Why did the Krauts even attempt Stalingrad?
They're could taken the whole of the Caucuses without ever fucking with it.
>>30312380
The short of it is that they tried and failed.
>>30312380
Because it was named after Stalin.
Seriously, pretty much everyone advised against it but Hitler ordered that it be taken.
Also, trying for the whole of the Caucasus would have been a bad idea as well, the Germans would have been better off establishing good defensive lines before the winter started.
>>30312380
Because it was a big industrial center and a break of bulk point for shipping.
>>30312399
The Stalingrad offensive started in August. The offensive along the front was started in July.
>>30312380
>They're could taken the whole of the Caucuses
This was a terrible idea to start with. Added the caucus oilfields and Baku is about half the entire length of the area the Germans are trying to take over.
They should have focused primarily on eliminating moscow and the rail hub, and then keep smashing military targets. Army Group South should have been mostly for defense of the southern flank. The refinery equipment at Baku were shut down and transferred east to oilfields across the caspian anyway, it was an empty target.
The worst thing was diverting Army Group Center to the south.
Break a nation's ability to fight first, and the economic targets are free for the taking.
>>30312529
If the strategy was taking Moscow primarily then yes.
The plan was to cut to the middle east from the Balkans.
>>30312878
Which is again, a terrible idea. Taking the middle east for 'muh oil' does not nearly equal the cost of the distance and troop dispersion, and is nowhere near the same strategic value of just generally trying to kick Russia's shit in before they can get their shit in order.
>>30312380
People try to attribute it to Hitler but bye the time he took actual control of the forces involved all the real damage had been done.
>>30312380
because vanity
>>30312529
Keep in mind that the Nazis were on the clock. They had maybe two or three campaigns worth of oil left before they were infantry only.
>>30312380
I think there have been entire documentary series produced about mistakes Hitler made. Stalingrad was one of the biggest, but hardly the only one.
>>30313218
incorrect
>>30313998
so eloquent
>>30312380
Beyond the propaganda reason, Stalingrad was also a major industrial facility. The reason you get stories about workers building a T-34 and driving it to battle is because the Felix Dzerzhinsky tractor plant is in Stalingrad. This is one of the rare Soviet factories not relocated to the Urals and if the Germans were going to win, they needed to destroy every bit of Soviet industry they could get their hands on.
The other thing is that Stalingrad is on the Volga river, and the Volga is an important supply route for the Soviets. The Volga runs from Stalingrad, through Kazan, Novgorod, and a tributary runs to Moscow. With the Soviet railway system under heavy strain, the Volga is an important route for supplies to Moscow.
>>30312416
It looked like 9/11 ground zero. There was nothing going to be made or shipped there at that point. They bombed the fuck out of it.
>>30314823
They didn't start bombing it until the battle itself (Aug 21). And that ignored that fact that is was always a break of bulk point through the entirety of the battle, not to mention before and after.
>>30312380
Because Stalingrad was a major industrial city and regional transportation hub. You take Stalingrad, and now everything in the Caucasus region is isolated.
Plus, the Lower Volga is a massive defensible border. Pushing the Soviets across the Lower Volga would have provided them with a nice easily defensible line to hold while the Caucasus oilfields were taken.
And realistically, they couldn't have taken the oilfields without going for Stalingrad as well. The push into the Caucasus left them incredibly overextended, and if they had left their northern flank open, it would have just invited an offensive like Operation Little Saturn, only worse, as they'd be facing the full brunt of the Red Army.
>>30314823
Not even close, the Germans didn't have the capability to bomb out a city like the Americans and British could.
The Felix Dzerzhinsky Tractor Plant was making T-34's all the way through the whole siege, and continued to do so after the end of the siege.
As for shipping, as long as the Soviets control Stalingrad, they control the Volga and they can use that to ship supplies.
