Stages of the Battle of Stalingrad and the participation of Romanian troops

A modern concept of the history of the Battle of Stalingrad and the role assigned by the top military−political leadership of Germany to the troops of one of its satellite countries, Romania, is presented. Romanian dictator I. Antonescu responded to the wishes of the leadership of the Third Reich, significantly increasing the grouping of Romania’s armed forces on the Soviet−German front. Nevertheless, for a number of reasons, this did not become a passport to success for the Axis troops during the battles for Stalingrad, becoming instead one of the main causes of their defeat during Operation Uranus, the Soviet counteroffensive in the vicinity of Stalingrad. As a result of the crushing defeat, which in its scale for Romania exceeded the catastrophe of the 6th Army for Germany, most of the Romanian troops were withdrawn from the Soviet−German front.