The Battle of Stalingrad

By August of 1942, the German armed forces occupied much of Western Europe, essentially just missing Switzerland. On the Eastern front, they were also occupying Poland and were allies with the Baltic countries beneath it. However, it is impossible to think about Eastern Europe and miss Russia, which the Germans had tried and failed to conquer, leaving them just outside of Moscow. However skilled the German army was, they were not strong enough to dominate every area of their occupation, meaning that once a country gained enough strength to use up a portion of the German army, the Germans would be significantly harmed in their capability to control the rest of their occupied territory. At the time that Russia was occupied in part by the Germans, the Russian government was not strong enough, nor did they have the resources, to push them out. They were given time to regroup and gain strength in their armed forces. August of 1942 marked the start of one of the most significant battles in WWII, as it can arguably be called one of the first, if not the first, strong win for the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad began as the Germans moved on the offensive to capture Stalingrad, but the Russians were ready for the advancement and had their own troops to protect themselves. The victory went to the Allies after heavy fighting until February of the next year, leaving the German troops as beaten down and exhausted, forcing them to surrender. This win was extremely helpful on the Western front as well, where the Americans and British were working tirelessly to combat the Nazis as well. Taking out such a large portion of the German Army on the Eastern front forced the Germans to send reinforcements throughout the battle, effectively weakening the forces on the Western front. This weakening was an agent in the Ally victories that followed.