The Battle of Stalingrad By The Numbers
Humanity’s bloodiest battle
Stalingrad was not supposed to devolve into one of history’s bloodiest conflicts. The city straddling the Volga river was merely supposed to be a stopover for the German army en route to capturing the strategic oil fields around Baku. Stalingrad served as an important industrial center and the main port being used in the Allied Lend-Lease program as one of the main entry points for important war materials coming from British Persia.
The city was not supposed to become the apocalyptic hinge point that it did.
But Stalingrad became the mother of all battles because both sides decided this was the point in which they would refuse to yield. The Germans saw propaganda value in capturing the city bearing Stalin’s name while the Soviets decided that, eventually, they would have to take a stand somewhere and Stalingrad was a good a place as any.
The results were catastrophic. Both sides suffered unfathomable losses as the battle dragged on for months longer than anyone had anticipated.
Strength of the armies
