The battle of Stalingrad was a significant battle in the European theater in WW2. It was fought between the Russians and the Germans over the city of Stalingrad, named after Stalin. Hitler wanted to capture Stalingrad as a strategic way to help win victory. Stalin ordered soldiers into defend the city. Some of Stalin’s generals wanted to evacuate the city and blow up factories to stop the Germans from making use of the city, but Stalin wanted everyone to stay and fight. He ordered civilians to stay put to make the Russian soldiers fight harder and the Russians were ordered “not a step back”. Defending Stalingrad became a very personal thing, as the city was named after Stalin. Hitler knew that, and it propelled him to want to capture it even more, as Stalin was his rival. It was one of the bloodiest battles and loses on both sides were immense. For the Germans, they had to endure the cold winter, and they weren’t prepared since they thought the war would be over before winter. Both sides were starving, and civilians too, as they were locked in. The Germans eventually lost, and were treated brutally in Russian hands.
(I colored the photo with Gimp Software!)