Some say the turning point of the war was when allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. After listening to a few lectures I have come to realize that it was actually the Battle of Stalingrad where the fierce fighting between the Axis and Russian forces fought over the city for 5 months. It is there where the German forces ran out of food and ammunition and surrendered to Russian forces. Hence lead to the downfall and the march back towards Germany. For those that are history buffs and think other wise, what are your views on this notion that the war was tipped in the Allied forces side because of the victory at Stalingrad?
While D-Day sealed the fate of the Third Reich, I agree with you, Stalingrad followed by Kursk was the turning point of the war in Europe. The Axis powers suffered a grievous blow militarily and politically. The initiative was lost on the Eastern Front and the Soviets started their push into Europe. And the Axis coalition (Germany, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, et al.) began to rapidly unravel. Recent scholarship on the topic has shown that the size and scope of the battle was larger than previously thought.
I remember one historian say that Stalin ordered every man, woman, and child to dig their feet in the ground and hold them in Stalingrad. As this war was about total annihilation of Russians. Those that fled and disobeyed that order was shot and killed. So it was the Russian last stand, and losing Stalingrad would also mean the pending doom for Russian way of life.
You may be referring to Order No. 227 which was "Ни шагу назад! (Not one step back!)" that was issued in July of 1942. The Battle of Stalingrad started in August of that year and ended in February of 1943. The order became a battle cry in the Soviet Union.
I agree, Stalingrad was the turning point on the Eastern front for sure. In my opinion Hitler should have learned from Napoleon about what it takes to march into Russia.....
When allies forces landed in Western Europe, there were only total 400,000 German troops in all of Western Europe. Just a few years ago, 3 million German troops were sent to attack Soviet Union, and most of these forces were already dead by the time D-day took place. Even without D-day, the Soviets will eventually end the Nazi Germany on their own but at a higher casualty count and it will take maybe a few more years.
I agree. With the momentum the Soviets we gaining as they moved west the would have had no problems going all the way to the Atlantic. Heck if they wanted to they could have kept going and pushed the Americans back to the sea and back to Britain, IMO.
