In the winter of 1942, the armies of Hitler and Stalin went head to head in the bloodiest battle of the Second World War.
Fought over five months through the bitter Russian Winter, the Battle for Stalingrad would serve as a turning point in the course of the Second World War and would mark a drastic change in the fortunes of the two dictators and the men who fought for them.
But how did an industrial city on the banks of the Volga come to play such a decisive role in the course of the Second World War?
In this series (‘Hitler vs Stalin’), historians James Holland, Guy Walters, author of The Lighthouse of Stalingrad Iain MacGregor and Research Fellow Sarah Ashbridge explore the personalities behind the battle to uncover the key moments, decisions and motivations that lead to this decisive moment.
In this episode 1, we uncover the personalities and psychology of the two Tyrants, Hitler and Stalin and their Generals Paulus and Zhukov as they enter a new season of campaigning against the backdrop of a global war.
In episode 2, after four months of heavy fighting, German commander Paulus and his troops had succeeded in pushing the Soviet’s from out of the centre of the city and to within 800 metres of the Volga.
Victory seemed within their grasp, but what Paulus and Hitler didn’t know was that Zhukov and Stalin were planning something that would change the battle, and the war – Operation Uranus.
Re-join our team of experts James Holland, Guy Walters, Iain MacGregor and Sarah Ashbridge as they continue to explore the personalities behind the battle and uncover the key moments & decisions that led to Stalin’s ultimate victory over Hitler.
Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free exclusive podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsely, Mary Beard and more. Watch, listen and read history wherever you are, whenever you want it. Available on all devices: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Roku, Xbox, Chromecast, and iOs & Android.
We’re offering a special discount to History Hit for our subscribers, get 50% off your first 3 months with code YOUTUBE: http://www.access.historyhit.com/
source
Stalin built a huge reserve system with 35k tanks, 20k aircraft and a huge infantry reserve system as he was preparing o invade Europe. The Germans couldn't kill them fast enough.
Paulus should have told Corporal Hitler, "go f*** yourself", and pulled out before becoming encircled. He saw it coming. He had to also know what the Russians would do to German POWs. He needed to reach down and check to see if he really had a pair. I don't believe he did.
Communism and Fascism seem very similar to me.
this channel is promoting putin's propaganda!
I've literally no Respect for Stalin he did not defeat Germany millions of dead Russian soldiers very poor German long term planning and American trucks and food supplies. Zhukov was the true 'designer' of the Russian victory
Wow great documentary!
Hitler was such a dick
Thank you,
56:19 – but it wasn't a strategically important place to be…that's the whole point of the story of this battle.
1:02:30 – Paulus is "kind of being let down". What an understatement.
Why include so much footage you're just going to blur?
If Hitler was a strategist like Zhukov then we would have been doomed. Lucky, he didn't have a clue how to play the game. 😜 The eizengruppen murder spree literally pissed off the Red Army and i read that out of the 332000 german, only 6000 returned home. Damn!!!
"The German invaders want a war of extermination with the peoples of the U.S.S.R. Well, if the Germans want to have a war of extermination, they will get it.” (Loud and prolonged applause.) Joseph Stalin 6 November, 1941.
Actually upset about the severe lack of Uranus jokes…
Stalingrad showed the world what happens when you have two tyrannical despots who have virtually no regard for human life face off against each other.
Stalin didn't have a choice though. Dictatorship is still the best way to make things done as soon as possible
48:18 "Operation Uranus was vast"
Yall couldn't help yourself, huh?
"We've defeated the wrong enemy." – George S. Patton
Before the USSR reverted to “Hate America,” Marshall Stalin famously said, in a toast before hundreds at the November 1943 Tehran conference with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt: "I want to tell you what, from the Russian point of view, the president and the United States have done for victory in this war," Stalin said. "The most important things in this war are the machines…. The United States is a country of machines. Without the machines we received through Lend-Lease, we would have lost the war."
They were really not going to stop until they conquered every continent from coast to coast smh crazy. Imagine how the world would be if the axis powers had managed to get nukes first or beat everyone some other way and taken over everything. If they stayed allied with the soviets for longer until after they beat the americas and didnt have to fight on so many fronts at once they just may have pulled it off
Putin is the new Hitler; fascist and racist.
You often get these comments that are essentially saying ‘if Hitler just stopped being Hitler he’d have been victorious!’
You – ran – us. Operation You-ran-us/Uranus. Not You- r – Anus. Just sayin’ Saves the schoolboy sniggers, too.
I'm so used to the reaction genre that the thumbnail made me think they brought back Stalin to react to the battle. "Expert dictator reacts to the battle of Stalingrand."
Excellent film, a big thank-you to the historians!
i grew up with the narrative that britain won the war, but it was stalin right?!
I truly believe I have an addiction to everything A-Z, all aspects,and everything to do with WW1&2/Cold war I’ve run out of documentaries lately which has led me to start watching old docs on ww2 and audiobooks but I can say without a doubt history hit always comes in clutch like my fix for these extremely informative and well put together documentaries. It all started with the book solider x in 2006 when I was 14. Anyone else have this addiction too?😂
At some point in 1943 (I think) the Allies ceased all attempts to even undermine Hitler, more or less, have him killed. They realized that he was as big a threat to his armies as they were. They didn't want to risk having someone competent take his place. There were at least a few high up in the party who were significantly more competent than Hitler was. The risk of one is them taking over was not one the Allies were willing to risk.
I'll never forget reading about the kessel in the book "Stalingrad". Absolute hell on earth what those German soldiers went through.
Excellent video. Could not have happened to a more deserving bunch of criminals masquerading as soldiers.
The truth about Stalin:
-convicted child molester
-convicted horse thief
-thug criminal
-sprung from jail by Bolsheviks.
In today's world, any person looking at a child/youth/minor in any way is immediately ostracized, shamed, smeared, prosecuted. Yet this criminal communist is hailed as 'hero'.
The world has gone awry!
If your combining Stalingrad with Uranus, it is definitely up there, but if we're lumping things together, wouldn't the series of counteroffensives around Rzhev, including Zhukov's Operation Mars, be the bloodiest? The Soviets downplayed it as best they could, in the history but that section of the front had more men/equipment dedicated to it, then Uranus.
In God We Trust is not a logo folks. What's it mean to you? To me? And to others? Right In our pockets, how can we get better connected?
Click bait title
I wish people would stop with the name of the city myth it’s such garbage. The city had multiple strategic reasons why the Germans would want to take the city.
26:55 enter Zhukov
It all depends on how you crunch the numbers but really the Battle of Moscow was the biggest (and most important) single battle in WW2, I'd argue even surpassing Stalingrad and Uranus in importance. So much so that the Germans nearly lost it all at the end of 1941.
History repeats as Russians fighting nazis again.
Pretty sure I read that German soldiers were within 60 kilometers from Moscow and his top generals suggested that the Weirmacht take the capital. Stalingrad was seen as a city that could be circumvented initially. But instead Hitler gives the order to waste time in attacking a city that wasn't much of a military strategic importance. It only gave the Soviets more time to prepare an assault that ended with General/Field Marshall Paulus to surrender himself with half a million German Soldiers. In the Southern Eastern fronts, Hitler ordered his generals to separate the infantry from all armored units, against the will of his generals. This caused major casualties among the German army. Hitler did everything to undermine the German war effort. Why? He wanted to invite communism into all of East Europe thereby , ultimately setting up the advent of the Cold War. Pretty sure that's what his financiers wanted…
Not talking anything away from Starlin's achievements, but it was because Hitler was a complete twat lol
I agree with fuhrer you die to rhe last fight to the death
Bullshit……the madman Hitler theory once again…..see Tik Hitory instead….
Stalins victory was made possible by bomber commands mass air raids on Hitlers armament factories forcing Hitler to keep anti aircraft guns that doubled as anti tank guns back from the Russian front . These guns were devastating against tanks had they gone to the Russian front they would have destroyed Russian tanks Stalins main advantage.
6 million vs 3 million soldiers on a 2000 km front wil do it – not some Georgian bank robber
A battle you wish both sides would lose
Impatience rampant.
whats the name of this documentary and of what series is it ?
The many horses which came with the German Army, were eaten during Stalengrad. So not all the food was gone.
Stalin Defeated Hitler ….? It is not true . World did that !
Great video
The worst Stalingrad (or Fall Blau) documentary out there, full of falsehoods from years ago. The narrators ought to be ashamed of themselves for partaking in such a cheesy production. Nothing new in the way of footage, same stuff I've been seeing for almost 70 years. I couldn't even make it to the 40-minute mark.