# data[].attributes.body
Much like the Germans, defense of this city was also a matter of pride in defending their leaders name-sake city. However they also viewed it as an opportunity to shatter the Nazi War engine in a battle too brutal to recover from.

# data[].attributes.body
Militarily, Stalingrad had very little importance to Operation Barbarossa. However, the main motivator for the German attack was in fact related to the name: STALIN-Grad. Seeing it as an opportunity to demoralize the Soviets by occupying a city with the same name as their leader, the Germans sought to secure it despite its lack of importance.

The argument could be made that it was important for securing the Caucasus, however very few sources support this statement.

# data[].attributes.body
The battle was a decisive victory for the USSR and a catastrophic loss for the German Reich. On the 22nd of November, 1942 The Red army successfully surrounded the German 6th army trapped in Stalingrad, where the 6th army was battered for weeks before their surrender.

# data[].attributes.body
The Wehrmacht was smashed during the battle, suffering a 800,000 casualties, nearly 10% of the entire fielded German army alongside over 6000 artillery pieces. The panzer branch of the Wehrmacht also took heavy losses, losing 500 tanks in total. Such a loss caused the Eastern front to become stretched thin, allowing the Soviet Union to counter attack a weakened and battered German Army.

# data[].attributes.body
The Luftwaffe was heavily battered in Stalingrad, Hermann Goering (Luftwaffe head) sought to take control of the skies above Stalingrad and airdrop supplies. This was disastrous and resulted in the loss of 900 aircraft and causes a severe lack of air support for all surrounding areas, allowing the Soviets to gain traction during their counter-offensive.

# data[].attributes.body
German:

The German 6th army, considered to be one of the largest armies fielded by the Reich was present in the streets of Stalingrad. The 4th Panzer army was also present along with army group B and Army Group Don. Group B and Group Don were focused on support of flanks and routes connecting the city and the 6th army and 4th panzer army were ordered to attack Stalingrad and the immediate surroundings and are responsible for the city battle itself

Soviet:

The Soviet Union had a total of 11 armies present, these armies were split into 3 "fronts". Namely: the Stalingrad Front, the Don Front and the Southwestern Front. The armies were split as follows: Stalingrad front had the 28th, 51st, 57th, 62nd and 64th armies. The Don Front had the 24th, 65th and 66th armies and the southwestern front had the 1st Guards army, 5th tank army and the 21st infantry army.

# data[].attributes.body
German:

A number of generals and high command oversaw this battle, however notable generals include Erich von Manstein, Friedrich Paulus and Karl Strecker.

Soviet:

As with the German forces, a plethora of Soviet generals were present. The most notable of which was Georgy Zhukov, who is widely regarded as one of the most highly decorated generals of the war, named as the Marshal of the Soviet Union and the minister of Defense

# data[].attributes.body
As the bloodiest battle in recorded human history, the casualties for this battle were astonishingly high.

The Wehrmacht totaled an estimated 800,000 dead, wounded or captured soldiers. Making it the most costly battle the Reich ever fought.

The Red Army of the USSR totaled even more than the German Wehrmacht, reaching a total casualty count of 1,100,000 dead, or wounded. Sharing the title of the most costly battle ever fought. With the average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier being a meer 24 hours.

# data[].attributes.body
Civilian casualties were high, but not nearly as high as military casualties. "Only" 40,000 civilians were killed in the battle of Stalingrad

# data[].attributes.body
The total casualties for the battle of Stalingrad is disputed, based of purely statistics stated here the casualties were roughly 1.9 Million. However factoring in civilians and air force casualties, as well as other axis involvement (Romania, Italy Hungary and Croatia) that count can sometimes rise to 2.5 million depending on the source.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of Stalingrad | History, Summary, Location, Deaths, & Facts | Britannica

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Battle of Stalingrad, successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad that was a turning point in favor of the Allies in World War II. Russians consider it to be one of the greatest battles of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict.

# data[].attributes.body
The source describes that the battle of Stalingrad was the successful soviet defence of the city of Stalingrad. It says that 'Russians consider it to be one of the greatest battles of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favour of the Allies.'

# data[].attributes.body
The source is a diary of a German soldier during the events of the battle for Stalingrad, specifically when the y were deep in Russian territory. The Soldiers name is William Hoffman and he believed german victory was near and he hd dreamed of returning home with medals. Unfortunately, William had perished at war and did not come home.

# data[].attributes.body
The source origin is from a book, Diary of a German soldier by William Hoffman.

# data[].attributes.body
The Author of the source is Raymond Limbach, it was last updated on the 15th of February 2025.

# data[].attributes.body
The perspective of the Source is a german soldier who believed he was winning the war, but turns out he realises he is slowly losing the invasion. There was probably bias in this as it was written by a person who at the time had his friends killed by Russian soldiers.

# data[].attributes.body
The source was influenced by the events that take place on his journey, as he started to lose the invasion and people around him were dying.

# data[].attributes.body
The audience would be people who would like to get more information about what it was like for a german soldier in the battle of Stalingrad.

# data[].attributes.body
The message of the Journal would be that the war was bad for everyone and is a warning nowadays that war is something to be avoided.

# data[].attributes.body
The creator has written it with no bias, this is because he is just going of his knowledge of the battle. the creators viewpoint would be the straight facts.

# data[].attributes.body
What at the time could influence the source

As the source was last updated in the current year there would be no bias recognisable in the mainstream media to majorly affect the author whilst writing his article.

# data[].attributes.body
The source is intended for people aspiring to learn more about the battle of Stalingrad as it is a very detailed and credible source.

# data[].attributes.body
The main message of the source is to pass down historic events so that we remember what happened in the past during a major war.

# data[].attributes.body
It was very useful for us as it gave us some insight on what it was like to be a german soldier in Stalingrad during the war.

# data[].attributes.body
This source was useful as it gave us more knowledge on the battle of Stalingrad as a whole battle.