Operation Winter Storm
Operation Winter Storm (), a German offensive in December 1942 during World War II, involved the German 4th Panzer Army failing to break the Soviet encirclement of the German 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad.

In late November 1942 the Red Army had completed Operation Uranus, encircling some 300,000 Axis personnel in and around the city of Stalingrad. German forces within the Stalingrad pocket and directly outside were reorganized (22 November 1942) into Army Group Don and placed under the command of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein. The Red Army continued to allocate as many resources as possible to the planned Operation Saturn to isolate Army Group A from the rest of the German Army. To remedy the situation, the "Luftwaffe" attempted to supply German forces in Stalingrad through an air bridge. When the "Luftwaffe" failed and it became obvious that a breakout could only succeed if launched as early as possible, Manstein decided on a relief effort.

Originally, Manstein was promised four "panzer" divisions. Due to German reluctance to weaken certain sectors by redeploying German units, the task of opening a corridor to the encircled German 6th Army fell to the 4th Panzer Army. The German force was pitted against several Soviet armies tasked with the destruction of the encircled German forces and their offensive around the lower Chir River.

The German offensive caught the Red Army by surprise and made large gains on the first day. The spearhead forces enjoyed air support and defeated counterattacks by Soviet troops. By 13 December, Soviet resistance had slowed the German advance considerably. Although German forces took the area surrounding , the Red Army launched Operation Little Saturn on 16 December and crushed the Italian 8th Army on Army Group Don's left flank, threatening the survival of Manstein's force. As resistance and casualties increased, Manstein appealed to Hitler and to the commander of the German 6th Army, General Friedrich Paulus, to allow the 6th Army to break out of Stalingrad; both refused. The 4th Panzer Army continued its attempt to open a corridor to the 6th Army on 18–19 December, but was unable to do so without the aid of forces inside the Stalingrad pocket. Manstein called off the assault on 23 December and by Christmas Eve the 4th Panzer Army began to withdraw to its starting position. Due to the failure of the 6th Army to break out from the Soviet encirclement, the Red Army could continue the "strangulation" of German forces in Stalingrad.
Q7318
German
Concept
Q2001676
offensive
Concept
Q362
World War II
EVE
Q168248
4th Panzer Army
MEDIA
Q1569578
encirclement
Concept
Q161213
6th Army
MEDIA
Q38789
Battle of Stalingrad
EVE
Q251395
Red Army
ORG
Q155008
Operation Uranus
EVE
Q914
Stalingrad
LOC
Q318342
Army Group Don
LOC
Q57135
Erich von Manstein
PER
Q52315
Operation Saturn
EVE
Q163259
Army Group A
MEDIA
Q701923
German Army
ORG
Q2564009
Luftwaffe
Concept
Q16002194
air bridge
Concept
Q71122
Chir River
LOC
Q52315
Operation Little Saturn
EVE
None
8th Army
UNK
Q57160
Friedrich Paulus
PER
Q698170
Operation Winter Storm
EVE
1942-12-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
December 1942
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1942-11-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
November 1942
DATE
1942-11-22T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
22 November 1942
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part of
location
participant
country
conflict
country
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conflict
participant
part of
commander of (DEPRECATED)