Battle of Stalingrad
Hitler personally rewrote the operational objectives for the 1942 campaign, greatly expanding them to include the occupation of the city of Stalingrad. Both sides began to attach propaganda value to the city based on it bearing the name of the leader of the Soviet Union. It was assumed that the fall of the city would also firmly secure the northern and western flanks of the German armies as they advanced onBaku with the aim of securing these strategic petroleum resources for Germany.[15]:p.528 The expansion of objectives was a significant factor in Germany’s failure at Stalingrad. It was based on a sort of victory fever and an underestimation of Soviet reserves.[18]