1. Polina Kritchko, Allie Stofer, Mariana Cortes, Ava Schmidt, Elbert Cheng
Сталинградская Битва

2. After the devastating loss of the USSR in the Winter War, Germany was lulled into a false sense of security regarding the strength of the Soviet Union. The defeat of the Nazis at the Battle of Britain forced them to change tactics and head towards the Eastern front. Their already weakened force and poor military strategic choices at the battles against the Soviet Union increased the speed of the downfall of Hitler’s reign, ultimately creating a turning point in World War II as a whole.
#Catalyst
allie

3. War is Madness
“He’s playing warlord again and bothering us with such absurd ideas that he’s risking everything our wonderful operations so far have won. Unlike the French the Russians won’t just run away when they’ve been tactically defeated; they have to be defeated in a terrain that’s half forest and marsh…Every other day now I have to go over to him. Hours of gibberish, and the outcome is there’s only one man who understands how to wage wars...if I didn’t have faith...I’d go under like Brauchitsch who’s at the end of his tether and hides behind an iron mask of manliness so as not to betray his complete helplessness.”
~Franz Halder OKH (Supreme High Command of the German Army)
Ava

4. Before the Battle (Stalingrad)
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had signed a nonaggression pact in August 1939 (Molotov-Ribbentrop), but Hitler began planning an attack against the Soviet Union after the fall of France in June 1940.
The truce obviously wouldn't last long - fascism and communism are bitterly opposed.
mariana

5. NAZIS VS USSR (as of June 22 1941)
Got tech from GER, promised no war and part of Finland
170 mil people (just USSR)
9 mil workers/manufacturing
166 mil tons of coal
18 mil tons of steel
71 mil tons of oil
Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Danes, Norway, Belgium, Holland, France
No oil (Highest production of metal)
Got lacking material through Ribbentrop-Molotov pact
290 mil people (total of conquered)
28 mil workers/manufacturing
400 mil tons of coal
32 mil tons of steel
7.5 mil tons of oil
Lina

6. German Motivations for Invasion
Hitler was convinced that if they could control the massive Soviet landmass Great Britain would be forced to negotiate peace.
Ideological and tactical reasons: Soviet Union had too many Jews and Bolsheviks, according to Hitler’s philosophy of Aryan supremacy.
The Soviet Union also contained valuable oil supplies necessary to carry war to Eastern Europe and recapture former German lands.
Mariana

7. Motivations for Invasion
Wanted to defeat the Soviets and annex the Baltic states, the Crimea and portions of Poland.
Hitler lied to his entire country/soldiers. He claimed that Germany was threatened by “approximately 160 Russian divisions massed on our frontier.” He then started the “European crusade against Bolshevism” with a shameless lie to his people and to his own soldiers.
Hitler and his high army command had differing views of how the Russian campaign should be fought from the moment of initial planning.
Mariana

8. Operation Barbarossa
June 1940, Hitler ordered General Marcks and Paules to invade USSR: Operation Barbarossa
Three “steps”
1) Start attack in Spring 1941
2) Blitzkrieg
3) 3 Divisions
Goals: Occupy the Ural Mountains and Annihilate the Red Army
Barbarossa - famous HRE emperos, “red beard” allie

9. Operation Barbarossa: cont...
Hitler relied on the “suppressed” peoples’ support
USSR Western borders shifted
Old fortification demolished, new not built.
Soviets relied on outdated tactics--offense only
USSR has the longest border
#fakenews
“Hey, Stalin. Wanna join forces against the Communists?”
“....maybe later?”
Stalin knew about Op Barbarossa 11 DAYS after signed
Didn’t do ISH (i wanted to swear but ava said that “wouldn’t be professional”)
Russian spy in Japan: #EXPOSED
Stalin thinks they’ll go for Britain first --- oops.
lina

10. 3 Periods of WWII (from Russia’s POV)
(Just for your reference)
Defensive (June ‘41 - Jan ‘42)
Border defense
Battle of Kiev
Battle of Smolensk
Battle of Moscow
Fight for initiative (Jan ‘42 - August ‘43)
Battle for Crim
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle for Caucasus
Offense (Sep ‘43 - May ‘45)
Defeat of Nazis in USSR
Battle of Berlin
Elbert - You don’t need to write this down.
First period - German attacks and Russia retreats East - USSR caught off guard
2nd Period - The Russians counterattacks, pushing back the Germans. Strategic defense, waiting for until strength is strong enough to attacks the Germans. Waiting for the Germans to tire themselves out.
3rd Period - Russia is attacking rather than defending- pushing the German occupation back.

11. Ava/lina

12. Operation Barbarossa: In Action!
Nazis take out bases, communication, oil storage, bridges, etc.
Operation Brandenburg
Molotov addresses the nation
...but he’s not the ruler
Ставка: Stalin is declared Chief (while also being in charge of the state)
Blitzkrieg slowed down from the beginning
That went sour fast
Germany lost ~ 40% tanks,1000 planes in the first wave
Red Army retreats for lots of reasons
lina

13. Timeline PART 1 3 July 1941-Stalin addresses the nation
Manufacturing plants moved behind the Ural Mountains
Order passed: Shoot deserters or prisoners of war
10 July - Germans reach Smolensk
ROCKETS
Oct-Nov - Nazis approach Leningrad
Battle => Siege
Oct 2 - Battle at Moscow
Red Army retreated so quickly that Hitler thought that they were no longer a threat.
Elbert :
“Brothers and sisters” = MOTHERLAND
Rocket artillery = kat’usha
Leningrad starts as a battle then becomes a siege
Since the Russians retreated so quickly, Hitler thought that they were no longer a threat. Big mistake. Hitler couldn't take control of Moscow. Symbol of Soviet resistance.

14. Timeline PART 2 Oct 20 - ish gets intense Oct 29-30 Nov 15-18
Stavka stays in Moscow
Rebuilding of defense lines
Hedgehogs
Oct 29-30
Nazis 20 km away from Moscow
400 Nazi tanks vs 45 RA tanks
GRENADES ON STICKS
Nov 15-18
Nazis stopped km away from Moscow
Operation Barbarossa: FAILED
Ava (grenades on sticks-lina)

15. Siege of Leningrad Modern day St. Petersburg
Opposed by Germany AND Finland
Population: 3 million
636000
Sep 8- Full encirclement by Germans
Same day, aircraft destroys warehouse of supplies
City under fire 24/7 for over 900 days
50K died of bombings.
Then the supplies ran out
allie

16. Siege of Leningrad cont...
Some days tons of food for 3 mil citizens
300 g for workers a day, dependents get 100 g
Then frost.
Coldest recorded winter in years: -46 C
Tanya Savicheva
died of starvation
Out of 3 million people -> left
“The Road of Life” moved 500K out of Leningrad
Jan counter attack by RA breached siege
Jan counter attack
Had to destroy 12 km deep line of defense
Jan : the RA connects, ending siege
Allie (lina talks about bread)

17. Battle of Stalingrad
Hitler wanted to remove Soviet forces from the south.
Basically Hitler sucks
Stalin didn’t believe there was a problem
One year into war: Summer, 1942
Germans take down USSR defense (or lack of)
Russians fight like crazy and are forced to keep retreating
Three armies invade:
Northern: Baltics and Leningrad
Central: Moscow and Stalingrad
Southern: Oil rigs and Stalingrad
Ava map lina slide

18. Battle of Stalingrad Germans end up at three main
places trying to get into USSR
Can’t add more troops to
Stalingrad efforts - spread too thin
Things go bad
Just really, really bad
Mariana ava map

20. Operation Uran “Operation Uranus was a ‘deep penetration’ maneuver.”
Led by Georgi Zhukov
Code name of Soviet strategic counter attack in World War II.
Goal: aimed at destroying German forces in and around Stalingrad.
Allie

21. Operation Uran: Zhukov
Served as an officer in the Russian Imperial Army during World War One
In 1940, Zhukov was appointed chief of staff by Stalin
Was a major part of protecting Moscow during Op Barbarossa
Moved almost a million troops undetected
Used false artillery to confuse Germans
Pivotal Russian leader during WWII
Won lots of medals
One of three recipients to receive Order of Victory twice
Hero of the Soviet Union four times
“Zhukov saved Moscow” --Josef Stalin
allie

22. Urban Destruction
Buildings in Stalingrad were made of bricks on the outside and reinforced concrete in the inside.
elbert

23. Crushed, not Obliterated
In a contained room, shockwaves created from the blast bounces off walls over and over again, causing the walls to be more weak each time it bounces.
The shockwave of the blast made holes for ventilation--lessening the intensity of the explosion.
Elbert
The buildings would fall into their own footprint, standing ruins and rubbles = good for snipers and bad for tanks.

24. Russian Snipers
Lina mariana

25. Cold Temperature + Rats = Keine Tanks Mehr
Cold Temperatures = animals desire warmth - think rats.
The insulation of the tanks shielded the soldiers from the cold which made perfect places for rats to scramble in.
The panzer tanks short-circuited due to the rats biting through the wires and wrecking the internal systems.
When winter hit, the temperature was sub zero.
Soldiers had high risk of frostbite, especially Germans.
Guns froze
Elbert mariana

26. Battle of Stalingrad: Food
In the cold, food became extremely scarce for both sides, especially the Germans.
Operations
Fat paste
Over-feeding
ava

27. Germans’ Attire for War
Combination of the 19th Century uniform.
This model’s outfit consisted of. . .
A shirt--possibly with a vest underneath it.
A woolen tunic.
A woolen grey coat on the top.
Biggest problem = the steel-shelled helmet
Cools off incredibly quickly = extremely cold heads.
High risks of developing frostbite.
allie

28. Russians’ Attire for War
Fairly heavy underwear--cotton--loose fitting
Woolen tunic--loose fitting
Padded тело-греика (t’elo-greika)
Typical Central Asian garment
Easy to make and have superior insulating properties
Instead of a steel helmet → fur cap--уша́нка (ushanka)
Made of fake fur (AKA fish fur because it came from no animal that they’ve actually seen).
Elbert

29. Effects
The battle of Stalingrad turned the Soviets towards the Allies, turning the tables against the Germans continuing the decline of the occupation of the Germans in Europe.
This is regarded as one of the most bloody battles in all of World War II.

30. lina

31. Works Cited
Rottiers, Geert. Operation Uranus. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr
Beevor, Antony. Stalingrad. NY, NY: Penguin, Print.
"Georgy Zhukov." History Learning Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr
"Russian WWII with Natalia Rubanenko." Personal interview. 18 Apr
"BBC - History - Historic Figures: Georgi Zhukov ( )." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 20 Apr
RTQuestionMore. YouTube. YouTube, 30 Apr Web. 20 Apr
Battle of Stalingrad . YouTube, 24 June Web. 20 Apr
Danilov, A. A, L. G. Kosulina, and M. U. Brandt. Istoriya Rossii. XX - nachalo XXI veka. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.