Stalingrad: The Cruel Epitome of Urban Warfare
The brutality of the Battle of Stalingrad is perhaps best epitomised by this photo of the city centre, taken in February 1943, after the fighting had ceased.
By Mish Al-Roubaie, a History graduate
On this day 80 years ago, the Red Army of the Soviet Union succeeded in defending the city of Stalingrad, bringing a conclusion to one of history’s deadliest events. With an estimated casualty rate of around 2 million people over a period of just five months, The Battle of Stalingrad serves as a grim representation of the realities of urban warfare. Beyond its brutality, this battle also stands out as what many historians call the turning point of the Second World War and the beginning of the end for the Third Reich.
The chaotic savagery of the combat witnessed at Stalingrad is difficult to overemphasise. This battle usually ranks as the deadliest battle not just throughout the whole war but in all of human history. Reportedly, during one advance in September, a soviet division of 10,000 soldiers only had 320 men left alive by the end of the advance. During one particular day, fierce combat took place over control of the Stalingrad railway station, which was being captured and recaptured. Over a period of just six hours, the railway station changed hands fourteen times.
Soldiers set up positions wherever they could in the urban environment. Often at times, the same buildings were being occupied on different floors by both German and Soviet forces, with the soldiers firing at each other through holes in the floor. The civilian population were trapped entirely in between all of this. Prior to the battle, the city of Stalingrad had a population of around 400,000; by the end of the five-month battle, somewhere between 10,000 and 60,000 civilians remained in the city; those who attempted to flee were either shot or captured and used as slave labour.
According to historian Ian Kershaw, Hitler reportedly said that failure to capture Stalingrad would force him to prematurely end the war as the city would provide the Reich with access to the oil-rich regions of the Caucasus. This strategic importance perhaps best explains the brutal stubbornness of both sides to keep the city under their control. When the Soviets launched their counteroffensive, Hitler specifically forbade his soldiers from surrendering or attempting any breakout; they would fight to the death.
Indeed, this may be the best explanation for why the loss of this battle is considered the precursor to the complete German defeat in the war. The inability to capture resources vital to continue the war would eventually collapse the Third Reich.
To this day, the stubborn resistance of the Soviet defenders serves as a hopeful image for victory when faced with an invasion by a tyrannical force. But even 80 years onwards, we should remember the tremendous cost of this victory and understand that victory may not have been as apparent for those who found their entire city levelled to the ground.
“The street is no longer measured by meters but by corpses ... Stalingrad is no longer a town. By day it is an enormous cloud of burning, blinding smoke; it is a vast furnace lit by the reflection of the flames. And when night arrives, one of those scorching, howling, bleeding nights, the dogs plunge into the Volga and swim desperately to gain the other bank. The nights of Stalingrad are a terror for them. Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure.”
Max Hastings