what was wrong with Germany's strategy in Stalingrad in world war two? why where they defeated?

Question

I'm doing a history paper on a topic of my choice from WWII. I chose to do it on Germany's defeat in the battle of stalingrad. what was wrong with their strategy? why did they lose?

Answer 1

Long supply lines.
Not equipped to deal with Russian winter conditions.
The Russians burned everything in retreat and left nothing for the Nazis.

Essentially the same reasons Napoleon couldn't beat Russia a century and a half before.

A good paper would be a comparative examination on the German defeat and Napoleon's failed campaign in Russia. See if the Germans learned anything from history BEFORE they attacked and see what similarities the German and the French encountered.

Answer 2

The problem at Stalingrad had nothing to do with a lack of winter preparedness on the the part of the Germans. This had been a problem the first winter, 1941-1942, but by the time of Stalingrad, fought over the winter of 1942-1943, the Germans had pretty much corrected those problems.

It also had nothing to do with the Germans fighting on multiple fronts, or with a Russian "scorched earth" policy. Those were certainly issues, but not really significant in the German defeat at Stalingrad.

The main problem was Hitler's insistence that Stalingrad, which means "the city of Stalin," be taken at all costs, for political more than military reasons. Thus, the Germans concentrated more and more of their best forces on a very narrow front in and immediately around Stalingrad, leaving the flanks to be guarded by Rumanians and Italians. If you know anything about the military performance of the Rumanians and the Italians in World War II, you can immediatley see the problem here.

The Russians also saw the weakness, and when they launched their assault they punched through those pathetic flank units and surrounded the Germans. This by itself was not a disaster, but it certainly required action. Unfortunately, again Hitler intervened, ordering the German Sixth Army to continue its battle to take Stalingrad instead of allowing it to fight its way out of the encirclement. Attempts to resupply the army by air fell woefully short, and ultimately the frozen and starving Sixth had no choice but to capitulate.

Because of Hitler's intransigence, the Germans lost the better part of five entire armies: the 3rd and 4th Rumanian armies, the 8th Italian army, the German Fourth Panzer Army, and, of course, the Sixth Army.

Answer 3

Jeffery is the only correct answers,nice,i would like to add a few points to his answer.the German 6Th army was a mobile [lots of tanks and motorized equip] unit,all of the German army's success to that point had come from blitzkrieg techniques[bypass strong points and encircle them ] to allow your mobile forces to become entangle in house to house fighting was a major tactical blunder.they should have bypassed it ,encircled it and destroyed at their leisure[same as every early success ] but Hitler wanted to control Stalin namesake city and insisted on its immediate capture,when told they had a large portion of the city he also order NO RETREAT,hold in place,no matter what,the Russian turned the tables on them and attacked their flanks and attempted to encircle them,if allowed to turn and fight they had a chance,with the hold at all cost order they were doomed to encirclement .after that it was logistics,that army needed 500 tons of supplies a day,the Luftwaffe brought less than 50 tons a day at great loss of planes and personal.if supplied they might have held out till manstien could rescue them.you know how it turned out....thumbs down? you know sh*t,stop playing vids,and read a book ,amateurs.

Answer 4

one of the biggest problems was that the german army was fighting on more than one front. they were campaigning in africa/france etc as well as in russia. second, the russians had a kind of home advantage, as they were defending the city. it is hard to assault and control a city. the germans also were poorly equipped for winter conditions. any time someone tries to conquer russia they fail due to the cold conditions. look at napolean, he failed because of the lack of cold weather equipment.

Answer 5

they went in winter

Answer 6

Because god decided they would lose.