outskirts of Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev.

However, the failure to capture Moscow before the end of 1941 exposed supply weaknesses and the danger of fighting in the Russian winter.

Soviet resistance stiffened. In 1942, Hitler shifted focus to the southern USSR, aiming to seize oil fields in the Caucasus and take Stalingrad (modern Volgograd), a vital industrial centre on the Volga River.

The drive toward this significant and important city would turn into a grinding ordeal that altered the course of the war. 

The German 6th Army, under General Friedrich Paulus, was regarded as one of the most experienced and well supplied formations in the Wehrmacht.

Supported by elements of the 4th Panzer Army and Romanian, Hungarian, and Italian divisions, the Axis force committed to the Stalingrad offensive numbered approximately 600,000 men at its height.

Backed by tanks, artillery, and air support from the Luftwaffe, the Germans expected a quick and decisive victory. 

Opposing them, the Soviet Union gathered large amounts of troops and supplies to defend the city.

Under the overall command of General Georgy Zhukov and with frontline leadership from General Vasily Chuikov, Soviet forces in and around Stalingrad eventually included more than one million troops.

The Red Army’s initial strength in the region was smaller, but additional troops arrived throughout the battle.

Soviet determination, combined with their ability to mobilise reserves and use the harsh winter to their advantage, allowed them to match and eventually exceed German strength on the Eastern Front.

Overall Soviet losses in the battle, which included military personnel and civilians who had been killed as well as those who had been wounded or reported missing, are thought to have exceeded 1.1 million when including both military personnel and civilians.

Axis casualties likely totalled between 500,000 and 600,000, though some estimates rise higher when including surrounding actions and long-term prisoner deaths. 

By late August 1942, German aircraft from the Luftwaffe’s 4th Air Fleet bombed Stalingrad repeatedly, which reduced large parts of the city to rubble.

These bombardments killed tens of thousands of civilians and created city ruins that unexpectedly aided the Soviet defenders.

German infantry and armoured divisions crossed the Don River and advanced towards the Volga, and this advance forced Soviet forces to retreat into the city’s centre.

The Germans pushed forward block by block, into what they believed would be a quick victory. 

Combat soon descended into close-quarters fighting in destroyed factories, apartment buildings and sewer systems.

Known as Rattenkrieg, or “rat war,” this brutal style of urban combat saw soldiers fight with grenades, knives and pistols at point-blank range.

Landmarks such as the Red October Factory, the Grain Elevator and Pavlov’s House became deadly strongpoints where Soviet defenders refused to yield.

Among these defenders was Vasily Zaitsev, a Soviet sniper whose actions became well known and who reportedly killed more than 200 German soldiers during the battle.

German progress slowed considerably as the Soviets used snipers, booby traps and ambushes to slow the advance. 

By November 1942, the Wehrmacht had captured most of Stalingrad’s west bank.

Soviet commanders had spent months in preparation for a large counteroffensive.

On 19 November, Operation Uranus began. Soviet forces struck the weaker Romanian and Hungarian units guarding the flanks of the German 6th Army.

Within days, the Red Army had surrounded over 250,000 Axis troops inside Stalingrad in what became known as the Kessel or “cauldron.” 

Hitler refused to allow a breakout and insisted that Paulus hold the city. The Luftwaffe, under Hermann Goering, attempted to supply the trapped 6th Army by air but the operation failed.

Goering had promised up to 500 tons of supplies per day, but this figure was later cut back.

In practice, the Luftwaffe averaged only around 85 tons. The harsh Russian winter, poor weather and Soviet anti-aircraft defences made steady resupply impossible.

Because they were isolated and had no fuel, food or ammunition, the Germans found themselves surrounded and increasingly desperate as Soviet forces tightened the noose. 

As the weeks dragged on, the encircled German soldiers suffered from extreme cold and disease.

Starvation further sapped their strength. Temperatures dropped to -30°C. Many froze to death in trenches or succumbed to frostbite.

With medical supplies scarce and rations cut to survival levels, some units resorted to killing horses for meat.

Corpses were left unburied and discipline began to break down. The once-proud 6th Army slowly became a starving, sick and disheartened force with no hope of relief. 

Civilians who remained in the city endured equally horrific conditions. Thousands took shelter in the ruins, and they often survived without food, electricity or clean water.

The fighting never ceased and the sounds of gunfire and artillery became constant.

Soviet troops, many of whom had also lost homes and families, were ordered to fight with unwavering resolve.

Stalin’s order No. 227, which declared “Not a step back,” ensured that retreat was subject to execution.

Both sides viewed surrender as unthinkable, and this prolonged the suffering. 

In January 1943, the Soviets launched a final series of attacks to crush the last resistance in Stalingrad.

Operation Ring, which began on 10 January and was coordinated by General Rokossovsky, methodically destroyed the shrinking German pocket.

Soviet shock armies, which were supported by artillery barrages and armoured formations, closed in from all sides and reduced the trapped defenders to a few isolated positions.

Ammunition had run out in many units. Wounded soldiers lay untreated in freezing shelters.

German command structures began to collapse under the weight of defeat and despair. 

On 31 January 1943, Paulus, promoted to Field Marshal just one day earlier, possibly to encourage him to commit suicide rather than surrender, surrendered and handed over the southern pocket of German forces.

Two days later, the northern remnants also surrendered. Around 91,000 Axis soldiers, including 24 generals, were taken prisoner.

Of these, approximately 6,000 would survive Soviet captivity and return home after the war.

The surrender of an entire German army was a disaster that Hitler had neither anticipated nor planned for.

The mental shock was severe, and the propaganda value of the Soviet triumph was exploited widely. 

Stalingrad shattered the false belief that the Wehrmacht was unbeatable and initiated an ongoing German retreat on the Eastern Front.

For the first time, the Nazi regime had lost an entire field army in combat. Hitler's authority over military planning remained intact, but his trust among some commanders was permanently damaged.

The loss of men and equipment at Stalingrad could not be replaced easily, particularly with the growing demands on the Western and Italian fronts. 

In the months that followed, Soviet forces pushed westward with a new drive. The Red Army gained both confidence and experience from the victory.

German allies in the east, including Romania and Hungary, became less committed as the tide of war turned.

The defeat at Stalingrad, combined with later disasters such as the Battle of Kursk, shifted the balance of the war.

From February 1943 onwards, Germany found itself increasingly on the defensive.

Compared to other key moments of the war, such as El Alamein and Kursk, Stalingrad was unparalleled for its unprecedented size and the fierceness it unleashed, which changed how the Eastern Front was fought.