Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East, 1942-1943

Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East, 1942-1943

by Joel S. A. Hayward
Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East, 1942-1943

Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in the East, 1942-1943

by Joel S. A. Hayward

Paperback(Reprint)

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Overview

By the time Hitler declared war on the Soviet Union in 1941, he knew that his military machine was running out of fuel. In response, he launched Operation Blau, a campaign designed to protect Nazi oilfields in Rumania while securing new ones in the Caucasus. All that stood in the way was Stalingrad.

Most accounts of the Battle of Stalingrad have focused on the dismal fate of the German Army. Joel Hayward now chronicles Luftwaffe operations during that campaign, focusing on Hitler's use of the air force as a tactical rather than strategic weapon in close support of ground forces. He vividly details the Luftwaffe's key role as "flying artillery," showing that the army relied on Luftwaffe support to a far greater degree than has been previously revealed and that its successes in the East occurred largely because of the effectiveness of that support.

Hayward analyzes this major German offensive from the standpoint of cooperation between ground and air forces to attain mutually agreed objectives. He draws on diaries of both key commanders and regular airmen to recreate crucial battles and convey the drama of Hitler's frustrations and reckless leadership. Ultimately, Hayward shows, the poorly conceived strategies of Hitler, Goering, and others in Berlin doomed the efforts of air commander Wolfram von Richthofen, a courageous and resolute leader attempting to come to grips with an increasingly impossible situation.

Stopped at Stalingrad is a dynamic case study in combined arms warfare that fills in many of the gaps left by other studies of the eastern war. By reconsidering the campaign in the light of a wider body of documentary sources and analyzing many previously ignored events, Hayward provides military historians and general readers a much deeper and more complete understanding of the Battle of Stalingrad and its impact on World War II.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780700611461
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Publication date: 04/01/1998
Series: Modern War Studies
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 424
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Abbreviations

Designation and Structure of Operational Units and Commands

Equivalent Officer Ranks

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Hitler’s Utopian Strategy

2. The Need to “Clear Up” the Crimea: November 1941 to May 1942

3. Operation “Bustard Hunt”: May 1942

4. Operation “Sturgeon Catch”: June-July 1942

5. Stampede to the Don: June-July 1942

6. Stalemate in the Caucasus: July–December 1942

7. Toward Destruction: August-November 1942

8. Disaster and Decisions: November 1942

9. Failure: November-December 1942

10. Collapse: January 1943

Conclusion

Notes

Select Bibliography

Index

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