Why is the Battle of Stalingrad significant?

Answer 1

The heavy losses inflicted on the German army made it a significant turning point in the whole war. After the Battle of Stalingrad, German forces never recovered their earlier strength, and attained no further strategic victories in the East.

Answer 2

The entire German sixth army was captured or killed in the battle and nearly the entire steppes in the south was left undefended by the Germans. Some say the battle is the turning point in the war, but in fact it is not because just a few months later at Kharkov the Germans had a sudden turnaround cutting off and destroying the over extended soviets. Still, after the battle Germany could little hope to have any more deep thrusts into soviet territory.

Answer 3

Immensely significant. The battle of Stalingrad was one of the key turning points on the Eastern Front. It was the first major defeat Germany suffered in WWII. According to William Craig's Enemy at the Gates, the Axis forces suffered 850,000 casualties (of whom 400,000 were German). This is compared to roughly 1,000,000 Soviet casualties. These figures make Stalingrad the bloodiest single battle in history.

The battle permitted the Red Army to launch a counteroffensive, which was only stopped by the Germans at the 3rd Battle of Kharkov. Following the 1943 Battle of Kursk, the Russians regained the initiative on the Eastern Front for good.