Click2History - Battle of Stalingrad - Chapter 3

x Click2History - Battle of Stalingrad - Chapter 3 <body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <tr> <td> <div align=center><p><b><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b>BATTLE OF STALINGRAD</p> <p><font size=4>CHAPTER 3 - SOVIET RESISTANCE</font></p> </font> </div> <center> <table width="90%"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3">Hitler launched a plan ("<a href="http://www.zhukov.org/Barbarossa.htm" target="_blank"><b>Operation Barbarossa</b></a>") to <a href="http://www.onwar.com/maps/wwii/eastfront1/efrnt1maps/c11p33r.jpg" target="_blank"><b>conquer</b></a> the Soviet Union and to control its vast <a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/commonwealth/Soviet_Pet_Deposit_82.jpg" target="_blank"><b>oil deposits</b></a>. He thought he would be successful. Indeed, his troops penetrated deeper into Russian territory than any other invader, including Napoleon. (Be patient with this terrific animated map from a great German site. It is worth the wait.)</p> <p>But Hitler failed to consider the psychological impact of a German invasion. He did not count on <a href="http://www.stalingrad.com.ru/history/foto/chuikov_09-12/chuik-10.jpg" target="_blank"><b>the will</b></a> of the Soviet people to <a href="http://www.dhm.de/magazine/agitprop/images/Kat47_s.GIF" target="_blank"><b>resist</b></a> him and his military might. He did not count on the misery of his own <a href="http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/images/covers/feldpost.jpg" target="_blank"><b>soldiers</b></a> as they endured the brutal Russian winters.</p> <p>Contemporary Soviet <a href="http://www.dhm.de/magazine/agitprop/images/Kat8_Titelseite.GIF" target="_blank"><b>posters</b></a> depict how much Hitler and his Third Reich were hated. Without understanding a word of Russian, it’s easy to grasp the message: <ul> <li>"<a href="http://www.dhm.de/magazine/agitprop/images/Kat36_s200.GIF" target="_blank"><b>Kill</b></a> the German Beast"<br><br> <li>"That’s Enough, Fascist <a href="http://www.dhm.de/magazine/agitprop/images/Kat54.GIF" target="_blank"><b>Beast</b></a>!"<br><br> <li>"Death to the Fascist <a href="http://www.dhm.de/magazine/agitprop/images/Kat9s_200.GIF" target="_blank"><b>Monster</b></a>"<br> </ul> <p>The <a href="http://www.onwar.com/maps/wwii/eastfront1/efrnt1maps/b3p44r.jpg" target="_blank"><b>battle</b></a> for Stalin’s city was originally code-named "<a href="http://www.onwar.com/maps/wwii/eastfront1/efrnt1maps/b3p30.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Operation Blue</b></a>." It wasn’t long before <a href="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6304287313.01.LZZZZZZZ.gif" target="_blank"><b>German soldiers</b></a> called it <i>Rattenkrieg</i> (translated: <a href="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/055358135X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" target="_blank"><b>War of the Rats</b></a>). Doing what they (and Hitler) never wanted, German troops were forced to <a href="http://www.onwar.com/maps/wwii/eastfront1/efrnt1maps/b3p99r.jpg" target="_blank"><b>fight</b></a> man-to-man where rats lived: in <a href="http://www.stalingrad.com.ru/history/foto/chuikov_01-04/chuik-03.jpg" target="_blank"><b>the streets</b></a>, in the cellars, in the ditches. </p> </div> <p align="center"><font size="2"><a href="battle_stalingrad_ch2.htm">GO TO LAST CHAPTER</a>   <a href="battle_stalingrad_ch1.htm">BACK TO FIRST CHAPTER</a>   <a href="battle_stalingrad_ch4.htm">GO TO NEXT CHAPTER</a></p><br> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </body>