Romanian armies in the Battle of Stalingrad the Romanian Air Corps were engaged in Operation Wintergewitter, which aimed to create a link with the Axis troops in Stalingrad. The main blow was to be delivered by the German 57th Panzer Corps; on its left flank was the Romanian 6th Corps with the Romanian 7th Corps and the Cavalry Group "General Popescu" forming the right flank. They were stopped 50 km from Stalingrad and, on 18 December, the front held by the 8th Italian Army was broken, with seven Italian divisions and the Italian Alpine Corps being encircled. On 24 December, the Red Army counterattacked, with 149,000 men
The Motherland Calls posed for the sculpture. It is also believed that the statue has parallels with the figure of the "Marseillaise" on the Triumphal arch in Paris, and that the statue's pose was inspired by the statue of Nike of Samothrace. At night, the sculpture is illuminated by floodlights. It was specially illuminated as part of a light show titled "The Light of the Great Victory", marking the 72nd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. When the memorial was dedicated in 1967 it was the tallest statue in the world, measuring from the tip of its sword to the top of