Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942–1943

Case Blue was the codename for the German conquest of Ukraine and the Caucus region in 1942. Building upon the advances made in Operation Barbarossa, the Case Blue plan was meant to secure the oil-rich Caucuses and thus ensure Nazi Germany could maintain its war effort. The campaign saw initial success but quickly stalled as they faced fierce resistance, logistical challenges, and Hitler’s meddling. The Case Blue campaign culminated in the encirclement and destruction of the Sixth Army, marking a turning point in the Second World War. This plan and its consequences are the focus of Stalingrad.

Communism is a left-wing ideology and system of organization that is centered around the communality of production and distribution based on need. It was first coined by Karl Marx in the 19th century and was adopted in Russia as the basis for governance after the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Soviet Union was subsequently created in 1922 as a communist state under Vladimir Lenin. Leninist Russia was a dictatorship, ostensibly established as a precursor to the enactment of communism. Joseph Stalin’s rule from 1924 cemented and tightened this dictatorship until his death in 1953.