World War II
On the Eastern Front, the Axis defeated Soviet attacks during summer and began its own main offensive to southern Russia along Don and Volga Rivers in June 1942 to try to take over oil fields in Caucasus, which were critical to the Axis for fuelling their war effort, and as well as a great steppe. Stalingrad (now Volgograd) was in the path of the Axis army, and the Soviets decided to defend the city. By November, the Germans had nearly taken Stalingrad, but the Soviets surrounded the Germans in the winter After heavy losses, the German army was forced to surrender the city in February 1943. Even though the front was pushed back farther than it was before the summer attacks, the German Army still had become dangerous to an area around Kursk.  Hitler devoted almost two-thirds of his armies to The Battle of Stalingrad, which was the largest and deadliest battle at the time.