Remembering Stalingrad.

[AztecWilliam]

Not enough Americans have even a modest understanding of World War II. That certainly is true when one refers to people under sixty; one might say below 70! (Take my WWII quiz below and see how much you know! )

The piece I am linking is by a genuine expert on military history (try his book on the Peloponnesian War, A War Like No Other.) The subject is the battle of Stalingrad, a key moment in the history of World War II.

www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/11/09/remembering_stalingrad_75_years_later_135482.html

AzWm

Aztec William’s World War II quiz. I consider this quiz only moderately difficult, with no really obscure references. I hope readers will submit their answers to me in a PM. After a few days and the torrent of responses subsides, I will post the correct answers.

1. Who was George Marshall?
2. Why was Regensburg important?
3. What was Operation Torch?
4. What was the Dakota?
5. What was the M-1 Garand?
6. Why was Peenemunde important?
7. Who was Chester Nimitz?
8. What was the Matilda?
9. What was Overlord?
10. What was El Alamein?

[aztecmusician]

The siege of Stalingrad was one of several German/Hitler stragic blunders in the Russian front. Hitler divided his forces in Southern Russia, sent half of them to grab the oil rich Caucuses, (which was the real stragic objective) then sent the remainder of his army to capture Stalingrad, a prized objective, but the result was leaving his Northern Army Group vulnerable to a counter attack. The result was a Russian counterattack from General Zukov and encirclement and subsequent destruction of General Paulus and the formidable German 6th Army.

If Hitler had kept his armies together, they probably could have maintained their supply lines and experienced the same success vs Zukov they had when they drove from the Don River to the Volga River AND captured enough petroleum to maintain the German war effort.

Stalingrad was the pivotal battle in WWII.