Answer:
The harsh and extreme Russian winter was the geographical factor that added to German losses at Stalingrad.
Explanation:
The Battle of Stalingrad, which took place from July 17th, 1942 to February 2nd, 1943, was a World War II battle fought between the USSR and Nazi Germany and its allies. The battle was fought around the city of Stalingrad (today Volgograd), on the Volga river. The battle is considered one of the most important battles of the Second World War, with the Red Army's victory a turning point in the war.
Germany, at the command of Adolf Hitler, had invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, despite a peace treaty between Hitler and Joseph Stalin. The attack was called Operation Barbarossa. In the first months, the Red Army suffered terrible losses, and by October the Germans were close to Moscow. However, they failed to capture the city.
In the summer of 1942, the German Sixth Army under Friedrich Paulus invaded the south. The campaign started on June 28. On August 19 the city of Stalingrad was ordered to be captured. On September 12, Vasily Chukov was appointed to lead the defenders in the city. Over the next few months there was a hard fight around and in the ruins of Stalingrad. There were heavy casualties on both sides, and about 40,000 city residents were killed.
While the fighting was continuing in the city, general Georgi Zhukov planned a counter-attack to lift the siege of Stalingrad and surround the Sixth Army. This attack began on November 19th. On November 23, Hitler ordered the Sixth Army not to retreat, but to defend their positions until death. The Red Army successfully surrounded the Germans.
With the German army under siege, the Russian winter arrived. With average temperatures between -5ºC and -15ºC, the German forces could not withstand the fighting outdoors. In addition, heavy snowfall was a kind of land blockage, as many of the escape routes were flooded by snow.
In February, Paulus and the remnants of his army surrendered to the Red Army. This was the first time that Germany had lost a large-scale battle in World War II, and Paulus was the first German commander to be taken prisoner.
