Sample Solution

Not only was this battle life or death for the soldiers, it was also for the civilians of Stalingrad itself. Stalin’s tactics were a large reason why the civilian death toll was so high in this battle.Stalin shipped most of the important food supplies such as grain and cattle away from Stalingrad, leaving the citizens with little to eat. In the first 48 hours of the battle almost 100 tons of bombs were dropped by the Luftwaffe during the Blitzkrieg. Dozens of airstrikes followed suit and tens of thousands of the citizens lost their lives and the once populous and industrious city became rubble and a warzone. Stalin’s policies had begun to take their first lives. The Nazi’s use of the tactic “blitzkrieg” was essential to all their victories during most of the war, allowing them to attack the enemy quickly and cause maximum damage to them, which led to their swift defeat. This tactic worked extremely well for fast paced operations but in a battle of attrition, there is no way to maneuver fast enough to get the advantage of encircling and capturing the enemy. This caused the major tactic to fail due to the Germans being stopped and bogged down within the city, which caused them to lose immense amounts of men and resources. This was not something the Germans were used to and it caused them to be off balance during the battle, not having the swift upperhand. This major fluke for the Germans was first seen at the battle of Moscow. Another factor that led to the failure of the operation was that the Germans were not prepared for winter. At first they planned an earlier summer campaign but it was later postponed to later that summer. With this delay, they counted on the blitzkrieg being essential in a quick victory over the Soviets. This was hampered by the ferocious downpours during the summer that caused many vital paths to become a muddy bog and the brutal winter that froze an essential amount of machinery including tanks and transport vehicles. Another drawback was the number of infantrymen that had to travel by foot, most of the way across the Soviet Union.

Besides the loss of life, thousands upon thousands of soldiers and citizens alike were captured by German infantry and forced into brutal prisoner of war camps. In an interview conducted by a student at American University. with a Stalingrad Soldier and POW Vadim Medish observed “Germans didn’t not coun