![]() Perhaps more importantly it is also widely recognized as the major turning point in WW2.įollowing the German defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler and his Axis allies could still mount limited offensives against the Soviets. ![]() To this day, Stalingrad remains the bloodiest battle in the history of warfare, with an estimated 2 million lives lost from both sides. In the end, the capitulation of the starving survivors of the German Army in Stalingrad sent a strong message to the Allied forces: The vaunted German war machine could be beaten. It is worth noting that this tiny brave force of Soviets held out for longer against the Germans than France or Belgium had been able to resist the Blitzkrieg. Led by Sergeant Yakov Pavlov, less than 30 Soviet soldiers stood their ground against the overwhelming Nazi onslaught. The ferocity of the Soviet defence was best exemplified by the defenders of the legendary Pavlov’s House. The entire world had watched this colossal struggle, as Hitler’s heretofore undefeated legions engaged in furious house-to-house street battles with an equally stubborn Soviet foe. For five months the German Wehrmacht and their Axis allies had first battled their way into Stalingrad, and then defended their gains after being cut off and surrounded by superior Soviet forces. On February 2nd, 1943 the battered remnants of the German 6th Army surrendered to the victorious Soviet forces in the smouldering rubble of what had once been the city of Stalingrad.
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