Transcript Battles in Russia

Battles in Russia
Battle of Leningrad – July 1941
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Involved 516,000 Germans and Russians
Initial battle lasts 83 days
Germany retreats and regroups
2nd German attack results in another retreat
August Germany takes over railroads
641,000 Russians die from starvation
Start shipping supplies across Lake Ladoga
and air drops
• Lasted 900 days
Battle of Stalingrad
• Germans (General Paulus):
– 500 tanks
– 25,000 horses
– 7.000 guns and mortars
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Killed or captures around 50,000 Russian solders
Advance was usually delayed by supplies
Luftwaffe bombs city killing thousands
Tanks roll into city to find a well fortified army
Russians in Stalingrad
• Snipers, machine guns nest & camouflaged
artillery
• Tanks less effective in city
• Moscow falls but fighting continues
• "You may rest assured that nobody will
ever drive us out of Stalingrad." –Hitler
• 40,000 German solders are lost by this time
Continued Stalingrad
• Paulus asks for reinforcements: more tanks
and engineers arrive
• Oct. 19 Paulus controls 90% of city
• Paulus launches last offensive even though
his lack ammunition and food
• Red army repels attack
• Germans stand their ground, but at a
terrible loss
Battle of Stalingrad ends
• The battle for Stalingrad was over. Over
91,000 men were captured and a further
150,000 had died during the siege. The
German prisoners were forced marched to
Siberia. About 45,000 died during the
march to the prisoner of war camps and
only about 7,000 survived the war.
Battle of Kursk
• last major offensive launched by the Germans on
the Eastern Front.
• Turning point in the war
• Largest tank battle in history
• Russians amassing 1,300,000 men, 3,600 tanks,
20,000 artillery pieces and 2,400 aircraft. The
Germans also assembled a formidable fighting
force which was slightly smaller with 900,000
men 2,700 tanks 2,000 aircraft. As well as the
three premier Waffen SS divisions taking part.
Losses
• The total number of losses for the whole
offensive were put at 100,000 men killed or
wounded. The Soviet casualty figures were
not released until the end of the communist
regime in the USSR and were recorded at
250,000 killed and 600,000 wounded. They
also lost 50% of their tank strength.