Editing Battle of Stalingrad (section)

==Background==
[[File:Eastern Front 1942-05 to 1942-11.png|thumb|upright=1.3|left|Case Blue: German advances from 7 May 1942 to:{{legend|#fff8d5|7 July|outline=silver}} {{legend|#ffd2b9|22 July|outline=silver}}{{legend|#ebd7ff|1 August|outline=silver}}{{legend|#ccffcd|18 November|outline=silver}}]]

By the spring of 1942, despite the failure of [[Operation Barbarossa]] to defeat the [[Soviet Union]] in a single campaign, the [[Wehrmacht]] had captured vast territories, including Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic republics. On the Western Front, Germany held most of Europe, the [[Battle of the Atlantic|U-boat offensive]] was curbing American support, and in [[North Africa campaign|North Africa]], [[Erwin Rommel]] had just captured [[Tobruk#German capture of Tobruk|Tobruk]].<ref name="Kershaw2000">{{harvnb|Kershaw|2000|pp=}}</ref>{{Rp|522|date=June 2011}} In the east, the Germans had stabilized a front running from [[Leningrad]] to [[Rostov-on-Don|Rostov]], with several minor [[Salient (territory)|salients]]. Hitler remained confident of breaking the [[Red Army]], despite heavy losses west of [[Moscow]] in the winter of 1941–42, because large parts of [[Army Group Centre]] had been rested and re-equipped.{{sfn|Taylor|Mayer|1974|p=144}} Hitler decided that the 1942 summer campaign would target the southern Soviet Union. The initial objectives around Stalingrad were to destroy the city's industrial capacity and block the [[Volga River]] traffic, crucial for connecting the [[Caucasus]] and [[Caspian Sea]] to central Russia. The capture of Stalingrad would also disrupt [[Lend-Lease]] supplies via the [[Persian Corridor]].{{sfn|Shirer|1990|p=909}}{{sfn|Bell|2011|p=96}}

On 23 July 1942, Hitler expanded the campaign's objectives to include occupying Stalingrad, a city with immense propaganda value due to its name, which bore that of the Soviet leader.{{sfn|Mammadli|2021|p=200}} Hitler ordered the annihilation of Stalingrad's population, declaring that after its capture, all male citizens would be killed and women and children deported due to their "thoroughly communistic" nature.<ref name="Burleigh2001">{{cite book|author=Michael Burleigh|title=The Third Reich: A New History|year=2001|publisher=Pan|isbn=978-0-330-48757-3|page=503}}</ref> The city's fall was intended to secure the northern and western flanks of the German advance on [[Baku]] to capture its petroleum resources.<ref name="Kershaw2000"/>{{Rp|528|date=June 2011}} This expansion of objectives stemmed from German overconfidence and an underestimation of Soviet reserves.<ref>{{harvnb|Walsh|2000}}, p. 42</ref>

Meanwhile, Stalin, convinced that the main German attack would target Moscow,{{Sfn|Bellamy|2007|p=498}} prioritized defending the Soviet capital. As the Soviet winter counteroffensive of 1941–1942 culminated in March, the Soviet high command began planning for the summer campaign. Although Stalin desired a general offensive, he was dissuaded by Chief of the General Staff [[Boris Shaposhnikov]], Deputy Chief of the General Staff [[Aleksandr Vasilevsky]], and Western Main Direction commander [[Georgy Zhukov]]. Ultimately, Stalin instructed that the summer campaign be based on "active strategic defense," while also ordering local offensives across the Eastern Front.{{Sfn|Glantz|House|2009b|pp=36–40}} Southwestern Main Direction commander [[Semyon Timoshenko]] proposed an attack from the [[Izyum]] salient south of [[Kharkov]] to encircle and destroy the German [[6th Army (Wehrmacht)|6th Army]]. Despite opposition from Shaposhnikov and Vasilevsky, Stalin approved the plan.{{Sfn|Glantz|House|2009b|p=|pp=42–43, 78–79}}

After delays in troop movements and logistical challenges, the Kharkov operation began on 12 May. The Soviets achieved initial success, prompting 6th Army commander [[Friedrich Paulus]] to request reinforcements. However, a German counterattack on 13 May halted the Soviet advance. On 17 May, [[Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist|Ewald von Kleist]]'s forces launched Operation Fridericus I, encircling and destroying much of the Soviet forces in the ensuing [[Second Battle of Kharkov]]. The defeat at Kharkov left the Soviets vulnerable to the German summer offensive. Despite the setback, Stalin continued to prioritize defending Moscow, allocating only limited reinforcements to the Southwestern Front.{{Sfn|Glantz|House|2009b|p=|pp=82–84}}

The commitment of panzer divisions needed for [[Case Blue]] to the Second Battle of Kharkov further delayed the offensive's start. On 1 June, Hitler modified the summer plans, delaying Case Blue to 20 June after preliminary operations in Ukraine.{{Sfn|Glantz|House|2009b|p=85|pp=}}