victory at stalingrad

278 Pages·2008·1.71 MB·English

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V I C T O R Y A T
S T A L I N G R A D
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Also by Geoffrey Roberts
The Unholy Alliance: Stalin’s Pact with Hitler
The Soviet Union and the Origins of the Second World War
The Soviet Union in World Politics, 1945–1991
Ireland and the Second World War (co-edited
with Brian Girvin)
The History and Narrative Reader (editor)
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V I C T O R Y A T
S T A L I N G R A D
T H E B A T T L E T H A T
C H A N G E D H I S T O R Y
Geoffrey Roberts
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____________________________
First published in Great Britain in 2002
© Pearson Education Limited 2002
The right of Geoffrey Roberts to be identified as Author
of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN 0 582 77185 4
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A CIP catalog record for this book can be obtained from the Library of Congress
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CONTENTS
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xii
A chronology of the Battle of Stalingrad 1942–3 xiii
Maps xvii
1 Introduction: battle of the century 1
2 War of annihilation: the German campaign in
Russia, 1941–2 15
3 Hitler’s quest for oil: the road to Stalingrad,
April–August 1942 47
4 State of siege: Stalingrad, September–October 1942 75
5 Red gods of war: Soviet victories, German
defeats, November 1942–February 1943 105
6 Aftermath: revenge and retribution on the road
to Berlin, 1943–5 137
7 The Stalingrad story: the battle that history changed,
1945–2000 163
8 Conclusion: the battle that changed history? 181
v
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VICTORY AT STALINGRAD
Appendix Document 1: Stavka Order No.270, 16
August 1941 197
Document 2: Stalin Order No.227 (‘Not a
Step Back’), 28 July 1942 203
Glossary of military terms 211
Biographical notes 215
Guide to further reading 220
Index 239
vi
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In Memory
of
Geoffrey Frank Weston, 1925–2001
vii
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PREFACE
The aims of this book are twofold. First, to provide an
overview of the battle of Stalingrad and its historical signifi-
cance. Second, to summarise, synthesise and criticise the vast
literature on Stalingrad. No battle of any war has had more
written about it than Stalingrad. My main sources are indi-
cated by citations in the text and in the guide to further read-
ing at the end of the book. I have also drawn freely upon my
own specialist knowledge and expertise on wartime foreign
policy and diplomacy.
My interest in Stalingrad goes back to my childhood in
London in the 1950s and 1960s. I grew up in Deptford, in
south-east London – the most heavily-bombed area of
Britain. So there were plenty of bomb-sites, disused air raid
shelters, and concrete water tanks in which to re-fight the
battles of the Second World War. There were also lots of
family stories to fire the imagination. The block of flats in
which my family lived was hit and destroyed by a VI ‘flying
bomb’ in June 1944. It was rebuilt after the war and there I
wasbornandbroughtup.Thewardidnotseemsuchalong
timeagoandIreadeverythingIcouldaboutit,startingwith
battle action comic books and then graduating to more
serious stuff. One image that stuck with me – I think it was
from a school textbook – was a picture of Paulus surrender-
ing at Stalingrad. It was juxtaposed with pictures of the
street-fighting in Stalingrad and of Red Army soldiers
ix