The Battle of Stalingrad is a commonly used name in English sources for several large operations by Germany and its allies and Soviet forces conducted with the purpose of ensuring possession of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), which took place between 17 July 1942 and February 2 1943, during the Second World War.

The results of these operations are often cited as one of the turning points of World War II. The Battle of Stalingrad was the bloodiest battle in human history, with combined casualties estimated to be above 1.5 million. The battle was marked by brutality and disregard for military and civilian casualties by both sides. The German offensive to take Stalingrad, the battle inside the city, and the Soviet counter-offensive which eventually trapped and destroyed the 6th Army and other Axis forces around the city was the second large-scale defeat of the Second World War. In Soviet and Russian historiography the struggle included ten campaigns, strategic and operational level operations.





The capture of Stalingrad was important to Hitler for two primary reasons. Firstly, it was a major industrial city on the Volga River -- a vital transport route between the Caspian Sea and Northern Russia. Secondly, its capture would secure the left flank of the German armies as they advanced into the oil-rich Caucasus region -- with the strategic goal of cutting off fuel to Stalin's war machine. The fact that the city bore the name of Hitler's nemesis, Joseph Stalin, would make its capture an ideological and propaganda coup. Stalin realized this, also, and despite being under tremendous constraints of time and resources, ordered anyone who was strong enough to hold a rifle be sent out to defend the city. The Red Army, at this stage of the war, was less capable of highly mobile operations than the German Army; however, the prospect of combat inside a large urban area, which would be dominated by short-range firearms rather than armored and mechanized tactics, minimized the Red Army's disadvantages against the Germans.