School/battle-of-stalingrad-factfile/whathappened.md

The Battle of Stalingrad

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What happened

The Battle of Stalingrad began in 1942 when the German army invaded the city to seize its industrial resources and control the Volga River. The fighting quickly turned into a "War of the Rats," where soldiers fought room-to-room in bombed-out buildings and factories. Although the Germans captured about 90% of the city, they struggled with the freezing winter and a lack of supplies. In November 1942, the Soviets launched Operation Uranus, a massive pincer movement that trapped the German Sixth Army inside the city. Cut off from food and fuel, the surviving German forces were forced to surrender in February 1943, marking a major turning point that put the Nazis on the defensive for the rest of the war.