August 1942: Battle of Stalingrad begins

The Battle of Stalingrad, today Volgograd, was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the Second World War and also marked the highpoint of German advance into the USSR. Beginning on 23 August 1942, the Battle of Stalingrad was the site of the largest Soviet resistance to the German offensive launched in the Summer of 1942. The Battle of Stalingrad would determine whether or not the USSR was able to hold its southern front and whether its main lines would be cut off from the Caucasus. Over the course of fighting, roughly 2 million soldiers died.

This goal of the Axis offensive had been capturing Baku and seizing the Soviet Union’s oil supplies. At the time, Baku was one of the largest oil fields in the world and accounted for 80% of all Soviet oil production. The loss of Baku would have crippled the USSR’s ability to continue the war and its capture by Germany would have bolstered that country’s warfighting capabilities. As both Germany and the USSR had heavily mechanized armed forces, control of these oil reserves was vital for victory in the war. However, German lines were stretched too thin in the Caucasus to actually capture Baku, as significant numbers of troops were needed to face off against Soviet defenders in Stalingrad. The fate of Baku was thus determined in Stalingrad.