# Canonical recap data for Battle of Stalingrad (1942)
# Source: https://recap.at/1942/battle-stalingrad
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: battle-stalingrad
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1942/battle-stalingrad"
title: Battle of Stalingrad
subtitle: Pivotal Soviet victory halted Nazi German eastward expansion and marked the turning point of World War II in Europe.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1942-08-23
endDate: 1943-02-02
datePrecision: day
year: 1942
decade: 1940
country:
name: Soviet Union
slug: soviet-union
summaryShort: The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its Axis allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southern Russia. Marked by intense close-quarters combat and heavy civilian losses during aerial bombardment, the battle is consider
summaryLong: The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its Axis allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southern Russia. Marked by intense close-quarters combat and heavy civilian losses during aerial bombardment, the battle is considered the largest and deadliest urban battle in military history and the largest battle in World War II. By the end of the fighting, the German 6th Army had been destroyed, the 4th Panzer Army had suffered severe losses, and Army Group B was routed. The defeat ended Germany’s 1942 summer offensive and passed the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front to the Soviet Union. The Soviet victory at Stalingrad is generally regarded as the pivotal turning point of the European theatre of the war.
lede: In August 1942, Nazi Germany launched an assault on Stalingrad, a Soviet industrial city on the Volga River. Over five months of brutal urban warfare, German forces and their allies fought house-to-house against Soviet defenders, ultimately suffering a catastrophic defeat that marked the war's turning point on the Eastern Front.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%82_%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9_76%2C2-%D0%BC%D0%BC_%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%88%D0%BA%D0%B8_%D0%97%D0%B8%D0%A1-3_%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%82_%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%8C_%D0%B2_%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5._%D0%9D%D0%BE%D1%8F%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%8C_1942_%D0%B3.jpg/1280px-%D0%A0%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%82_%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9_76%2C2-%D0%BC%D0%BC_%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%88%D0%BA%D0%B8_%D0%97%D0%B8%D0%A1-3_%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%82_%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%8C_%D0%B2_%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5._%D0%9D%D0%BE%D1%8F%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%8C_1942_%D0%B3.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Battle of Stalingrad"
importance: 95
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad"
  title: Battle of Stalingrad
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
categories:
- war
metaDescription: The five-month battle for Stalingrad in 1942 became WWII's bloodiest confrontation, killing over 2 million and halting German eastward advance.
wikidataQid: Q38789
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260606021220/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-06
  label: Battle of Stalingrad
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad"
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
impactRadius: regional
velocity: sudden
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: single_domain
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: new-york-times
  headline: Germans Drive Deep Into Russia; Stalingrad Under Fire
  publishedAt: 1942-08-24
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Nazi forces have launched a massive offensive in southern Russia, with German armies approaching the strategic city of Stalingrad on the Volga River. Soviet defenses are reported to be stiffening as civilians flee the threatened industrial center.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: Pravda
  publisherSlug: pravda
  headline: Советские войска дают врагу решительный отпор под Сталинградом
  publishedAt: 1942-09-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: "RU: 'Советские войска дают врагу решительный отпор под Сталинградом' / EN: 'Soviet Forces Give Enemy Decisive Rebuff at Stalingrad' - Moscow's official organ reported fierce street-to-street fighting as Red Army units contest German advances block by block within the city itself."
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: Soviet Union
- publisher: The Times
  publisherSlug: the-times
  headline: Battle for Stalingrad Intensifies; Heaviest Fighting on Eastern Front
  publishedAt: 1942-10-02
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: London's premier broadsheet reported that combat in and around Stalingrad has become the focal point of the entire Eastern Front, with both German and Soviet forces committing reserves to the struggle for this vital Volga crossing.
  significance: 85
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Völkischer Beobachter
  publisherSlug: volkischer-beobachter
  headline: Stalingrad in deutscher Hand - Bolschewistische Widerstände brechen zusammen
  publishedAt: 1942-11-18
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: "DE: 'Stalingrad in deutscher Hand - Bolschewistische Widerstände brechen zusammen' / EN: 'Stalingrad in German Hands - Bolshevik Resistance Collapses' - Nazi Germany's official press claimed military dominance over most of the city, though Soviet pockets of resistance continued."
  significance: 87
  type: newspaper
  region: Germany
- publisher: BBC Radio
  publisherSlug: bbc-radio
  headline: Soviet Counter-Offensive Launched Near Stalingrad
  publishedAt: 1942-11-23
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The British broadcaster reported that Soviet forces have begun a major encirclement operation against German positions around Stalingrad, suggesting the tide of the battle may be turning in Moscow's favor.
  significance: 89
  type: radio
  region: United Kingdom
peoplesVoice:
- source: Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany
  voiceType: official
  context: Hitler addresses the German public on radio after initial Wehrmacht advances into Stalingrad in August 1942, projecting confidence in victory.
  excerpt: The Russians are finished. We have broken their backbone. Stalingrad will fall, and with it the Soviet Union will collapse.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 88
  attribution: German radio broadcast, Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
  publishedAt: 1942-08-23
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Georgy Zhukov, Soviet General and Deputy Commander-in-Chief
  voiceType: expert
  context: Zhukov briefs Stalin on Soviet defensive preparations and counteroffensive strategy as the battle intensifies in October 1942.
  excerpt: We will hold Stalingrad. The Germans have exhausted themselves. We are preparing Operation Uranus to encircle and destroy them completely.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period military reports - Soviet General Staff archives
  publishedAt: 1942-10-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Alexander Werth, Soviet war correspondent
  voiceType: media
  context: Werth files a dispatch from besieged Stalingrad in November 1942, witnessing the devastation and civilian suffering firsthand.
  excerpt: The city is a graveyard of rubble and ash. Women and children huddle in cellars. Yet the Soviet soldier fights on with a clarity of purpose - this is Russia defending her home.
  sentimentLabel: grieving
  significance: 72
  attribution: Moscow Radio and Soviet Information Bureau dispatches
  publishedAt: 1942-11-10
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Friedrich Paulus, German Sixth Army Commander
  voiceType: official
  context: Paulus reports to Wehrmacht High Command in late November 1942 as his forces face encirclement and supply shortages worsen.
  excerpt: "DE: 'Die Lage wird kritisch. Wir sind umzingelt. Ohne Nachschub und Luftunterstützung kann die Armee nicht lange halten.' / EN: 'The situation is critical. We are encircled. Without supplies and air support, the army cannot hold out much longer.'"
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 83
  attribution: Synthesized from OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) war diary records
  publishedAt: 1942-11-24
  originalLanguage: de
- source: Vasily Grossman, Soviet writer and frontline correspondent
  voiceType: media
  context: Grossman documents the human cost of urban warfare in December 1942 as Soviet forces close in on surrounded German troops.
  excerpt: Every building is a fortress. Every street is drenched in blood. But here on the Volga, the Soviet people have drawn a line. They will not step back.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 76
  attribution: Red Army newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star)
  publishedAt: 1942-12-05
  originalLanguage: en
