UK national archives on the significance of the Battle of Stalingrad: a review of sources and research prospects

This article presents the findings of a multi-year scientific research endeavor conducted under the auspices of two grant projects. Initially supported by the Russian State Science Foundation, the research subsequently evolved into an international traveling exhibition format funded by the Presidential Grants Fund. The author posits that in the forthcoming decades, the most promising avenue within this thematic domain will be the exploration of Stalingrad as a pivotal aspect of Great Britain’s social and political landscape during the Second World War. Preliminary findings from archival research in Great Britain, the USA, and France suggest that the investigation in this area is in its nascent stages, underscoring that the scale and significance of the events at Stalingrad have not been commensurately studied. The article delineates three principal areas of promising research aimed at uncovering previously unpublished documents within British archives concerning the impact of the Stalingrad events on British-Soviet relations during the war years. These areas include: first, the identification of documents detailing the contributions of residents from three hundred British cities towards humanitarian aid efforts for Stalingrad; second, the historical exploration of the twin cities movement and its formation; and third, an assessment of the role played by intercepted and decrypted messages from the German Enigma cipher machine in shaping the understanding of British military and political leaders regarding the war within the British military and political framework.