This animated map shows how World War I changed Europe's borders

The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest and most decisive battles of World War II — a turning point that shattered Germany’s momentum on the Eastern Front. It began in August 1942, when Hitler launched an assault to capture the Soviet city of Stalingrad, a key industrial hub on the Volga River. The fighting quickly devolved into brutal, close-quarters combat — soldiers fought room by room, street by street, as Soviet defenders refused to surrender. The city was reduced to rubble, yet t