Stalingrad conclusion:
Marshal Rokossovsky, the Soviet regional commander, delivered the Germans an ultimatum on January 8, 1943, demanding their surrender.
Hitler told Paulus bluntly that "surrender is forbidden". Two days later, the final Soviet offensive against the German pocket began and in just over 10 days the last German airfield bringing in the much needed supplies was overrun by the Red Army.
On January 31, Hitler promoted Paulus to Field Marshal. As no German Field Marshal had ever surrendered, Hitler urged Paulus to commit suicide. It was an invitation he declined. Paulus was captured soon after and the last German soldiers trapped more than a thousand miles from home gave in on February 2.
Paulus' defeat was followed by three days of solemn music on German state radio. The Soviets took more than 110,000 prisoners, few of whom survived captivity. Twenty-two German divisions had been destroyed during the Battle of Stalingrad and over 800,000 German soldiers died. These were losses from which Hitler's war machine could never hope to recover.
In just over two years Hitler's Third Reich lay in ruins and victorious Soviets troops were not only stationed in the German capital Berlin but throughout eastern Europe. Instead of a new German empire, Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union helped create a Soviet giant in the east that lasted for more than 40 years.
The victory at Stalingrad paved the way for the Soviet domination of eastern Europe.
Marshal Rokossovsky, the Soviet regional commander, delivered the Germans an ultimatum on January 8, 1943, demanding their surrender.
Hitler told Paulus bluntly that "surrender is forbidden". Two days later, the final Soviet offensive against the German pocket began and in just over 10 days the last German airfield bringing in the much needed supplies was overrun by the Red Army.
On January 31, Hitler promoted Paulus to Field Marshal. As no German Field Marshal had ever surrendered, Hitler urged Paulus to commit suicide. It was an invitation he declined. Paulus was captured soon after and the last German soldiers trapped more than a thousand miles from home gave in on February 2.
Paulus' defeat was followed by three days of solemn music on German state radio. The Soviets took more than 110,000 prisoners, few of whom survived captivity. Twenty-two German divisions had been destroyed during the Battle of Stalingrad and over 800,000 German soldiers died. These were losses from which Hitler's war machine could never hope to recover.
In just over two years Hitler's Third Reich lay in ruins and victorious Soviets troops were not only stationed in the German capital Berlin but throughout eastern Europe. Instead of a new German empire, Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union helped create a Soviet giant in the east that lasted for more than 40 years.
The victory at Stalingrad paved the way for the Soviet domination of eastern Europe.
but they didn't!