battle of stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later renamed Volgograd) in Southern Russia.
The battle was marked by fierce close-quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in air raids, with the battle epitomizing urban warfare. It was the deadliest battle of the Second World War in terms of military casualties, with both sides suffering enormous casualties of over 2 million in total. It was also one of, if not, the deadliest battle in history of warfare, with the Siege of Leningrad (also during WWII) being another contender.
Today, the Battle of Stalingrad is universally regarded as the turning point in the European theatre of war, as it forced the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German High Command) to withdraw considerable military forces from other areas in occupied Europe to replace German losses on the Eastern Front, ending with the rout of the six field armies of Army Group B, including the destruction of Nazi Germany's 6th Army (more than a million men) and an entire corps of its 4th Panzer Army. Out of the nearly 91,000 German prisoners captured in Stalingrad, only about 5,000 were returned alive years later in 1955.
This victory, along with the latter Battle of Kursk, energized the Red Army and shifted the balance of power in the favour of the Soviets for the rest of the war.