The Germans in Stalingrad

Estimated 750,000 were killed, missing or wounded

91,000 were captured at the end of the battle

Aircraft: 900 (along with other transport planes) Luftwaffe was creamed.

Tank/artillery losses same as the Soviet losses of tanks and artillery

Total: 841,000 casualties

The Russians in Stalingrad

478,741 killed or missing

650,878 wounded and sick

40,000 civilians dead

4,341 tanks

15,728 guns and mortars

2,769 combat aircraft but their air force was not demolished

Total: 1,129,619 casualties

Total deaths of civilians in Russia caused by the murders the Nazis did against them = 20 million deaths and millions of rapes against women

There was 5 Operations in Battle of Stalingrad. They were;

1. Case Blue by Nazi Germany - Defeat
2. Operation Uranus by the USSR - Victory
3. Operation Winter Storm by Nazi Germany - Defeat
4. Operation Little Saturn by The USSR -Victory
5. Operation Koltso by the USSR - Victory.

Germany lost many things in Stalingrad; soldiers, oil, equipment but most of all it lost its ability to win the war. until then the only nations in the world to defeat Germany were Britain in the skies over their homeland, and the American/British alliance in Africa. But at Stalingrad they had encountered the brutality of the Red Army.

It was such a devastating defeat that after Stalingrad Germany could only prolong the war. There was no chance of a German victory after that.

Some of the better books on the Battle of Stalingrad are Enemy at the Gates : The battle For Stalingrad by William Craig , Stalingrad by Heinz Schroter , The Road to Stalingrad : Stalin's War With Germany Vol 1 by John Erickson , To The Gates of Stalingrad : Soviet - German Combat Operations , April - August 1942 Vol 1 by David M . Glantz , Armageddon in Stalingrad : September - November 1942 Vol 2 by David M . Glantz and , yet to be published , Vol 3 by David M . Glantz - title undetermined .

Also , An Infantryman in Stalingrad: From 24 September 1942 to 2 February 1943

An Artilleryman in Stalingrad - Memoirs of a Participant in the Battle .

Moscow, early winter 1941.

No other battle in WWII comes close to being this decisive. Some German generals, realizing the battle was lost, could see no way to victory in the long run and advocated that Germany seek terms, any terms, to conclude the fight.

Had the Germans taken Moscow in 1941, fairly easily done in August-September 1941, more difficult in November-December 1941, the entire outcome of the war changes.

Russia was a huge empire, centered like no other major nation on earth, around its capital, Moscow. The empire ruled by ruthless suppression a wide variety of non-Russian ethnic peoples, much like the British empire. Moscow was thus the political and cultural center of Russia.

The Russian railroad network centered on Moscow too. Controlling it for Russia meant that troop movements from north to south were fairly easy, and likewise, difficult for the Germans. Capture Moscow and the situation flips.

Moscow was also a huge industrial and economic center. The greater Moscow area represented probably 20% of the entire Soviet economic output, similar in this regard to the eastern Ukraine.

Moscow was also geographically important. Its capture by Germany means that Leningrad is isolated and cannot be supplied. Thus that city, second largest in the USSR and representing about 6% of the Soviet economy, also falls soon after. Additionally, capturing air fields in the Moscow area puts German bombers within range, barely, of the Ural industrial complexes.

As I see it played out, after the major battle July 1941 for Smolensk, the Germans are in control of the battlefield. The roads are dry. The air force strong. The Soviets are in disarray. A two week respite allows the Germans to regroup and begin the offensive agains. By mid-September they have captured Moscow. Leningrad is not attacked directly, but falls due to lack of supply during the winter 1941-42. German forces move south in November 1941 to east of Kiev. Possibly that city has already fallen to the German southern armies. When strong winter weather hits in mid December 1941, German troops are well positioned all along the front, east of Leningrad/Moscow down to the Don River.

In the actual event the German forces are strung out in a late winter offensive, routed and nearly destroyed. The loss of trucks and artillery is appalling and the Germans never make up their losses in full for the rest of the war. These losses were unnecessary and avoidable with a Moscow initiative earlier in 1941.

If Moscow falls, the Soviets are left with the loss of all their largest cities and industrial centers. The Urals, their last industrial bastion, is full of flimsy buildings with weak AA batteries. The remaining Soviet industrial output is very vulnerable to air attack because the plants mostly relied on electricity from an almost undefended grid. The generators/turbines which supply the electricity are not even manufactured in Russia and their loss virtually guarantees a major shutdown in the Soviet economy.

Politically the loss of the capital weakens the Soviet system, no matter how quickly a new government center is established. If desertions and surrender were commonplace in the actual event, image what they would have been with Moscow in German hands.

Also note: Could the Germans have held the city? Couldn't the Russians have retaken it like they retook so much in December 1941? Doubtful. The Soviets only had about 80,000 troops for that offensive. It was successful only because the Germans were strung out, exhausted, without supply, and not dug in. All that changed as noted above.

After this stage of the war, the Germans can concentrate on finishing Russia by taking the oil fields of the Caucasus. The loss of the oil fields is devastating to the remaining Russian forces as it renders them near immobile. Getting that oil to Germany is more difficult task, and not enough is likely to be moved to significantly alter German petroleum supplies for a couple of years.

With fewer difficulties in Russia, Germany can also release some additional resources to battle the British in north Africa. By 1943, the Germans are in command of the Russian front to the Volga. The Russians likely request an armistic to prevent further German inroads and bombing campaigns.

Assuming Hitler does not loose his temper and declare war on the USA, the war quickly becomes a statemate with Germany in control of Europe from the Volga to the English channel. The German air forces are adequately supplied and not reduced to ruin in 1943 as in the actual event. With even moderate German air forces, D Day is not going to occur. Additional resources can also be allocated to the German submarine forces and to the scientific community.

Thus, Germany should be able to prevent the western allies from penetrating mainland Europe indefinitely. Their own scientific community is able to develop atomic weapons in reasonable time, although they might have only reached the level of major size 'dirty' bombs. The war ends in 1944 or 45. A 'cold war' ensues but with an adversary for the west that is much more capable than the Russian empire.