Military theorist Carl von Clausewitz famously noted: “War is the continuation of politics by other means.” This is especially true in the case of the war between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, the most decisive and deadly front of World War Two. In its most basic sense, the “Eastern Front” represented an epic struggle between on the one hand, the most vicious manifestation of fascism and on the other hand, the first and—at the time—only existing state in the world dedicated to workers’ power and the construction of socialism.
On Feb. 2, the people of the former Soviet Union—now dismantled by capitalist counter-revolution—celebrated the 70th anniversary of the victory at the Battle of Stalingrad. This confrontation marked a turning point in the war and world history, reversing the Nazi advance into the Soviet Union and beginning the great counter-offensive that would lead to the final victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Germany in May, 1945.
The scope of the sacrifice of the Soviet people is staggering. With roughly 2 million deaths, the Battle of Stalingrad arguably ranks as the deadliest battle in human history. Subsisting largely on rats in a winter that saw temperatures as low as negative 22 degrees Farenheit, the people of Stalingrad were the living embodiment of the great slogan of the Soviet war effort: “Not one step back!”
Nazi offensive against USSR
The battle itself began in August, 1942. Just two months earlier the Nazis had launched Operation Barbarossa, declaring war on the Soviet Union and beginning a lightening offensive aimed at restoring capitalism in the Soviet Union—a goal shared by all imperialist powers of the world, fascist and non-fascist.
For five months, Nazi forces laid siege to Stalingrad, employing its full range of military power in the air and on land. Soviet and fascist forces engaged in a protracted back-and-forth conflict that at one point saw the Germans capture 90 percent of the city. However, the entire population fought on.
The turning point in the battle came on November 19, 1942 when the Red Army launched a massive counter-attack that put the fascists on the defensive. Finally, the commander of the German forces, General Paulus, surrendered on Feb. 2, 1943. The Soviets captured 110,000 Germans, including 22 generals.
Stalingrad is widely seen as the turning point in the battle for Europe during the Second World War. Although history textbooks and major media outlets emphasize the role of the United States, nearly three times as many Soviet citizens gave their lives in the Battle of Stalingrad alone as did U.S. soldiers in the entirety of World War Two—including in the Pacific theater.
Advances made by the United States and Britain in North Africa and western Europe were made possible by the incredible sacrifice of the USSR, which consumed the bulk of the fascist armies at the cost of over 20 million Soviet lives. These offensives even seem to have been unnecessarily delayed to ensure that the USSR suffered as much as possible in order to give the imperialist powers the upper hand in negotiations about the shape of the post-war world.
A victory for socialism
The Battle of Stalingrad was a victory for the workers and oppressed people of the world. In perhaps the most dramatic conflict between socialism and fascism, socialism was the decisive winner.
Anti-communist historians have attempted to write off the Soviet victory as being merely the result of fear of reprisals from Stalin if the Nazis were to take the city. What could have been worse than the death and suffering endured during the siege, however, is never defined by these “experts.” For example, the existence of Soviet “blocking units” that were ordered to shoot their own comrades who were retreating against orders is often cited as evidence of the “fear of Stalin” thesis. This policy was in fact introduced on July 28, 1942 in the midst of the confusion and chaos caused by the surprise fascist attack. However, it was largely abandoned three months later when Red Army leaders realized that blocking units damaged morale and were a waste of soldiers.
The 1917 conquest of state power by the workers and peasants provided more than enough motivation for the Soviet people to fight to the death against the Nazi invaders. Claims to the contrary are simply callous attempts to minimize the heroism of the USSR and the central role it played in the defeat of fascism. Socialists understand that history is not composed of a series of decision taken by “great men”, but in fact a process driven by the agency of the masses of people.
The Soviet Union won at Stalingrad because of its class character. While the fascist armies were driven by racist hatred and preserved aristocratic privilege for its officer class, the entire population mobilized under the leadership of the Red Army to preserve socialism.
One indispensable element in the Soviet victory was their planned economy. Because the means of production were managed in a rational, centralized manner, 1,523 large enterprises related to the production of wartime supplies were relocated far to the east, outside of the reach of the German invaders. In addition to vital industries, between 17 and 25 million Soviet civilians were transported to safety as a part of this effort.
This process was directed by agencies such as the Evacuation Council, the Evacuation Commission, and the Civilian Evacuation, all bodies working under the State Defense Committee. The experience of peacetime economic planning was crucial to the preservation of the productive capacity of the USSR in wartime.
The workers who did not join the tactical retreat of heavy industry played an even more crucial role in the war effort. The Stalingrad Tractor Factory, for example, was converted to manufacture tanks and continued production during the siege. Lidya Plastikova, a tractor plant worker at Stalingrad, recalled years later that “We would never think of leaving the workshops until the job entrusted to us was done.” It was not uncommon for workers to get inside the tank they had just produced and drive straight from the factory into battle.
Role of women
While the Nazis promoted an extreme form of nationalist patriarchy, Soviet women where full participants in the defense of Stalingrad; 75,000 women volunteered for battle and served in a wide variety of capacities.
The all-female 1077th anti-aircraft regiment distinguished itself early on in the battle. Although they were tasked with combating the powerful German air force, on Aug. 23 they were faced with a Nazi armored offensive attempting to capture the Stalingrad Tractor Factory. The soldiers of the 1077th lowered their anti-aircraft guns and opened fire at the German tanks, successfully repelling the attack.
Dr. Zinaida Yermolieva is another example of the key role played by women in the victory over fascism. Through brilliant research conducted under the most difficult circumstances imaginable, Dr. Yermolieva was able to prevent a potentially devastating outbreak of cholera and produced penicillin in an underground laboratory. Her accomplishments are testaments to both the advanced state of Soviet science and the superiority of a social system based on full equality for women.
Acts of individual heroism also contributed to the people’s victory. Sergeant Yakov Pavlov, 24 years-old, led 30 soldiers in an assault on an apartment building held by the Germans. Only four of Pavlov’s soldiers were left alive after they had captured the building.
In a remarkable feat, the four soldiers defended the building against wave after wave of attackers for an entire week before reinforcements arrived. For the next three months, “Pavlov’s House” was held by just 25 members of the Red Army. The only time they would leave the building was to clear the corpses of dead fascists from the adjacent area, which had piled so high that Germans had started using them for cover.
The defenders of Stalingrad are part of a rich tradition of socialist heroism. The same spirit that led to the victory over fascism in World War Two animated the Chinese volunteers who pushed back the counter-revolutionary armies in the Korean War, the Vietnamese people who dealt a humiliating blow to U.S. imperialism during the long struggle for national liberation, and the Cuban internationalists who crushed the apartheid army at Cuito Cuanavale.
In a period defined by the defeat of the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc, the heroes of Stalingrad serve as a powerful example to revolutionaries today that no matter how overwhelming the odds or how powerful the enemy, socialism will eventually triumph. Not one step back!
