THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD IN CRITICAL ANALYSIS, PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS AND FILM: PART II - AIRLIFT AND DEFEAT

When one visits the huge, “Mother of Russia” war statue in Stalingrad (now renamed

Volgograd), Russia, one gets the impression that an epic battle took place there. And, indeed,

an epic battle—the World War II Battle of Stalingrad between Germany and the Soviet Union—

did take place there. The battle, which lasted six months, produced over 1.5 million casualties

and led to the destruction of an entire Germany army and half of another.3 It also at one point

tied down seven Soviet armies. The magnitude of these figures makes the battle hard to

imagine, but it is clear that Stalingrad was one of the largest and longest single battles in military

history.


Stalingrad also is significant in that it marked a key turning point in the war on the Eastern

Front. While the ultimate outcome of Germany’s war effort in the East probably was determined

by its failure to defeat the U.S.S.R. in its 1941 campaign (Operation BARBAROSSA), Stalingrad

was the high water mark of Germany’s eastward advance. After its defeat at Stalingrad, the

Reich never again occupied as much Soviet territory and, with brief exceptions, was in retreat.


CONTENTS by CHAPTER:


1.  A DESPERATE STRUGGLE TO SAVE A CONDEMNED ARMY– A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE STALINGRAD AIRLIFT


2.  AN ANALYSIS OF THE GERMAN DEFEAT AT STALINGRAD


3. PHOTOGRAPHS AND ORIGINAL MAPS


4. HISTORIC FILM


a. 1942-08-xx - Degeto Weltspiegel Nr. xx: Der Kamp um Stalingrad - Beginn des Kampfes um Stalingrad.


b.  1942-10-07 - Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 631 - The "Deutsche Wochenschau" was a Third Reich newsreel produced from June 1940 until March 1945. These included editions include footage specific to the fight for Stalingrad


c. 1942-10-21 - Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 633


c. 1942-10-29 - Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 634


d. 1942-11-04 - Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 635


e. 1942-11-19 - Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 637


f.  1942-11-26 - Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 638