The Battle of Stalingrad can be argued as the turning point in WWII. Hitler believed that he was invading a weakened Russia with numerical superiority and was sure that he would be able to take the city. Initially Hitler believed he could take both Stalingrad and CaucasusiHitler in a single endeavor. However Hitler did not know the fate that awaited his army. The Germans were embarking to fight in an industrial wasteland where their Luftwaffe would become useless and the combat fierce and brutal. They did not count on facing such a savage force as the Russian people presented. With the German defeat at Stalingrad, the German empire was well on its way to ruin having suffered over one million casualties on the eastern front. Stalingrad was a battle like no other with regard to the harsh winter and brutality of the fighting and armies. The Russian winter made conditions unbearable and the close proximity of the warriors brought the gore of war to the fore. Many men became shaken and hell seemed a pleasant escape for most soldiers. Fighting often took place in buildings, with troops of Germans and Russians occupying the same building but on different floors. Stalingrad also hosted two of the most ruthless and tyrannical armies ever to walk the earth. Germans and Russians were renowned for their ability to kill their own soldier as readily as an enemy. Human life was not a valued commodity at Stalingrad and cries of patriotism under oppressive authority was the norm for the average soldier. Casualties for this gore fest are estimated between one and two million.

'September 1942. Red Armytank troops listening to a speech from Khrushchev before going into battle, The Fateful Siege