Happened to see a documentary on World War 2 (one of my favourite topic in history) on Netflix recently.
The episode on Stalingrad is so damn impressive. This was a battle that changed the course of the war. Nazis has much of Western and Eastern Europe under control.
The episode on Stalingrad is so damn impressive. This was a battle that changed the course of the war. Nazis has much of Western and Eastern Europe under control.
But Hitler's stupid move to order siege of Stalingrad (mostly because of the city's name) contributed to fall of the third reich. Hitler wanted to capture the city to embarrass his opponent and fellow dictator Joseph Stalin. Also Stalin wanted the city defended at all costs
Check out the movie "Enemy at the Gates" to see the condition in which the urban warfare was done in that brutal campaign. Ego prevented Hitler from ordering withdrawal of his army, that was ravaged by the harsh Russian winter and encirclement by the red army
Hubris has been common for politicians. Rahul Gandhi went ahead with attacks on Rafale deal even though senior party leaders advising him not to use the point. Thus RaGa handed an even bigger victory than 2014 to Modi. Hitler did the same mistake by persisting with wrong strategy
Most fascinating part was a million Soviet women participated in WW2 with about half in combat roles. As medics trained in warfare, snipers (women are more suited to it then men due to their powers of concentration) etc.
When the Germans saw Soviet women soldiers, they knew they have to fight against not just the Soviet army but the whole population of the besieged city.
In the end General Paulus surrendered and could save 90K of his troops. Lakhs of Germans died due to winter, starvation n war
In the end General Paulus surrendered and could save 90K of his troops. Lakhs of Germans died due to winter, starvation n war
It is leader's like Hitler or RaGa who throw their soldiers into face of sure death or political defeat, just to satisfy their ego. Hitler could have avoided Stalingrad to blockade the Volga river. Likewise RaGa could have focused on jobs, agriculture distress etc.
