The Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point in the war in Europe. The German defeat proved that Hitler's army was not unstoppable. It also proved that Hitler was a flawed military leader. His adamant refusal to let his commanders retreat when strategically wise cost him hundreds of thousands of able soldiers and untold amounts of weaponry and other equipment.

Another important factor in Germany's inability to conquer the Soviet Union was the tactical skill of the Soviet military leaders, particularly Generals Chuikov and Zhukov. Though often outnumbered, they knew how to make the best use of everything available to them, including the weather and ground conditions. They were also adept at maintaining the fighting spirit of the men who served under them.

The Soviet offensive began just as the German offensive was ending. In July 1943, as German and Soviet tank battalions duked it out in the Soviet city of Kursk, the Red Army began its offensive. The first attack occurred at the German-held town of Orel on July 12. By August 6, the Soviets had retaken the town and destroyed 1,500 German tanks in the process. On August 3, General Zhukov launched an offensive against the German line at Kharkov, south of Kursk. Three weeks later, the city was again under Soviet control, with Germany losing another 1,500 tanks. Smolensk was recaptured on September 25 and Kiev on November 6. Within just a few months, most of Germany's victories in the Soviet Union had been reversed.

Map 4-5 The Soviet counteroffensive against Germany just after the Soviets took back Kursk on February 8, 1943. This was the turning point of the Russian campaign.

Map courtesy of the National Archives (U.S.S.R., RG 160, Vol. 1, No. 43)

In January 1944, the Red Army succeeded in establishing a rail line into Leningrad, a move that would help break the lengthy siege and push back the German line. In the south, Soviet forces pushed to remove the Germans from the Ukraine with a major offensive in February. And a third offensive along the coast of the Black Sea allowed the Soviets to retake Odessa and Sevastopol in May. The German army, once so close to a victory over the Soviets, was now on the run.

In June 1943, Soviet troops broke through the German-Finnish defensive line and managed to push the invaders back to the Finnish border. The Soviets were quick to take advantage of their military successes, driving into Estonia and Latvia toward Poland, and southwest into Hungary and Romania. On August 31, 1944, Bucharest came under Soviet control.

Red Army Reaches Poland

The push into Poland brought the Red Army to within striking distance of Warsaw, but Soviet military leaders stopped short of the city to resupply and let their exhausted troops rest a bit. The halt was also a political move — Stalin wanted the 60,000 Polish freedom fighters in the city to be crushed by the Germans to facilitate creation of a Communist government in Poland when the war was finally over.

The Red Army was a liberating force within its own borders but a conquering army elsewhere. The Soviets were intent on punishing all who had aided the Nazi force that wreaked so much havoc on their homeland. When they entered East Prussia, Soviet military officials ordered all males between the ages of ten and seventy to be rounded up. Those identified as Nazi officials were executed on the spot. The rest were used to remove mines and tank traps, then shipped off to the Soviet Union to be used as slave labor. Thousands of others in the region were subjected to beatings, rape, and other atrocities.

Indeed, as the Soviet force pushed farther into German territory, its anger seemed to grow. Soviet soldiers stole everything that could be carried away, including furniture, plumbing, and even electrical wiring. Livestock was especially prized, with animals that weren't eaten by the troops shipped through Poland back to the Soviet Union.

Hitler's directives did little to protect his country. Cities became fortresses to be defended by whatever means necessary, with very little regard for the civilian population. In many cases, Hitler and his commanders gave cities no warning of advancing Soviet troops so that the residents could flee. Millions died on the streets and roads of Germany as victims of Soviet artillery and air raids.

By April 1945, the Red Army was poised to take Berlin. On April 16, more than 20,000 Soviet guns positioned along the Oder River opened fire on German troops. The Oder was the last river before Berlin.

The Fall of Berlin

The Soviet army amassed a huge force on three fronts. To the north was the Second Belorussian Front commanded by Marshal K. K. Rokossovsky, in the center was the First Belorussian Front commanded by Vasily Zhukov, and to the south was the First Ukrainian Front under Marshal I. S. Konev. On April 1, the lineup changed slightly when the First Belorussian Front was given to General V. D. Sokolovsky in order to let Zhukov take command of the overall assault on the German capital. The Eighth Guards Army was selected to lead the attack.

Map 4-6 German advances over a one-year (thirteen-month) period, from June 22, 1941, to July 17, 1942.

Map courtesy of the National Archives (The Russian Front, RG 160, Vol. 1, No. 13)

The Soviet military machine facing Berlin was overwhelming. The three fronts totaled 193 divisions, more than 2.5 million soldiers (both men and women), 6,250 tanks, more than 41,000 mortars and other artillery, more than 3,000 multiple rocket launchers, and 7,500 bombers and fighters.

Berlin's defense was far less than what Hitler would have had his countrymen believe. Facing the Soviets were approximately eighty-five divisions totaling around 1 million soldiers, many of them exhausted, starving, and horribly ill prepared for the battle in which they were about to engage. The Germans also had about 10,000 mortars and other artillery pieces, 1,500 tanks, and a few hundred aircraft.

The Red Army quickly crossed the Oder River and on April 18 broke through the German defensive line 20 miles east of Berlin. Hitler decided to stay in the city, confident that his presence would help rally his troops to victory. Just to be safe, however, he ordered several German ministries to move out of the capital.

The Soviets bombed Berlin without mercy, advancing closer every day. By April 24, Soviet artillery had encircled Berlin, and troops moved in for what they expected to be vicious hand-to-hand combat with the German defenders. On April 25, as Soviet troops began their final assault on Berlin, troops from the U.S. First Army and the Soviet Fifth Guards Tank Army met up at Torgau on the Elbe River.

On April 30, Adolf Hitler committed suicide. After disposing of his body, his surviving generals sought out Soviet military leaders to discuss the surrender of Berlin, which became official on May 2.