Skip to content Skip to a section
Tool·Lifes /Everything About War Search apps and topics…
Apps
Explore Guides
S Battle of Stalingrad

History

Dated history of Battle of Stalingrad (23 Aug 1942-2 Feb 1943) in Stalingrad (Volgograd) on the Volga, southern USSR.

Educational history. Casualty figures are documented ranges. This is not operational advice, a ranking of nations, or a how-to for weapons or coups.

At a glance
Timeline

Milestones in order. This is history, not a weekly activity grid.

1942-06 Case Blue opens1942-08-23 Air raid1942-09 Street fighting1942-11-19 Uranus1942-11-23 Pocket closed1942-12 Winter Storm fails1943-01 Operation Ring1943-01-31 Paulus surrenders (south)1943-02-02 Northern pocket ends1967 Mamaev monument
  1. Case Blue opens
  2. Air raid
  3. Street fighting
  4. Uranus
  5. Pocket closed
  6. Winter Storm fails
  7. Operation Ring
  8. Paulus surrenders (south)
  9. Northern pocket ends
  10. Mamaev monument
Score intensity

Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.

Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology

Quick answers

Are the scores a ranking of nations or armies?

No. Scores are browsing aids inside an era-bounded atlas — not live league tables of countries.

How many casualties?

About 1.7-2 million killed, wounded and captured on both sides is a common published band. Precise killed-only figures vary by method.

Why did Germany lose the 6th Army?

Overextended flanks, a successful Soviet encirclement, a failed relief, an inadequate airlift, and a political no-retreat order.

Was it the turning point of the world war?

It was the Eastern Front's great turn. Midway, Alamein and later Kursk and Overlord are other turns. Serious histories keep several hinges.

Who commanded?

Paulus (6th Army); Chuikov (62nd Army) in the city; Zhukov and Vasilevsky at the Stavka level; Manstein on the relief attempt; Hitler and Stalin as political commanders.

What was Uranus?

A double envelopment of the German urban force by attacking the weaker armies on the Don flanks.

Start with this section - History

Case Blue is the necessary preface: oil, the Don, and a dictator's fixation on a name.

Without Uranus, the city fight is a meat grinder without a decision.

Timeline

  1. Case Blue opens

    German summer offensive in the south.

  2. Air raid

    Luftwaffe strike; the city battle becomes general.

  3. Street fighting

    62nd Army holds the river bank and factories.

  4. Uranus

    Soviet encirclement begins.

  5. Pocket closed

    6th Army trapped.

  6. Winter Storm fails

    Relief does not break in.

  7. Operation Ring

    Soviet reduction of the pocket.

  8. Paulus surrenders (south)

    Field marshal in captivity.

  9. Northern pocket ends

    The battle is over.

  10. Mamaev monument

    The memory machine in stone (Motherland Calls).

Eras

Approach

Case Blue to the Volga bend.

City war

Rubble, factories, the river.

Encirclement

Uranus and the failed relief.

Reduction

Ring, surrender, silence.

Memory

Volgograd, Mamaev, English paperbacks.

Milestones

6th Army destroyed

A German field army ceased to exist as a tool.

Eastern initiative

Strategic initiative in the east passed toward the USSR.

Allied morale

London and Washington read a Soviet win they had doubted.

2 February 1943 is a date in three calendars: Soviet victory, German catastrophe, English "turning point" shorthand.

The POW death toll after surrender belongs in the last paragraph, not in a footnote only.

HistoryForcesCampaignsCostIconsLegacyAtlas