Soviet forces kept fighting and struck back. German supply problems and rigid orders made it harder to recover when those counterattacks succeeded.
Germany invaded the Soviet Union, or USSR, in June 1941 expecting a quick victory. Heavy early losses did not end Soviet resistance. Its large territory gave room to continue fighting, while surviving and recovering industry produced weapons and the state raised further forces. Soviet armies stopped the German advance near Moscow and later launched counterattacks, attacks made in response to the enemy's advance.
At Stalingrad, Soviet attacks surrounded major German forces, cutting them off from normal land supply routes. This is called encirclement. Hitler insisted that the trapped troops hold their position, while deliveries by air could not supply enough food, fuel and ammunition. The trapped army surrendered in early 1943. The loss weakened Germany and helped Soviet forces take the initiative, deciding where and when to push forward.
German command weaknesses mattered because they made effective responses harder. Insisting on holding a position could prevent commanders from withdrawing to save forces, and plans could demand more than available troops and supplies could support. But poor decisions alone do not explain defeat: Soviet resistance and attacks put those weaknesses under pressure. Weather added difficulty without replacing these military explanations.
Worked example: Connect an attack to the weakness it exposed
At Stalingrad, Soviet forces surrounded a German army.
- The encirclement cut the army off from its usual supply routes.
- Orders to hold the position left the troops trapped, and air deliveries could not meet their needs.
- Soviet action and German decisions combined to cause the loss. Naming just the weather or just a bad order would miss part of the explanation.
Watch out for this
Germany lost in the East only because it was cold.
Weather compounded supply problems, but Soviet resistance, production, strategy and German decisions also explain the outcome.
Check your understanding
Which explanation best connects Soviet strength with German weakness at Stalingrad?
- Soviet encirclement cut supply routes, while German orders to hold the position left troops depending on inadequate air deliveries.
- Capturing territory near Stalingrad guaranteed that Germany could supply its forces there.
- The order to hold the position solved the supply problem by allowing troops to stay in one place.