Symphony In Seven Months -- The Battle Of Stalingrad: August 1942 - February 1943

"The battle of Stalingrad [now Volgograd] was fought between the invading forces of Nazi Germany and the forces of the Soviet Union who were defending the city. The battle was fought from August 1942 to February of 1943. This was the decisive battle of World War II because it ended the German offensive as well as destroying much of the German armies. Though the early stages of World War II focused on Western Europe, Hitler had diverted his attention to Russia by 1941. At first the huge German war machine focused on Leningrad [now (Saint) Petersburg] and Moscow. This attack failed and so by the summer of 1942 Hitler wanted to invade southern Russia [focusing on Rostov and the vast Caucasian oil fields]. Against the advice of his generals Hitler attacked Stalingrad. The German forces took much of the city [ approximately 90 per cent]. German armies surrounded the city and so the Russians were trapped and would remain so for several months. When reinforcements arrived for the Soviets they surrounded the Germans and forced them to surrender. The battle of Stalingrad not only destroyed much of the German [Sixth] Army, but also ended their offensive in Russia and ultimately resulted in Germany’s defeat in the second World War."

*

The battle of Stalingrad was filmed by German and Soviet filmmakers (partially in color in the case of the German military filmmakers) and edited into the 50 - minute Part Nine of London's Thames Television's "The World at War" narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier (1973-74) and produced by Jeremy Isaacs, in association with the British Imperial War Museum.













Sources: text by Arno Alarcon; Thames Television "The World At War"