Leningrad and Stalingrad
I always wondered why did the Nazi army siege Leningrad (St Petersburg) and Stalingrad (Volgograd). Was it because of their strategic sites, or simply because they have been named after the famous communist leaders?
Certainly, Leningrad was the most important city (with Moscow) in the USSR, but why Stalingrad? Why not Kazan, Astrakhan or Gorky) Nizhny Novogorod? I am not in anyway an expert in war stategies (except playing chess), but everybody knows about Hitler’s ambitions and his superiority complex; he paid too much for that!
December 10th, 2005 at 9:51 pm
in reply to your question “why Stalingrad”? I hasten to reply that Hitler believed Stalingrad to be the Key Entry point to the Caucasus where the much needed petroleum was located….
December 12th, 2005 at 1:57 pm
Let us not forget that Hitler also believed that if he could won Soviets in Leningrad and Stalingrad, he would have destroyed USSR glory!