Stalingrad

On 22 June 1941 Germany and its Axis allies invaded the Soviet Union, quickly advancing deep into Soviet territory. Having suffered defeat during the summer and autumn of 1941, Soviet forces counter-attacked in the Battle of Moscow in December 1941. The exhausted German forces, ill equipped for winter warfare and with overstretched supply lines, were stopped in their drive towards the capital.

The Germans stabilized their front by spring 1942. Plans to launch another offensive against Moscow were discarded, however, as Army Group Centre had been too heavily weakened. Part of the German military philosophy was to attack where least expected, so that rapid gains could be made. An attack on Moscow was seen as too predictable by some, most notably Hitler. Along with this, the German high command knew that time was running out for them as the United States had entered WWII following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Hitler wanted to end the fighting on the Eastern Front or at least minimize it before the US had a chance to get deeply involved in the war in Europe.

For all of these reasons new offensives in the north and south were considered. A drive into the southern USSR would secure control of the oil-rich Caucasus, as well as the Volga River, a backbone of Soviet transportation from Central Asia. A German victory in the southern Soviet Union would severely damage Stalin's war machine and the Soviet economy. Another resource desired by Germany in this area was agricultural production.