Stalingrad was one of the most important battles of the Second World War, a turning point; some historians say that it´s the most important battle of the whole war. It was bloody, brutal and long, lasting from July 1942 to February 1943. The Soviet Red Army was able to encircle a whole German army in the city and to repeal attacks to break the encirclement. Russian casualties were aroud half a million sodiers killed, and 650, 878 men wounded. German casualties were 650,000-750,000 killed and wounded , and 100,000 men were made prisoners. A German field marshal and many generals surrendered and were captured. Stalingrad was a crushing and decisive blow to the overall German war effort, a strategic defeat. Hitler had to publicly recognize the losses. Germany lost its capacity of strategic offensive; after the battle, the Wehrmacht fought the war on the defensive against the increasing Soviet military power.
