Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
February 2nd is celebrated in Russia as the Day of the defeat of the Nazi troops by the Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad (1943). This was the largest land battle of the Second World War, which had a decisive strategic significance and became a turning point in the Great Patriotic War.
Stalingrad, in its very name, carried great ideological significance for the USSR, but there were also economic reasons to hold the city at any cost – it opened access to oil sources in the Caucasus and the rich arable lands of the Don, Kuban and Lower Volga region.
The Battle of Stalingrad was divided into two stages: defensive (from July 17 to November 19, 1943) and offensive (from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943). The Red Army was forced to enter the battle with an acute shortage of equipment, on unprepared lines and with recently formed units that were not battle-tested. At the initial stage of the battle, the Germans fought actively and skillfully, surrounded the Russians with entire divisions, took one of the two Soviet armies in pincers, and eventually quickly pushed the defenders back beyond the Don. On July 28, Stalin issued the famous order No. 227 (“Not one step back!”). The stubborn resistance of the Russians, even in encirclement, and the extended front slowed the Wehrmacht’s advance so much that our troops managed to launch a number of counterattacks. Nevertheless, by August 23, the battle had already begun within the city limits.
The fighting in the city is the most famous part of the Battle of Stalingrad. It was particularly brutal and was fought literally for every house, some of which changed hands so often that they even received their own names on military maps. Both sides suffered huge losses and were short of food. This battle eventually became one of the bloodiest in the history of mankind in terms of the number of irreparable losses: in the Red Army they amounted to just under 480 thousand people, in the Wehrmacht and allied forces – about half a million. The number of civilians killed is still difficult to establish even approximately.
Realizing that the German troops were bogged down in heavy fighting, the Red Army command began to hatch a plan for a large-scale counterattack in mid-September, which eventually evolved into Operation Uranus. It began on November 19. As a result, General Friedrich Pauls’ 6th Army was surrounded. As is well known, even the promotion of its commander to the rank of Field Marshal did not save it. Another Field Marshal, Erich Manstein, tried to save the situation by developing Operation Winter Storm, and he almost managed to break through the encirclement, but this was thwarted by fresh reinforcements of Soviet troops and his own completely demoralized allies – the Italians, Hungarians and Romanians. “Dumitrescu was powerless to fight the demoralization of his troops alone. “There was nothing left to do but remove them and send them to the rear, to their homeland,” Manstein wrote in his post-war memoirs, “Lost Victories,” about the 3rd Romanian Army and its commander.
The German group at Stalingrad was completely liquidated as a result of Operation Ring. But it cannot be said that it was easy. The operation was interrupted and adjusted in view of the desperate resistance of the enemy. Nevertheless, the outcome is known. The Germans lost about a quarter of all personnel fighting on the Eastern Front. Germany, for the first time since the beginning of World War II, declared national mourning. Its European allies began to look for ways to leave the war, and Turkey and Japan abandoned their plans to invade the USSR.
In memory of this battle, one of the largest and most famous memorials in honor of the participants of the Great Patriotic War, “To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad,” was erected on Mamayev Kurgan, the height where the most fierce fighting took place, with the main monument “The Motherland Calls!” The ashes of more than 35,000 defenders of the city rest there in individual and mass graves. The monument-ensemble is an object of cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia and a candidate for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The State University of Management congratulates on this day of military glory and recalls our #scientific regiment near Stalingrad – university employees who took part in this grand battle:
-Hero of the Soviet Union, Alexander Davydov, Guard Lieutenant Colonel, Deputy Head of the Nile MIE-MIU department from 1962 to 1985;
-Gennady Belykh, Colonel, Head of the educational and methodological department of the MIU;
– George Bryansky, assistant to the division commander for political units, dean of the faculty of organizers of industrial production and construction of MIEI;
-Peter Burov, Major Engineer, Vice-Rector for the Academic Affairs of MIEI from 1952 to 1962;
– Vasily Svetlov, assistant to the platoon commander, associate professor of the Department of Political Economy of MEII, chairman of the University Council of Veterans from 1993 to 1997.
We also remind you that in the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland, on the initiative of the State University of Management, together with the Association “I am proud” and the “People’s Front” of the DPR, the All-Russian competition “Family history. Immortal memory” is being held.
Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 02.02.2025
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.