The Battle of Stalingrad was the most important turning point of World War II and is considered the bloodiest battle in human history, with more combined casualties suffered than any battle before or since. The battle was marked by brutality and disregard for military and civilian casualties on both sides. The battle is taken to include the German siege of the southern Russian city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), the battle inside the city, and the Soviet counter-offensive which eventually trapped and destroyed the German Sixth Army and other Axis forces around the city. Total casualties for both sides are estimated to be over two million. As a result of the battle, the Axis powers suffered roughly 850,000 casualties, 1/4 of their strength on the Eastern Front, as well as a huge amount of supplies and equipment. The Axis forces were never able to recover from this loss and were eventually forced into a long retreat out of Eastern Europe. For the Soviets, who also suffered great losses during the battle, the victory at Stalingrad marked the start of the liberation of the Soviet Union leading to eventual victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

Besides being a turning point in the war, Stalingrad was also revealing in terms of the discipline and determination of both the German Wehrmacht and the Soviet Red Army. The Soviets first defended Stalingrad against a fierce German onslaught. So great were Soviet losses that at points in time the life expectancy of a newly arrived soldier was less than a day, yet discipline was maintained: many soldiers sacrificed themselves instead of partaking in one of two activities considered undesirable: retreating or being captured. Their sacrifice is immortalized by a soldier of General Rodimstev about to die who scratched on the wall of the tractor factory “Rodimstev's Guardsmen fought and died here for their Motherland (Rodina).”

On the other side, the German Army showed remarkable discipline after being surrounded. It was the first time that it had operated under adverse conditions of such scale. Short of food and clothing, during the latter part of the siege many German soldiers literally starved or froze to death. [1]Yet, discipline and obedience to authority prevailed, until finally at the very end when resistance no longer served any useful purpose, to save the lives of his remaining men Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus disobeyed Hitler and surrendered.