Where did the Soviets defeat the Germans surrounding them and forcing them to surrender?
1 Answer
There are a number of possible answers but the most famous example would be Stalingrad.
Explanation:
After invading the Soviet Union, Hitler increasingly meddled with the decisions of his generals, ultimately taking total control. This was to prove disastrous.
Army Group South was originally ordered to take the oilfields in the Caucuses, but Hitler decided to switch the 6th Army under Von Paulus to attack Stalingrad.
Stalingrad was an important industrial city for the Soviet War effort, but also symbolically it bore the name of Hitler's arch enemy.
By the end of 1942 the Germans held over 90% of the city. However the Soviets still controlled a bridgehead on the Volga and could get supplies across.
Von Paulus knew he was at the end of a very precarious supply route. He asked for permission to withdraw and re-engage in the spring. Hitler refused.
The Soviets, in a pincer movement had surrounded the Germans and their allies including Italians and Romanians.
Goering assured Hitler that the Luftwaffe could fly in supplies. Also an attempt was made under Von Manstein to break through and relieve the army (Operation Winter Storm.) Both failed.
In January 1942 Hitler made Von Paulus a Field Marshall on the assumption he would not surrender and instead shoot himself. The next day Von Paulus surrendered.
Stalingrad was a disaster for the Germans. Of some 120,000 taken prisoner only 6,000 returned to Germany. Symbolically it was the furthest east the Germans reached. From now on they were in retreat, which only ended in Berlin in 1945.
