Battle of Stalingrad World War II briefly. Briefly about the Battle of Stalingrad: a chronology. What assessment of this battle takes place in the West

Starting the war against the USSR, the German command planned to complete the hostilities during one short campaign. However, during the winter battle of 1941-1942. the Wehrmacht was defeated and was forced to surrender part of the occupied territory. By the spring of 1942, in turn, the counter-offensive of the Red Army had stopped, and the headquarters of both sides began to develop plans for summer battles.

Plans and forces

In 1942, the situation at the front was no longer as favorable for the Wehrmacht as in the summer of 1941. The surprise factor was lost, and the overall balance of forces changed in favor of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA). An offensive along the entire front to a great depth, similar to the 1941 campaign. became impossible. The Wehrmacht High Command was forced to limit the scope of operations: in the central sector of the front it was supposed to go on the defensive, in the northern it was planned to strike around Leningrad with limited forces. The main direction of future operations was the south. On April 5, 1942, in Directive No. 41, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Adolf Hitler outlined the goals of the campaign: "Finally destroy the manpower that still remains with the Soviets, deprive the Russians of as many of the most important military and economic centers as possible." The immediate task of the main operation on the Eastern Front was determined by the exit of German troops to the Caucasus Range and the capture of a number of economically important areas - primarily the oil fields of Maikop and Grozny, the lower reaches of the Volga, Voronezh and Stalingrad. The offensive plan was codenamed "Blau" ("Blue").

Army Group South played the main role in the offensive. She suffered less than others during the winter campaign. It was reinforced with reserves: fresh infantry and tank formations were transferred to the army group, part of the formations from other sectors of the front, some motorized divisions were reinforced by tank battalions seized from Army Group Center. In addition, the divisions involved in Operation Blau were the first to receive modernized armored vehicles - medium tanks Pz. IV and StuG III self-propelled guns with enhanced armament, which made it possible to effectively fight against Soviet armored vehicles.

The army group had to operate on a very wide front, so the contingents of Germany's allies were involved in the operation on an unprecedented scale. The 3rd Romanian, 2nd Hungarian and 8th Italian armies took part in it. The allies made it possible to hold a long front line, but they had to reckon with their relatively low combat effectiveness: neither in terms of the level of training of soldiers and the competence of officers, nor in terms of the quality and quantity of weapons, the Allied armies were on the same level with either the Wehrmacht or the Red Army. For the convenience of managing this mass of troops, already during the offensive, Army Group South was divided into Group A, advancing on the Caucasus, and Group B, advancing on Stalingrad. The main striking force of Army Group B was the 6th Field Army under the command of Friedrich Paulus and the 4th Panzer Army of Hermann Goth.

At the same time, the Red Army was planning defensive operations in the southwestern direction. However, the Southern, Southwestern and Bryansk fronts in the direction of the first blow "Blau" had mobile formations for counterattacks. The spring of 1942 became the time for the restoration of the tank forces of the Red Army, and before the campaign of 1942, tank and mechanized corps of a new wave were formed. They had fewer capabilities than the German tank and motorized divisions, had a small artillery fleet and weak motorized rifle units. However, these formations could already influence the operational situation and provide serious assistance to rifle units.

The preparation of Stalingrad for defense began as early as October 1941, when the command of the North Caucasian Military District received instructions from the Headquarters to build defensive lines around Stalingrad - lines of field fortifications. However, by the summer of 1942 they were never completed. Finally, supply problems seriously affected the capabilities of the Red Army in the summer and autumn of 1942. The industry has not yet developed a sufficient amount of equipment and consumables to cover the needs of the army. Throughout 1942, the consumption of ammunition by the Red Army turned out to be significantly lower than that of the enemy. In practice, this meant that there were not enough shells to suppress the defense of the Wehrmacht with artillery strikes or to counter it in counter-battery combat.

Battle in the bend of the Don

On June 28, 1942, the main summer offensive of the German troops began. Initially, it developed successfully for the enemy. Soviet troops were thrown back from their positions in the Donbass to the Don. At the same time, a wide gap appeared in the front of the Soviet troops to the west of Stalingrad. In order to close this gap, on July 12, the Stalingrad Front was created by the directive of the Stavka. For the defense of the city, mainly reserve armies were used. Among them was the former 7th reserve, which, after entering the active army, received a new number - 62. It was she who was to defend Stalingrad directly in the future. In the meantime, the newly formed front was advancing to the line of defense to the west of the big bend of the Don.

The front initially had only small forces. The divisions that were already at the front managed to suffer heavy losses, and part of the reserve ones only followed the assigned lines. The mobile reserve of the front was the 13th Panzer Corps, which was not yet equipped with equipment.

The main forces of the front advanced from the depths and had no contact with the enemy. Therefore, one of the first tasks assigned by the Headquarters to the first commander of the Stalingrad Front, Marshal S.K. Timoshenko, consisted in sending forward detachments towards the enemy 30-80 km from the front line of defense - for reconnaissance and, if possible, occupying more advantageous lines. On July 17, the forward detachments first encountered the vanguards of the German troops. This day marked the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. The Stalingrad front collided with the troops of the 6th field and 4th tank armies of the Wehrmacht.

The battles with front-line forward detachments lasted until July 22. It is interesting that Paulus and Goth were not yet aware of the presence of large forces of Soviet troops - they believed that only weak units were ahead. In reality, the Stalingrad Front numbered 386 thousand people, and numerically inferior to the advancing troops of the 6th Army (443 thousand people as of July 20). However, the front defended a wide strip, which allowed the enemy to concentrate superior forces on the breakthrough sector. On July 23, when the battles for the main line of defense began, the 6th Wehrmacht Army quickly broke through the front of the Soviet 62nd Army, and a small “cauldron” formed on its right flank. The attackers were able to reach the Don north of the city of Kalach. The threat of encirclement hung over the entire 62nd Army. However, unlike the encirclement of the autumn of 1941, the Stalingrad Front had a maneuverable reserve at its disposal. The 13th Panzer Corps of T.S. was used to break through the encirclement. Tanaschishin, who managed to pave the way to freedom for the encircled detachment. Soon, an even more powerful counterattack hit the flanks of the German wedge that had broken through to the Don. To defeat the German units that had broken through, two tank armies were thrown - the 1st and 4th. However, each of them consisted of only two rifle divisions and one tank corps capable of participating in a counterattack.

Unfortunately, the battles of 1942 were characterized by the advantage of the Wehrmacht at the tactical level. German soldiers and officers had, on average, the best level of training, including in technical terms. Therefore, the counterattacks launched from two sides by tank armies in the last days of July crashed against the German defenses. The tanks advanced with very little support from infantry and artillery, and suffered unnecessarily heavy losses. There was undoubtedly an effect from their actions: the forces of the 6th Field Army, which entered the breakthrough, could not build on the success and force the Don. However, the stability of the front line could only be maintained until the forces of the attackers were exhausted. On August 6, the 1st Tank Army, which had lost almost all its equipment, was disbanded. A day later, units of the Wehrmacht surrounded the large forces of the 62nd Army west of the Don with a blow in converging directions.

Surrounded by troops, several separate detachments managed to break out of the ring, but the battle in the bend of the Don was lost. Although the fierce resistance of the Red Army is constantly emphasized in German documents, the Wehrmacht managed to defeat the opposing Soviet units and force the Don.

Fight on the defensive contours of Stalingrad

At the moment when the battle was developing in the big bend of the Don, a new threat loomed over the Stalingrad front. She came from the southern flank, occupied by weak units. Initially, the 4th Panzer Army of Hermann Hoth did not aim at Stalingrad, but stubborn resistance on the Don forced the Wehrmacht command to turn it from the Caucasian direction to the rear of the Stalingrad Front. The reserves of the front were already involved in the battle, so the tank army could rapidly attack the rear of the defenders of Stalingrad. On July 28, the Headquarters ordered the new commander of the Stalingrad Front, A.I. Eremenko to take measures to protect the south-west of the outer defense bypass. However, this order was somewhat late. On August 2, Goth's tanks reached the Kotelnikovsky district . Due to the dominance of German aviation in the air, Soviet reserves were crushed on the approaches, and entered the battle already seriously battered. On August 3, the Germans, having easily broken through the front, rushed to the northeast and deeply bypassed the positions of the defenders of Stalingrad. It was possible to stop them only in the Abganerovo region - geographically it is already to the south, and not west of Stalingrad. Abganerovo was held for a long time thanks to the timely approach of reserves, including the 13th Panzer Corps. Corps T.I. Tanaschishin became the "fire brigade" of the front: the tankers for the second time eliminated the consequences of a severe failure.

While the fighting was going on south of Stalingrad, Paulus was planning a new encirclement, already on the eastern bank of the Don. On August 21, on the northern flank, the 6th Army crossed the river and began an offensive to the east, to the Volga. The 62nd Army, already battered in the "cauldron", could not hold back the blow, and the Wehrmacht vanguards rushed to Stalingrad from the northwest. In the event of the implementation of German plans, Soviet troops were to be surrounded west of Stalingrad and die in the flat steppe. So far, this plan has been carried out.

At this time there was an evacuation of Stalingrad. Before the war, this city with a population of more than 400 thousand people was one of the most important industrial centers of the USSR. Now the Stavka faced the question of evacuating people and industrial facilities. However, no more than 100,000 Stalingraders were able to cross the Volga by the time the fighting for the city began. There was no talk of a ban on the export of people, but a huge number of goods and people awaiting the crossing had accumulated on the west bank - from refugees from other areas to food and equipment. The capacity of the crossings did not allow everyone to be taken out, and the command believed that they still had time left. Meanwhile, events developed rapidly. Already on August 23, the first German tanks reached the northern outskirts. On the same day, Stalingrad was subjected to a devastating air strike.

As early as July 23, Hitler pointed out the need for the "advance" destruction of Stalingrad. On August 23, the Fuhrer's order was carried out. The Luftwaffe struck in groups of 30-40 vehicles, in total they made more than two thousand sorties. A significant part of the city was made up of wooden buildings, they were quickly destroyed by fire. The water supply was destroyed, so the fire brigades could not fight the fire. In addition, as a result of the bombing, oil storage facilities ignited. (On this day?) about 40 thousand people, mostly civilians, died in Stalingrad, and the city was almost completely destroyed.

Since the Wehrmacht units reached the city in a quick spurt, the defense of Stalingrad was disorganized. The German command considered it necessary to quickly link up the 6th Field Army, which was advancing from the northwest, and the 4th Panzer Army, from the south. Therefore, the main task of the Germans was to close the flanks of the two armies. However, the new environment did not take place. Tank brigades and front corps launched counterattacks against the northern strike force. They did not stop the enemy, but allowed the main forces of the 62nd Army to be withdrawn to the city. To the south, the 64th Army was defending. It was they who became the main participants in the ensuing battle in Stalingrad. By the time the 6th field and 4th tank armies of the Wehrmacht joined, the main forces of the Red Army had already got out of the trap.

Defense of Stalingrad

On September 12, 1942, a major personnel reshuffle took place: the 62nd Army was led by General Vasily Chuikov. The army retreated into the city seriously battered, but it still had more than 50 thousand people in its composition, and now it had to hold a bridgehead in front of the Volga on a narrow front. In addition, the German advance was inevitably slowed down by the obvious difficulties of street fighting.

However, the Wehrmacht was not at all going to get involved in two-month street battles. From the point of view of Paulus, the task of taking Stalingrad was solved within ten days. From the standpoint of post-knowledge, the Wehrmacht's persistence in destroying the 62nd Army seems difficult to explain. However, at that particular moment, Paulus and his staff believed that the city could be taken within a reasonable time with moderate losses.

The first assault began almost immediately. During September 14-15, the Germans took the dominant height - Mamaev Kurgan, joined the forces of their two armies and cut off the 62nd Army from the 64th operating south. However, in addition to the stubborn resistance of the city's garrison, two factors influenced the attackers. Firstly, reinforcements regularly came across the Volga. The course of the September assault was broken by the 13th Guards Division of Major General A.I. Rodimtseva, who managed to regain part of the lost positions by counterattacks and stabilized the situation. On the other hand, Paulus did not have the opportunity to recklessly throw all available forces into the capture of Stalingrad. The positions of the 6th Army north of the city were subjected to constant attacks by Soviet troops, who were trying to build a land corridor to their own. A series of offensive operations in the steppe northwest of Stalingrad turned out to be heavy losses for the Red Army with minimal progress. The tactical training of the attacking troops turned out to be poor, and the superiority of the Germans in firepower made it possible to effectively disrupt the attacks. However, pressure on the army of Paulus from the north did not allow him to concentrate on the main task.

In October, the left flank of the 6th Army, drawn far to the west, was covered by Romanian troops, which made it possible to use two additional divisions in a new assault on Stalingrad. This time, the industrial zone in the north of the city was attacked. As in the first assault, the Wehrmacht ran into reserves coming from other sectors of the front. The headquarters closely monitored the situation in Stalingrad and transferred fresh units to the city in a dosed manner. Transportation went in an extremely difficult situation: the boats were attacked by artillery and aircraft of the Wehrmacht. However, the Germans did not succeed in completely blocking traffic along the river.

The advancing German troops suffered high losses in the city and advanced very slowly. Extremely stubborn battles made Paulus' headquarters nervous: he began to make frankly controversial decisions. The weakening of positions beyond the Don and their transfer to the Romanian troops was the first risky step. The next is the use of tank divisions for street fighting, the 14th and 24th. Armored vehicles did not have a significant impact on the course of the battle in the city, and the divisions suffered heavy losses and got involved in a hopeless confrontation.

It should be noted that in October 1942, Hitler already considered the goals of the campaign as a whole achieved. The order dated October 14 stated that "the summer and autumn campaigns of this year, with the exception of individual operations still ongoing and planned offensive actions of a local nature, have been completed."

In fact, the German troops did not so much complete the campaign as they lost the initiative. In November, freezing began on the Volga, which greatly worsened the position of the 62nd Army: due to the situation on the river, it was difficult to deliver reinforcements and ammunition to the city. The defense zone in many places narrowed to hundreds of meters. However, the stubborn defense in the city allowed the Headquarters to prepare a decisive counteroffensive of the Great Patriotic War.

To be continued...

Introduction

On April 20, 1942, the battle for Moscow ended. The German army, whose offensive seemed unstoppable, was not only stopped, but also thrown back from the capital of the USSR by 150-300 kilometers. The Nazis suffered heavy losses, and although the Wehrmacht was still very strong, Germany no longer had the opportunity to attack simultaneously on all sectors of the Soviet-German front.

While the spring thaw lasted, the Germans developed a plan for the summer offensive of 1942, code-named Fall Blau - "Blue Option". The initial goal of the German strike was the oil fields of Grozny and Baku with the possibility of further development of the offensive against Persia. Before the deployment of this offensive, the Germans were going to cut off the Barvenkovsky ledge - a large bridgehead captured by the Red Army on the western bank of the Seversky Donets River.

The Soviet command, in turn, was also going to conduct a summer offensive in the zone of the Bryansk, Southern and Southwestern fronts. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the Red Army was the first to strike and at first the German troops managed to push back almost to Kharkov, the Germans managed to turn the situation in their favor and inflict a major defeat on the Soviet troops. On the sector of the Southern and Southwestern fronts, the defense was weakened to the limit, and on June 28, the 4th Panzer Army of Hermann Goth broke through between Kursk and Kharkov. The Germans went to the Don.

At this point, Hitler, by personal order, made a change to the Blue Option, which later cost Nazi Germany dearly. He divided Army Group South into two parts. Army Group "A" was supposed to continue the offensive in the Caucasus. Army Group B was to reach the Volga, cut off the strategic communications that connected the European part of the USSR with the Caucasus and Central Asia, and capture Stalingrad. For Hitler, this city was important not only from a practical point of view (as a major industrial center), but also purely for ideological reasons. The capture of the city, which bore the name of the main enemy of the Third Reich, would be the greatest propaganda achievement of the German army.

The alignment of forces and the first stage of the battle

Army Group B, advancing on Stalingrad, included the 6th Army of General Paulus. The army consisted of 270 thousand soldiers and officers, about 2200 guns and mortars, about 500 tanks. From the air, the 6th Army was supported by the 4th Air Fleet of General Wolfram von Richthofen, which numbered about 1200 aircraft. A little later, towards the end of July, the 4th Panzer Army of Herman Goth was transferred to Army Group B, which included on July 1, 1942 the 5th, 7th and 9th Army and the 46th Motorized corps. The latter included the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.

The Southwestern Front, renamed Stalingrad on July 12, 1942, consisted of about 160,000 personnel, 2,200 guns and mortars, and about 400 tanks. Of the 38 divisions that were part of the front, only 18 were fully equipped, while the rest had from 300 to 4000 people. The 8th Air Army, which operated along with the front, was also significantly inferior in numbers to von Richthofen's fleet. With these forces, the Stalingrad Front was forced to defend a sector more than 500 kilometers wide. A separate problem for the Soviet troops was the flat steppe terrain, on which enemy tanks could operate at full strength. Taking into account the low level of anti-tank weapons in front units and formations, this made the tank threat critical.

The offensive of the German troops began on July 17, 1942. On this day, the vanguards of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht entered into battle with units of the 62nd Army on the Chir River and in the area of ​​​​the Pronin farm. By July 22, the Germans pushed the Soviet troops back almost 70 kilometers, to the main line of defense of Stalingrad. The German command, which expected to take the city on the move, decided to surround the Red Army units at the villages of Kletskaya and Suvorovskaya, seize crossings across the Don and develop the offensive against Stalingrad without stopping. For this purpose, two strike groups were created, advancing from the north and south. The northern group was formed from units of the 6th Army, the southern group from units of the 4th Panzer Army.

The northern group, striking on July 23, broke through the defense front of the 62nd Army and surrounded its two rifle divisions and a tank brigade. By July 26, the advanced units of the Germans reached the Don. The command of the Stalingrad Front organized a counterattack, in which the mobile formations of the front reserve, as well as the 1st and 4th tank armies, which had not yet completed the formation, took part. Tank armies were a new regular structure within the Red Army. It is not clear who exactly put forward the idea of ​​their formation, but in the documents this idea was first voiced to Stalin by the head of the Main Armored Directorate, Ya. N. Fedorenko. In the form in which the tank armies were conceived, they did not last long enough, subsequently undergoing a serious restructuring. But the fact that it was near Stalingrad that such a staff unit appeared is a fact. The 1st Panzer Army struck from the Kalach area on July 25, and the 4th from the villages of Trekhostrovskaya and Kachalinskaya on July 27.

Fierce fighting in this area lasted until August 7-8. It was possible to unblock the encircled units, but it was not possible to defeat the advancing Germans. The development of events was also negatively affected by the fact that the level of training of the personnel of the armies of the Stalingrad Front was low, and a number of errors in the coordination of actions made by the unit commanders.

In the south, Soviet troops managed to stop the Germans near the settlements of Surovikino and Rychkovsky. Nevertheless, the Nazis were able to break through the front of the 64th Army. To eliminate this breakthrough, on July 28, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ordered, no later than the 30th, the forces of the 64th Army, as well as two infantry divisions and a tank corps, to strike and defeat the enemy in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe village of Nizhne-Chirskaya.

Despite the fact that the new units entered the battle on the move and their combat capabilities suffered from this, by the indicated date the Red Army managed to push the Germans back and even threaten their encirclement. Unfortunately, the Nazis managed to bring fresh forces into battle and help the group. After that, the fighting escalated even hotter.

On July 28, 1942, another event occurred that cannot be left behind the scenes. On this day, the famous Order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR No. 227, also known as "Not a step back!", was adopted. He significantly toughened the penalties for unauthorized retreat from the battlefield, introduced penal units for the guilty fighters and commanders, and also introduced barrage detachments - special units that were engaged in detaining deserters and returning them to duty. This document, for all its rigidity, was adopted quite positively by the troops and actually reduced the number of disciplinary violations in military units.

At the end of July, the 64th Army was nevertheless forced to withdraw beyond the Don. German troops captured a number of bridgeheads on the left bank of the river. In the area of ​​​​the village of Tsymlyanskaya, the Nazis concentrated very serious forces: two infantry, two motorized and one tank division. The headquarters ordered the Stalingrad Front to drive the Germans to the western (right) bank and restore the line of defense along the Don, but it was not possible to eliminate the breakthrough. On July 30, the Germans went on the offensive from the village of Tsymlyanskaya and by August 3 made significant progress, capturing the Repair station, the station and the city of Kotelnikovo, the settlement of Zhutovo. On the same days, the 6th Romanian corps of the enemy came to the Don. In the zone of operations of the 62nd Army, the Germans went on the offensive on August 7 in the direction of Kalach. The Soviet troops were forced to retreat to the left bank of the Don. On August 15, the Soviet 4th Tank Army had to do the same, because the Germans were able to break through its front in the center and split the defense in half.

By August 16, the troops of the Stalingrad Front withdrew beyond the Don and took up defensive positions on the outer line of the city fortifications. On August 17, the Germans resumed the onslaught and by the 20th they managed to capture the crossings, as well as a bridgehead in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe village of Vertyachiy. Attempts to discard or destroy them were unsuccessful. On August 23, the German group, with the support of aviation, broke through the defense front of the 62nd and 4th tank armies and advanced units reached the Volga. On this day, German aircraft made about 2,000 sorties. Many quarters of the city were in ruins, oil storage facilities were on fire, about 40 thousand civilians died. The enemy broke through to the line Rynok - Orlovka - Gumrak - Peschanka. The struggle passed under the walls of Stalingrad.

Fighting in the city

Having forced the Soviet troops to retreat almost to the outskirts of Stalingrad, the enemy threw six German and one Romanian infantry divisions, two tank divisions and one motorized division against the 62nd Army. The number of tanks in this grouping of the Nazis was approximately 500. From the air, the enemy was supported by at least 1000 aircraft. The threat of the capture of the city became tangible. To eliminate it, the Headquarters of the Supreme Command transferred to the defenders two completed armies (10 rifle divisions, 2 tank brigades), re-equipped the 1st Guards Army (6 rifle divisions, 2 guards rifle, 2 tank brigades), and also subordinated the 16th to the Stalingrad Front air army.

On September 5 and 18, the troops of the Stalingrad Front (September 30, it will be renamed Donskoy) carried out two major operations, thanks to which they managed to weaken the German onslaught on the city, pulling back about 8 infantry, two tank and two motorized divisions. Again, it was not possible to carry out the complete defeat of the Nazi units. Fierce battles for the internal defensive bypass went on for a long time.

Urban battles began on September 13, 1942 and continued until November 19, when the Red Army launched a counteroffensive as part of Operation Uranus. From September 12, the defense of Stalingrad was entrusted to the 62nd Army, which was transferred under the command of Lieutenant General V. I. Chuikov. This man, who before the start of the Battle of Stalingrad was considered insufficiently experienced for military command, set up a real hell for the enemy in the city.

On September 13, in the immediate vicinity of the city, there were six infantry, three tank and two motorized divisions of the Germans. Until September 18, there were fierce battles in the central and southern parts of the city. South of the railway station, the onslaught of the enemy was held back, but in the center the Germans drove out the Soviet troops up to the Krutoy ravine.

The battles on September 17 for the station were extremely fierce. It changed hands four times during the day. Here the Germans left 8 burnt tanks and about a hundred killed. On September 19, the left wing of the Stalingrad Front tried to strike in the direction of the station with a further attack on Gumrak and Gorodishche. The advance could not be carried out, however, a large enemy grouping was held down by battles, which facilitated the situation for the units fighting in the center of Stalingrad. In general, the defense here was so strong that the enemy did not manage to reach the Volga.

Realizing that success could not be achieved in the center of the city, the Germans concentrated troops to the south to attack in an easterly direction, to Mamaev Kurgan and the village of Red October. On September 27, Soviet troops launched a pre-emptive attack, operating in small infantry groups armed with light machine guns, Molotov cocktails, and anti-tank rifles. Fierce fighting continued from 27 September to 4 October. These were the same Stalingrad city battles, stories about which freeze the blood in the veins even of a person with strong nerves. There were battles not for streets and quarters, sometimes not even for entire houses, but for individual floors and rooms. The guns were fired with direct fire almost at point blank range, an incendiary mixture was used, fire from short distances. Hand-to-hand fights have become commonplace, as in the Middle Ages, when edged weapons ruled the battlefield. In a week of continuous fighting, the Germans advanced 400 meters. Even those who were not intended for this had to fight: builders, soldiers of pontoon units. The Nazis gradually began to run out of steam. The same desperate and bloody battles were in full swing at the Barrikady plant, near the village of Orlovka, on the outskirts of the Silicate plant.

In early October, the territories occupied by the Red Army in Stalingrad were so reduced that they were shot through with machine-gun and artillery fire. Support for the fighting troops was carried out from the opposite bank of the Volga with the help of literally everything that could float: boats, steamers, boats. German aircraft continuously bombed the crossings, making this task even more difficult.

And while the soldiers of the 62nd Army were shackling and grinding the enemy troops in battle, the High Command was already preparing plans for a large offensive operation aimed at destroying the Stalingrad group of Nazis.

"Uranus" and the surrender of Paulus

By the time the Soviet counter-offensive began, in addition to the 6th Army of Paulus, there were also the 2nd Army of von Salmuth, the 4th Panzer Army of Goth, the Italian, Romanian and Hungarian armies near Stalingrad.

On November 19, the Red Army, with the help of three fronts, launched a large-scale offensive operation, code-named "Uranus". It was opened by about three and a half thousand guns and mortars. The artillery barrage lasted about two hours. Subsequently, it was in memory of this artillery preparation that November 19 became a professional holiday for artillerymen.

On November 23, the encirclement ring closed around the 6th Army and the main forces of the 4th Panzer Army of Gotha. On November 24, about 30 thousand Italians capitulated near the village of Raspopinskaya. By November 24, the territory occupied by the encircled Nazi units covered about 40 kilometers from west to east, and about 80 from north to south. Further "compression" progressed slowly, as the Germans organized a dense defense and clung to literally every piece of land. Paulus insisted on a breakthrough, but Hitler categorically forbade it. He still did not lose hope that he would be able to help the encircled from outside.

The rescue mission was entrusted to Erich von Manstein. Army Group Don, which he commanded, was supposed to release the besieged army of Paulus in December 1942 with a blow from Kotelnikovsky and Tormosin. On December 12, Operation Winter Storm began. Moreover, the Germans did not go on the offensive with full strength - in fact, by the time the offensive began, they were able to field only one Wehrmacht tank division and a Romanian infantry division. Subsequently, two more incomplete tank divisions and some infantry joined the offensive. On December 19, Manstein's troops clashed with the 2nd Guards Army of Rodion Malinovsky, and by December 25, the "Winter Thunderstorm" died out in the snowy Don steppes. The Germans retreated to their original positions, having suffered heavy losses.

Grouping Paulus was doomed. It seemed that the only person who refused to admit it was Hitler. He was categorically against retreat when it was still possible, and did not want to hear about capitulation when the mousetrap finally and irrevocably slammed shut. Even when the Soviet troops captured the last airfield from which the Luftwaffe aircraft supplied the army (extremely weak and unstable), he continued to demand resistance from Paulus and his people.

On January 10, 1943, the final operation of the Red Army began to eliminate the Stalingrad group of Nazis. It was called "The Ring". On January 9, the day before it began, the Soviet command issued an ultimatum to Friedrich Paulus, demanding to surrender. On the same day, by chance, the commander of the 14th tank corps, General Hube, arrived in the boiler. He conveyed that Hitler demanded that resistance be continued until a new attempt was made to break through the encirclement from the outside. Paulus carried out the order and rejected the ultimatum.

The Germans resisted as best they could. The offensive of the Soviet troops was even stopped from 17 to 22 January. After the regrouping of the Red Army, they again went on the attack and on January 26 the Nazi forces were split into two parts. The northern group was located in the area of ​​the Barrikady plant, and the southern group, in which Paulus himself was, was located in the city center. Paulus' command post was located in the basement of the central department store.

On January 30, 1943, Hitler awarded Friedrich Paulus the rank of field marshal. According to the unwritten Prussian military tradition, field marshals never surrendered. So on the part of the Fuhrer, this was a hint of how the commander of the encircled army should have ended his military career. However, Paulus decided that it is better not to understand some of the hints. On January 31, at noon, Paulus surrendered. It took two more days to liquidate the remnants of the Nazi troops in Stalingrad. On February 2, it was all over. The battle of Stalingrad is over.

About 90 thousand German soldiers and officers were captured. The Germans lost about 800 thousand killed, 160 tanks and about 200 aircraft were captured.

The Battle of Stalingrad lasted from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943, and is considered the largest land battle in the history of mankind. This battle marked a turning point in the course, during this battle, the Soviet troops finally stopped the troops of Nazi Germany, and forced them to stop the offensive on Russian lands.

Historians believe that the total area on which hostilities unfolded during the Battle of Stalingrad equals one hundred thousand square kilometers. It was attended by two million people, also two thousand tanks, two thousand aircraft, twenty-six thousand guns. The Soviet troops eventually defeated the huge fascist army, which consisted of two German armies, two Romanian, and another Italian army.

Background of the Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was preceded by other historical events. In December 1941, the Red Army defeated the Nazis near Moscow. Encouraged by the success, the leaders of the Soviet Union gave the order to launch a large-scale offensive near Kharkov. The offensive failed, and the Soviet army was defeated. German troops then went to Stalingrad.

The capture of Stalingrad was needed by the Nazi command for various reasons:

• Firstly, the capture of the city, which bore the name of Stalin, the leader of the Soviet people, could break the morale of the opponents of fascism, and not only in the Soviet Union, but throughout the world;
• Secondly, the capture of Stalingrad could give the Nazis the opportunity to cut off all communications vital for Soviet citizens that connected the center of the country with its southern part, in particular, with the Caucasus.

The course of the Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad began on July 17, 1942 near the Chir and Tsimla rivers. The 62nd and 64th Soviet armies met with the vanguard of the sixth German army. The stubbornness of the Soviet troops made it impossible for the German troops to break through to Stalingrad quickly. On July 28, 1942, an order was issued by I.V. Stalin, in which it was clearly said: "Not a step back!". This famous order was discussed many times later by historians, and there were different attitudes towards it, but it had a great impact on the masses.

The history of the Battle of Stalingrad was briefly largely determined by this order. According to this order, special penal companies and battalions were created, which included privates and officers of the Red Army, who were guilty of something before the Motherland. Since August 1942, the battle has been taking place in the city itself. On August 23, a German air raid takes the lives of forty thousand people in the city, and turns the central part of the city into burning ruins.

Then the German 6th Army begins to break into the city. She is opposed by Soviet snipers and assault groups. A desperate fight takes place for every street. In the second half of September, German troops push the 62nd Army and break through to the Volga. At the same time, the river is controlled by the Germans, and all Soviet ships and boats are fired upon.

The significance of the Battle of Stalingrad lies in the fact that the Soviet command managed to create a superiority of forces, and the Soviet people, with their heroism, were able to stop the powerful and technically well-equipped German army. On November 19, 1943, the counter-offensive of the Soviet troops began. The onslaught of the Soviet troops led to the fact that part of the German troops was encircled.

More than ninety thousand people were taken prisoner - soldiers and officers of the German army, of which no more than twenty percent returned to Germany. On January 24, the commander of the German troops, Friedrich Paulus, who was later promoted by Hitler to the rank of Field Marshal, asked the German command for permission to declare surrender. But he was categorically denied this. Nevertheless, on January 31, he was forced to announce the surrender of German troops.

Results of the Battle of Stalingrad

The defeat of the German troops caused the weakening of the fascist regimes in Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, and Romania. The result of the battle was that the Red Army stopped defending and began to advance, and the German troops were forced to leave to the west. The victory in this battle was in the hands of the political goals of the Soviet Union, and accelerated many other countries.

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Target: to introduce students to one of the most important battles in the history of the Great Patriotic War, to determine the stages, to find out the significance of the Battle of Stalingrad during the Great Patriotic War.

Tasks:

• to acquaint with the main events of the Battle of Stalingrad;
• reveal the reasons for the victory of the Soviet people in the battle on the Volga;
• develop skills in working with a map, additional literature, select, evaluate, analyze the studied material;
• to cultivate a sense of patriotism, pride and respect for compatriots for a perfect feat.

Equipment: map "Battle of Stalingrad", handout (cards - assignments), textbook Danilova A.A., Kosulina L.G., Brandt M.Yu. History of Russia XX - the beginning of the XXI century. M., "Enlightenment", 2009. Video clips from the movie "Stalingrad". In advance, students prepare messages about the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad.

Predicted results: students must show the ability to work with a map, video clips, a textbook. Prepare your own message and speak to the audience.

Lesson plan:

1. Stages of the Battle of Stalingrad.
2. Results and meaning.
3. Conclusion.

DURING THE CLASSES

I. Organizational moment. Greeting students

II. New topic

The topic of the lesson is recorded.

Teacher: Today in the lesson we have to analyze the main events of the battle of Stalingrad; characterize the significance of the Battle of Stalingrad as the beginning of a radical turning point in World War II; to reveal the reasons for the victory of the Soviet people in the battle on the Volga.

Problem task: Slide 1. Some Western historians and military leaders claim that the reasons for the defeat of the Nazi army at Stalingrad are the following: terrible cold, mud, snow.
Can we agree with this? Try to answer this question at the end of the lesson.

Assignment to students: listening to the teacher's story, draw up a thesis plan for the answer.

Teacher: Let's look at the map. In mid-July 1942, German troops rushed to Stalingrad - an important strategic point and the largest center of the defense industry.
The Battle of Stalingrad is divided into two periods:

I - July 17 - November 18, 1942 - defensive;
II - November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943 - counteroffensive, encirclement and defeat of German troops.

I period. July 17, 1942 Parts of the 62nd Soviet Army came into contact in the bend of the Don with the advanced units of the 6th Army of German troops under the command of General Paulus.
The city was preparing for defense: defensive structures were built, their total length was 3860 m. Anti-tank ditches were dug in the most important areas, the city's industry produced up to 80 types of military products. So, the tractor supplied the front with tanks, and the Krasny Oktyabr metallurgical plant - with mortars. (Video clip).
In the course of heavy battles, the Soviet troops, showing stamina and heroism, thwarted the enemy’s plan to capture Stalingrad on the move. From July 17 to August 17, 1942, the Germans managed to advance no more than 60-80 km. (See map).
But still the enemy, albeit slowly, was approaching the city. The tragic day came on August 23, when the German 6th Army reached the western outskirts of Stalingrad, surrounding the city from the north. At the same time, the 4th Panzer Army, together with the Romanian units, advanced on Stalingrad from the southwest. Fascist aviation subjected the entire city to a brutal bombing attack, making 2,000 sorties. Residential areas and industrial facilities were destroyed, tens of thousands of civilians were killed. Embittered fascists decided to wipe the city off the face of the earth. (Video clip)
On September 13, the enemy, having introduced an additional 9 divisions and one brigade into battle, began to storm the city. The direct defense of the city was carried out by the 62nd and 64th armies (commanders - Generals Chuikov Vasily Ivanovich and Shumilov Mikhail Stepanovich).
Fighting began on the streets of the city. Soviet soldiers fought to the death, defending every five Volga lands.
"No step back! Stand to death!" - these words became the motto of the defenders of Stalingrad.
The famous Pavlov's house became the embodiment of the courage of Stalingraders.

Student message:“There is no land for us beyond the Volga” - this phrase of sniper Vasily Zaitsev became winged.

Student message: In one of the battles in mid-October, the signalman of the headquarters of the 308th Infantry Division Matvey Putilov performed an immortal feat.

Student message: As a symbol of immortal glory, the name of the Marine Mikhail Panikakha entered the history of Stalingrad.

Student message: The height dominating the city - Mamayev Kurgan, during the Battle of Stalingrad - was the place of the most fierce battles, the key position of the defense, which appeared in the reports as height 102.

Student message: During the defensive stage, residents of the city showed perseverance in the struggle for the city.

Student message: Paulus launched his last offensive on November 11, 1942, in a narrow area near the Red Barricades plant, where the Nazis won their last success.
Find the results of the defensive period in the textbook, page 216.
By mid-November, the offensive capabilities of the Germans had dried up.

II. The counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Stalingrad began on November 19, 1942. As part of this strategic plan, an operation was carried out to encircle the Nazi troops near Stalingrad, code-named "Uranus".

Viewing a video clip. The children complete the task - fill in the gaps in the text. ( Appendix 1 )

Questions:

• Which fronts participated in Operation Uranus?
• At what city did the main parts of the Soviet army unite?

Field Marshal Manstein, an assault tank group, was supposed to help Paulus.
After stubborn battles, Manstein's divisions approached the encircled troops from the southwest at a distance of 35-40 km, but the 2nd Guards Army under the command of General Malinovsky, who approached from the reserve, not only stopped the enemy, but also inflicted a crushing defeat on him.
At the same time, the offensive of the army group Gota was stopped, which was trying to break the encirclement in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe city of Kotelnikov.
According to the “Ring” plan (General Rokosovsky led the implementation of the operation), on January 10, 1943, Soviet troops began to defeat the fascist group.
On February 2, 1943, the encircled enemy group capitulated. Its commander-in-chief, General Field Marshal Paulus, was also captured.
Viewing a video clip.
Exercise. Put on the map "The defeat of the German troops at Stalingrad" ( Appendix 2 )

• The direction of the strikes of the Soviet troops;
• The direction of the counterattack of the Manstein tank group.

All actions of the Soviet troops during the Battle of Stalingrad were coordinated by Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov.
The victory in the Battle of Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the course of not only the Great Patriotic War, but the entire Second World War.
- What is the essence of the concept of "radical change"? (The Germans lost their offensive fighting spirit. The strategic initiative finally passed into the hands of the Soviet command)
- Let's get back to the problem task: Some Western historians and military leaders say that the reasons for the defeat of the Nazi army at Stalingrad are the following: terrible cold, mud, snow.
slide 8.
– Can we agree with this? (Student answers)
Slide 9. “The Battle of Stalingrad is really a golden page in the military history of our people,” wrote the commander of the Stalingrad Front, General Eremenko. And one cannot but agree with this.

Poem(student reads)

In the heat of factories, houses, station.
Dust on a steep bank.
The voice of the Fatherland said to him:
"Don't hand over the city to the enemy!"
Rumbled in the bloody mist
Hundredth attack shaft,
Angry and stubborn, chest-deep in the ground,
The soldier stood to death.
He knew that there was no way back -
He defended Stalingrad...

Alexey Surkov

III. Outcome

To consolidate the material, complete the task on the cards (work in pairs).
(Appendix 3 )
Stalingrad is a symbol of courage, steadfastness, heroism of Soviet soldiers. Stalingrad is a symbol of the power and greatness of our state. Near Stalingrad, the Red Army broke the back of the German fascist troops, and under the walls of Stalingrad, a foundation was laid for the destruction of fascism.

IV. Reflection

Grading, homework: p. 32,

Literature:

1. Alekseev M.N. Wreath of Glory "Battle of Stalingrad". M., Sovremennik, 1987
2. Alekseev S.P. A book to read on the history of our Motherland. M., "Enlightenment", 1991
3. Goncharuk V.A."Commemorative badges of cities - heroes." M., "Soviet Russia", 1986
4. Danilov A.A., Kosulina L.G., Brandt M.Yu. History of Russia XX - beginning of XX? century. M., "Enlightenment", 2009
5. Danilov A.A., Kosulina L.G. Workbook on the history of Russia Grade 9. Issue 2..M., "Enlightenment", 1998
6. Korneva T.A. Non-traditional lessons on the history of Russia of the twentieth century in grades 9, 11. Volgograd "Teacher", 2002