After the Battle of Stalingrad, which ended in disaster for Germany, the Wehrmacht attempted revenge the very next year, 1943. This attempt went down in history as the Battle of Kursk and became the final turning point in the Great Patriotic War and World War II.

Prehistory of the Battle of Kursk

During the counteroffensive from November 1942 to February 1943, the Red Army managed to defeat a large group of Germans, encircle and force the surrender of the 6th Wehrmacht Army near Stalingrad, and also liberate very vast territories. So, in January-February, Soviet troops managed to capture Kursk and Kharkov and thereby cut through the German defenses. The gap reached about 200 kilometers wide and 100-150 deep.

Realizing that a further Soviet offensive could lead to the collapse of the entire Eastern Front, the Nazi command in early March 1943 took a number of vigorous actions in the Kharkov region. A strike group was created very quickly, which by March 15 again captured Kharkov and made an attempt to cut off the ledge in the Kursk region. However, here the German advance was stopped.

As of April 1943, the line of the Soviet-German front was practically even throughout its entire length, and only in the Kursk region did it bend, forming a large ledge that jutted into the German side. The configuration of the front made it clear where the main battles would unfold in the summer campaign of 1943.

Plans and forces of the parties before the Battle of Kursk

In the spring, heated debate broke out in the German leadership regarding the fate of the summer 1943 campaign. Part of the German generals (for example, G. Guderian) generally proposed to refrain from the offensive in order to accumulate forces for a large-scale offensive campaign in 1944. However, most of the German military leaders were strongly in favor of the offensive as early as 1943. This offensive was supposed to be a kind of revenge for the humiliating defeat at Stalingrad, as well as the final turning point of the war in favor of Germany and its allies.

Thus, for the summer of 1943, the Nazi command again planned an offensive campaign. However, it is worth noting that from 1941 to 1943 the scale of these campaigns steadily decreased. So, if in 1941 the Wehrmacht launched an offensive along the entire front, then in 1943 it was only a small section of the Soviet-German front.

The meaning of the operation, called the "Citadel", was the offensive of large Wehrmacht forces at the base of the Kursk Bulge and their strike in the general direction of Kursk. The Soviet troops in the ledge were bound to be surrounded and destroyed. After that, it was planned to launch an offensive into the formed gap in the Soviet defense and go to Moscow from the southwest. This plan, if it had been successfully implemented, would have been a real disaster for the Red Army, because there were a very large number of troops in the Kursk salient.

The Soviet leadership learned the important lessons of the spring of 1942 and 1943. So, by March 1943, the Red Army was thoroughly exhausted by offensive battles, which led to the defeat near Kharkov. After that, it was decided not to start the summer campaign with an offensive, since it was obvious that the Germans were also planning to attack. Also, the Soviet leadership had no doubts that the Wehrmacht would advance precisely on the Kursk Bulge, where the configuration of the front line contributed to this as much as possible.

That is why, after weighing all the circumstances, the Soviet command decided to wear down the German troops, inflict serious losses on them and then go on the offensive, finally securing the turning point in the war in favor of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

For the attack on Kursk, the German leadership concentrated a very large grouping, the number of which was 50 divisions. Of these 50 divisions, 18 were armored and motorized. From the sky, the German group was covered by aviation of the 4th and 6th air fleets of the Luftwaffe. Thus, the total number of German troops at the beginning of the battle of Kursk was approximately 900 thousand people, about 2,700 tanks and 2,000 aircraft. Due to the fact that the northern and southern groups of the Wehrmacht on the Kursk Bulge were part of different army groups ("Center" and "South"), the leadership was carried out by the commanders of these army groups - Field Marshals Kluge and Manstein.

The Soviet grouping on the Kursk Bulge was represented by three fronts. The northern front of the ledge was defended by the troops of the Central Front under the command of General of the Army Rokossovsky, the southern - by the troops of the Voronezh Front under the command of General of the Army Vatutin. Also in the Kursk ledge were the troops of the Steppe Front, commanded by Colonel General Konev. The general command of the troops in the Kursk Salient was carried out by Marshals Vasilevsky and Zhukov. The number of Soviet troops was approximately 1 million 350 thousand people, 5000 tanks and about 2900 aircraft.

The beginning of the Battle of Kursk (5 - 12 July 1943)

On the morning of July 5, 1943, German troops launched an offensive against Kursk. However, the Soviet leadership knew about the exact time of the start of this offensive, thanks to which it was able to take a number of countermeasures. One of the most significant measures was the organization of artillery counter-training, which allowed in the first minutes and hours of the battle to inflict serious losses and significantly reduce the offensive capabilities of the German troops.

Nevertheless, the German offensive began, and in the early days he managed to achieve some success. The first line of Soviet defense was broken through, but the Germans failed to achieve serious successes. On the northern face of the Kursk Bulge, the Wehrmacht attacked in the direction of Olkhovatka, but, failing to break through the Soviet defenses, turned towards the settlement of Ponyri. However, here, too, the Soviet defense managed to withstand the onslaught of the German troops. As a result of the battles on July 5-10, 1943, the German 9th Army suffered monstrous losses in tanks: about two-thirds of the vehicles were out of order. On July 10, units of the army went on the defensive.

The situation unfolded more dramatically in the south. Here, the German army managed to penetrate the Soviet defenses in the first days, but did not break through it. The offensive was carried out in the direction of the settlement of Oboyan, which was held by the Soviet troops, who also inflicted significant damage on the Wehrmacht.

After several days of fighting, the German leadership decided to shift the direction of the lava strike to Prokhorovka. The implementation of this decision would have made it possible to cover a larger area than planned. However, units of the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army stood in the way of the German tank wedges.

On July 12, one of the largest tank battles in history took place in the Prokhorovka area. From the German side, about 700 tanks participated in it, while from the Soviet side - about 800. Soviet troops launched a counterattack on Wehrmacht units in order to eliminate the enemy's penetration into the Soviet defenses. However, this counterattack did not achieve significant results. The Red Army only managed to stop the advance of the Wehrmacht in the south of the Kursk salient, but it was possible to restore the position at the beginning of the German offensive only two weeks later.

By July 15, having suffered huge losses as a result of continuous violent attacks, the Wehrmacht had practically exhausted its offensive capabilities and was forced to go on the defensive along the entire length of the front. By July 17, the withdrawal of German troops to their original lines began. Given the current situation, as well as pursuing the goal of inflicting a serious defeat on the enemy, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command already on July 18, 1943 authorized the transition of Soviet troops on the Kursk Bulge to a counteroffensive.

Now the German troops were forced to defend themselves in order to avoid a military catastrophe. However, parts of the Wehrmacht, seriously exhausted in offensive battles, could not offer serious resistance. The Soviet troops, reinforced with reserves, were full of power and readiness to crush the enemy.

To defeat the German troops covering the Kursk Bulge, two operations were developed and carried out: "Kutuzov" (to defeat the Oryol group of the Wehrmacht) and "Rumyantsev" (to defeat the Belgorod-Kharkov group).

As a result of the Soviet offensive, the Oryol and Belgorod groupings of German troops were defeated. On August 5, 1943, Orel and Belgorod were liberated by Soviet troops, and the Kursk Bulge practically ceased to exist. On the same day, Moscow for the first time saluted the Soviet troops, who liberated the cities from the enemy.

The last battle of the Battle of Kursk was the liberation of the city of Kharkov by the Soviet troops. The battles for this city took on a very fierce character, however, thanks to the decisive onslaught of the Red Army, the city was liberated by the end of August 23. It is the capture of Kharkov that is considered the logical conclusion of the Battle of Kursk.

Side losses

Estimates of the losses of the Red Army, as well as the Wehrmacht troops, have different estimates. Even more ambiguous are the large differences between the estimates of the losses of the parties in different sources.

Thus, Soviet sources indicate that during the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army lost about 250 thousand people killed and about 600 thousand wounded. At the same time, some Wehrmacht data indicate 300 thousand killed and 700 thousand wounded. Losses of armored vehicles range from 1,000 to 6,000 tanks and self-propelled guns. The losses of Soviet aviation are estimated at 1600 aircraft.

However, regarding the estimate of the losses of the Wehrmacht, the data differ even more. According to German data, the losses of German troops ranged from 83 to 135 thousand people killed. But at the same time, Soviet data indicate the number of dead Wehrmacht soldiers at about 420 thousand. Losses of German armored vehicles range from 1,000 tanks (according to German data) to 3,000. Aviation losses amount to approximately 1,700 aircraft.

The results and significance of the Battle of Kursk

Immediately after the Battle of Kursk and directly during it, the Red Army began a series of large-scale operations to liberate Soviet lands from German occupation. Among these operations: "Suvorov" (operation to liberate Smolensk, Donbass and Chernigov-Poltava.

Thus, the victory at Kursk opened up vast operational scope for the Soviet troops to operate. The German troops, bled dry and defeated as a result of summer battles, ceased to be a serious threat until December 1943. However, this absolutely does not mean that the Wehrmacht at that time was not strong. On the contrary, fiercely snarling, the German troops sought to hold at least the line of the Dnieper.

For the command of the allies, who landed troops on the island of Sicily in July 1943, the battle of Kursk became a kind of "help", since the Wehrmacht was now unable to transfer reserves to the island - the Eastern Front was more priority. Even after the defeat near Kursk, the command of the Wehrmacht was forced to transfer fresh forces from Italy to the east, and in their place to send units battered in battles with the Red Army.

For the German command, the Battle of Kursk became the moment when plans to defeat the Red Army and defeat the USSR finally became an illusion. It became clear that for a sufficiently long time the Wehrmacht would be forced to refrain from conducting active operations.

The Battle of Kursk was the completion of a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic and World War II. After this battle, the strategic initiative finally passed into the hands of the Red Army, thanks to which, by the end of 1943, vast territories of the Soviet Union, including such large cities as Kyiv and Smolensk, were liberated.

In international terms, the victory in the Battle of Kursk was the moment when the peoples of Europe, enslaved by the Nazis, perked up. The people's liberation movement in the countries of Europe began to grow even faster. It culminated in 1944, when the decline of the Third Reich became very clear.

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In the spring of 1943, a relative calm settled on the Soviet-German front. The Germans carried out a total mobilization and increased the production of military equipment at the expense of the resources of all of Europe. Germany was preparing to take revenge for the defeat at Stalingrad.

A lot of work was done to strengthen the Soviet army. Design bureaus improved old and created new types of weapons. Thanks to the increase in production, it was possible to form a large number of tank and mechanized corps. Aviation technology was improved, the number of aviation regiments and formations increased. But the main thing is that after that the troops gained confidence in victory.

Stalin and Stavka originally planned to organize a large-scale offensive in the southwest. However, marshals G.K. Zhukov and A.M. Vasilevsky managed to predict the place and time of the future offensive of the Wehrmacht.

The Germans, having lost the strategic initiative, were not able to conduct large-scale operations along the entire front. For this reason, in 1943 they developed Operation Citadel. Having brought together the forces of the tank armies, the Germans were going to attack the Soviet troops on the ledge of the front line, which was formed in the Kursk region.

By winning this operation, he planned to change the overall strategic situation in his favor.

Intelligence accurately informed the General Staff about the location of the concentration of troops and their number.

The Germans concentrated 50 divisions, 2,000 tanks, and 900 aircraft in the area of ​​the Kursk salient.

Zhukov proposed not to preempt the enemy's attack with his offensive, but to organize a reliable defense and meet the German tank spearheads with artillery, aviation and self-propelled guns, bleed them and go on the offensive. On the Soviet side, 3.6 thousand tanks and 2.4 thousand aircraft were concentrated.

Early in the morning of July 5, 1943, German troops began to attack the positions of our troops. They unleashed the most powerful tank attack of the entire war on the formations of the Red Army.

Methodically breaking into the defense, while suffering huge losses, they managed to advance 10-35 km in the first days of the fighting. At certain moments it seemed that the Soviet defense was about to be broken through. But at the most critical moment, fresh units of the Steppe Front struck.

On July 12, 1943, the largest tank battle took place near the small village of Prokhorovka. At the same time, up to 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns met in the oncoming battle. The battle lasted until late at night and so bled the German divisions that the next day they were forced to retreat to their original positions.

In the most difficult offensive battles, the Germans lost a huge amount of equipment and personnel. Since July 12, the nature of the battle has changed. Offensive actions were taken by Soviet troops, and the German army was forced to go on the defensive. The Nazis failed to contain the attacking impulse of the Soviet troops.

On August 5, Orel and Belgorod were liberated, on August 23 - Kharkov. The victory in the Battle of Kursk finally turned the tide, the strategic initiative was wrested from the hands of the Nazis.

By the end of September, Soviet troops reached the Dnieper. The Germans created a fortified area along the river line - the Eastern Wall, which was ordered to be held by all means.

However, our advanced units, despite the lack of watercraft, without the support of artillery, began to force the Dnieper.

Suffering significant losses, detachments of miraculously surviving infantrymen occupied bridgeheads and, having waited for reinforcements, began to expand them, attacking the Germans. The crossing of the Dnieper became an example of the disinterested sacrifice of Soviet soldiers with their lives in the name of the Fatherland and victory.

Kursk in brief about the battle

• The offensive of the German army
• The offensive of the Red Army
• General results
• About the Battle of Kursk even shorter
• Video about the Battle of Kursk

How did the Battle of Kursk begin?

• Hitler decided that it was in the location of the Kursk Bulge that a turning point in the seizure of territory should occur. The operation was called "Citadel" and was supposed to involve the Voronezh and Central fronts.
• But, in one thing, Hitler was right, Zhukov and Vasilevsky agreed with him, the Kursk salient was to become one of the main battles and, undoubtedly, the main one of the future ones.
• That is how Zhukov and Vasilevsky reported to Stalin. Zhukov was able to roughly estimate the possible forces of the invaders.

• German weapons were updated and increased in volume. Thus, a grandiose mobilization was carried out. The Soviet army, namely those fronts that the Germans were counting on, were approximately equal in terms of their equipment.
• In some ways, the Russians were winning.
• In addition to the Central and Voronezh fronts (under the command of Rokossovsky and Vatutin, respectively), there was also a secret front - Stepnoy, under the command of Konev, about which the enemy did not know anything.
• The steppe front became insurance for two main directions.
• The Germans have been preparing for this offensive since the spring. But when they launched an attack in the summer, this did not come as an unexpected blow to the Red Army.
• The Soviet army also did not sit idle. Eight defensive lines were built at the supposed site of the battle.

Tactics of warfare on the Kursk Bulge

• It was thanks to the developed qualities of a military leader, and the work of intelligence, that the command of the Soviet army was able to understand the plans of the enemy and the defense-offensive plan came up perfectly.
• Defensive lines were built with the help of the population living near the battlefield.
  The German side built the plan in such a way that the Kursk Bulge should help to make the front line more even.
• If this succeeded, then the next stage would be to develop an offensive in the center of the state.

The offensive of the German army

The offensive of the Red Army

General results

Intelligence as an important part of the Battle of Kursk

About the Battle of Kursk even shorter
One of the largest battlefields during the Great Patriotic War was the Kursk Bulge. The battle is briefly described below.

All the fighting that took place during the Battle of Kursk took place from July 5 to August 23, 1943. The German command hoped to destroy all Soviet troops representing the Central and Voronezh fronts during this battle. At that time, they were actively defending Kursk. If the Germans had been successful in this battle, the initiative in the war would have returned to the Germans. In order to implement their plans, the German command allocated more than 900 thousand soldiers, 10 thousand guns of various calibers, and 2.7 thousand tanks and 2050 aircraft were allocated in support. New tanks of the Tiger and Panther class, as well as new Focke-Wulf 190 A fighters and Heinkel 129 attack aircraft took part in this battle.

The command of the Soviet Union hoped to bleed the enemy during his offensive, and then conduct a large-scale counterattack. Thus, the Germans did exactly what the Soviet army expected. The scope of the battle was truly grandiose, the Germans sent almost the entire army and all available tanks to the attack. However, the Soviet troops stood to the death, and the defensive lines were not surrendered. On the Central Front, the enemy advanced 10-12 kilometers; on Voronezh, the depth of the enemy’s passage was 35 kilometers, but the Germans could not go further.

The outcome of the battle on the Kursk Bulge was determined by the battle of tanks near the village of Prokhorovka, which took place on July 12. It was the largest tank battle in history, more than 1.2 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery units were thrown into battle. On this day, the German troops lost more than 400 tanks, and the invaders were driven back. After that, the Soviet troops went on an active offensive, and on August 23 the Battle of Kursk was over with the liberation of Kharkov, and with this event the further defeat of Germany became inevitable.

The Battle of Kursk, which lasted from July 5 to August 23, 1943, became one of the key battles of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Soviet and Russian historiography divides the battle into Kursk defensive (July 5–23), Oryol (July 12 - August 18) and Belgorod-Kharkov (August 3–23) offensive operations.

Front on the eve of the battle
During the winter offensive of the Red Army and the subsequent counter-offensive of the Wehrmacht in Eastern Ukraine, a ledge up to 150 km deep and up to 200 km wide was formed in the center of the Soviet-German front, facing the west - the so-called Kursk Bulge (or ledge). The German command decided to conduct a strategic operation on the Kursk salient.
For this, a military operation was developed and approved in April 1943 under the code name Zitadelle ("Citadel").
For its implementation, the most combat-ready formations were involved - a total of 50 divisions, including 16 tank and motorized, as well as a large number of individual units included in the 9th and 2nd field armies of the Army Group "Center", in 4- 1st Panzer Army and Task Force "Kempf" of the Army Group "South".
The grouping of German troops numbered over 900 thousand people, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, 2 thousand 245 tanks and assault guns, 1 thousand 781 aircraft.
Since March 1943, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (VGK) has been working on a strategic offensive plan, the task of which was to defeat the main forces of Army Group South and Center, to crush the enemy defenses on the front from Smolensk to the Black Sea. It was assumed that the Soviet troops would be the first to go on the offensive. However, in mid-April, based on information that the Wehrmacht command was planning to launch an offensive near Kursk, it was decided to bleed the German troops with a powerful defense, and then go on the counteroffensive. Possessing a strategic initiative, the Soviet side deliberately began hostilities not on the offensive, but on the defensive. The development of events showed that this plan was correct.
By the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, the Soviet Central, Voronezh and Steppe fronts included more than 1.9 million people, more than 26 thousand guns and mortars, over 4.9 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery installations, about 2.9 thousand aircraft.
Troops of the Central Front under the command of General of the Army Konstantin Rokossovsky defended the northern front (facing the enemy area) of the Kursk salient, and the troops of the Voronezh Front under the command of Army General Nikolai Vatutin- southern. The troops occupying the ledge relied on the Steppe Front as part of a rifle, three tank, three motorized and three cavalry corps. (commander - Colonel General Ivan Konev).
The actions of the fronts were coordinated by representatives of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command Marshals of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov and Alexander Vasilevsky.

The course of the battle
On July 5, 1943, German strike groups launched an attack on Kursk from the Orel and Belgorod regions. During the defensive phase of the Battle of Kursk On July 12, the largest tank battle in the history of the war took place on the Prokhorovsky field.
Up to 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns simultaneously participated in it from both sides.
The battle near the Prokhorovka station in the Belgorod region was the largest battle of the Kursk defensive operation, which went down in history as the Kursk Bulge.
Staff documents contain evidence of the first battle, which took place on July 10 near Prokhorovka. This battle was carried out not by tanks, but by the rifle units of the 69th Army, which, having exhausted the enemy, themselves suffered heavy losses and were replaced by the 9th Airborne Division. Thanks to the paratroopers, on July 11, the Nazis were stopped at the outskirts of the station.
On July 12, a huge number of German and Soviet tanks collided on a narrow section of the front, only 11-12 kilometers wide.
Tank units "Adolf Hitler", "Dead Head", division "Reich" and others were able to regroup their forces on the eve of the decisive battle. The Soviet command did not know about this.
The Soviet units of the 5th Guards Tank Army were in a deliberately difficult situation: the strike group of tanks was located between the beams southwest of Prokhorovka and was deprived of the opportunity to deploy the tank group to its full extent. Soviet tanks were forced to advance in a small area, limited on one side by the railway, and on the other by the floodplain of the Psyol River.

The Soviet T-34 tank under the command of Pyotr Skrypnik was hit. The crew, having pulled out their commander, took refuge in the funnel. The tank was on fire. The Germans noticed him. One of the tanks moved towards the Soviet tankers to crush them with caterpillars. Then the mechanic, in order to save his comrades, rushed out of the saving trench. He ran to his burning car, and sent it to the German "Tiger". Both tanks exploded.
For the first time, Ivan Markin wrote about a tank duel in the late 50s in his book. He called the battle of Prokhorovka the largest tank battle of the 20th century.
In fierce battles, the Wehrmacht troops lost up to 400 tanks and assault guns, went on the defensive, and on July 16 began to withdraw their forces.
July, 12 the next stage of the Battle of Kursk began - the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops.
5th of August as a result of operations "Kutuzov" and "Rumyantsev" Orel and Belgorod were liberated, in the evening of the same day in Moscow, in honor of this event, for the first time during the war years, an artillery salute was fired.
August 23 Kharkov was liberated. Soviet troops advanced 140 km to the south and south-west and took up an advantageous position for launching a general offensive to liberate Left-Bank Ukraine and reach the Dnieper. The Soviet Army finally consolidated its strategic initiative, the German command was forced to go on the defensive on the entire front.
More than 4 million people from both sides took part in one of the largest battles in the history of the Great Patriotic War, about 70 thousand guns and mortars, over 13 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, about 12 thousand combat aircraft were involved.

Results of the battle
After a powerful tank battle, the Soviet Army reversed the events of the war, took the initiative in its own hands and continued to advance to the West.
After the Nazis failed to pull off their operation "Citadel", on the world level it looked like a complete defeat of the German campaign in front of the Soviet Army;
the fascists were morally suppressed, their confidence in their superiority was gone.
The significance of the victory of the Soviet troops on the Kursk Salient goes far beyond the limits of the Soviet-German front. It had a huge impact on the further course of the Second World War. The Battle of Kursk forced the fascist German command to withdraw large formations of troops and aviation from the Mediterranean theater of operations.
As a result of the defeat of significant Wehrmacht forces and the transfer of new formations to the Soviet-German front, favorable conditions were created for the landing of Anglo-American troops in Italy, their advance to its central regions, which ultimately predetermined the exit of this country from the war. As a result of the victory at Kursk and the withdrawal of Soviet troops to the Dnieper, a radical change ended not only in the Great Patriotic War, but throughout the Second World War in favor of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.
For exploits in the Battle of Kursk, more than 180 soldiers and officers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, more than 100 thousand people were awarded orders and medals.
About 130 formations and units received the title of guards, more than 20 received the honorary titles of Oryol, Belgorod, Kharkov.
For its contribution to the victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Kursk region was awarded the Order of Lenin, and the city of Kursk was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree.
On April 27, 2007, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Kursk was awarded the honorary title of the Russian Federation - the City of Military Glory.
In 1983, the feat of Soviet soldiers on the Kursk Bulge was immortalized in Kursk - On May 9, a memorial to those who died during the Great Patriotic War was opened.
On May 9, 2000, in honor of the 55th anniversary of the victory in the battle, the memorial complex "Kursk Bulge" was opened.

Material prepared according to "TASS-Dossier"

Wounded memory

Dedicated to Alexander Nikolaev,
the driver of the T-34 tank, who made the first tank ram in the battle of Prokhorovka.

The memory will not heal like a wound,
Let's not forget the soldiers of all the simple ones,
That entered this battle, dying,
And they survived forever.

No, not a step back, we look straight ahead,
Only the blood drained from the face,
Only clenched teeth stubbornly -
Here we will stand to the end!

Let any price be the life of a soldier,
We will all become armor today!
Your mother, your city, the honor of a soldier
Behind a boyish thin back.

Two steel avalanches - two forces
Merged among the rye fields.
No you, no me - we are one,
We met like a steel wall.

No maneuvers, no formation - there is strength,
The power of rage, the power of fire.
And the fierce battle mowed down
Both armor and soldier names.

The tank was hit, the battalion commander was wounded,
But again - I'm in battle - let the metal burn!
A shout on the radio to a feat is equal to:
- All! Farewell! I'm going to ram!

Enemies stumble, the choice is hard -
You won't believe your eyes right away.
A burning tank flies without a miss -
He gave his life for his country.

Only the black square of the funeral
Explain to mothers and relatives ...
His heart is in the ground, like fragments...
He remained always young.

... Not a blade of grass on the burnt land,
Tank on tank, armor on armor...
And on the forehead of the commanders wrinkles -
There is nothing to compare the battle with in the war ...
The earthly wound will not heal -
His feat is always with him.
Because he knew when he was dying
How easy it is to die young...

In the memorial temple it is quiet and holy,
Your name is a scar on the wall...
You stayed to live here - yes, it is necessary,
So that the earth does not burn in fire.

On this land, once black,
The burning trail does not let you forget.
Your torn soldier's heart
In spring, cornflowers bloom ...

Elena Mukhamedshina

August 23 marks the Day of Military Glory of Russia - the Day of the defeat of the Wehrmacht forces by the Soviet troops on the Kursk Bulge. Almost two months of intense and bloody battles led the Red Army to this important victory, the outcome of which was not at all a foregone conclusion. The Battle of Kursk is one of the largest battles in world history. Let's remember about it a little more.

Fact 1

The ledge in the center of the Soviet-German front to the west of Kursk was formed during the stubborn battles of February-March 1943 for Kharkov. The Kursk Bulge was up to 150 km deep and 200 km wide. This ledge is called the Kursk Bulge.

Battle of Kursk

Fact 2

The Battle of Kursk is one of the key battles of World War II, not only because of the scale of the battles that took place on the fields between Orel and Belgorod in the summer of 1943. The victory in this battle meant the final turning point in the war in favor of the Soviet troops, which began after the Battle of Stalingrad. With this victory, the Red Army, having exhausted the enemy, finally seized the strategic initiative. And that means we are advancing from now on. The defense was over.

Another consequence - political - was the final confidence of the Allies in victory over Germany. At the conference held in November-December 1943 in Tehran, on the initiative of F. Roosevelt, the post-war plan for the dismemberment of Germany was already discussed.

Scheme of the Battle of Kursk

Fact 3

1943 was a year of difficult choices for the command of both sides. Defend or attack? And if you attack, then how large-scale tasks should you set for yourself? Both Germans and Russians had to answer these questions one way or another.

Back in April, G. K. Zhukov sent his report to the Headquarters on possible military operations in the coming months. According to Zhukov, the best solution for the Soviet troops in the current situation would be to wear down the enemy on their defenses, destroying as many tanks as possible, and then bring in reserves and go on the general offensive. Zhukov's considerations formed the basis of the campaign plan for the summer of 1943, after the preparation of the Nazi army for a major offensive on the Kursk Bulge was discovered.

As a result, the decision of the Soviet command was to create a defense in depth (8 lines) in the most likely areas of the German offensive - on the northern and southern faces of the Kursk salient.

In a situation of similar choice, the German command decided to advance in order to keep the initiative in their hands. Nevertheless, even then, Hitler outlined the objectives of the offensive on the Kursk Bulge not to seize territory, but to wear down the Soviet troops and improve the balance of power. Thus, the advancing German army was preparing for a strategic defense, while the defending Soviet troops were determined to attack decisively.

Construction of defensive lines

Fact 4

Although the Soviet command correctly identified the main directions of German attacks, mistakes were inevitable with such a scale of planning.

Thus, the Headquarters believed that a stronger grouping would advance in the Orel region against the Central Front. In reality, the southern grouping, which acted against the Voronezh Front, turned out to be stronger.

In addition, the direction of the main German attack on the southern face of the Kursk salient was inaccurately determined.

Fact 5

Operation Citadel was the name of the plan of the German command to encircle and destroy the Soviet armies on the Kursk ledge. It was planned to deliver converging strikes from the north from the Orel region and from the south from the Belgorod region. The shock wedges were supposed to connect near Kursk. The maneuver with the turn of the Gotha tank corps towards Prokhorovka, where the steppe terrain favors the action of large tank formations, was planned in advance by the German command. It was here that the Germans, reinforced with new tanks, hoped to overwhelm the Soviet tank forces.

Soviet tankers inspecting the wrecked "Tiger"

Fact 6

Often the battle of Prokhorovka is called the largest tank battle in history, but this is not so. It is believed that the multi-day battle that took place already in the first week of the war (June 23–30), 1941, was larger in terms of the number of participating tanks. It happened in Western Ukraine between the cities of Brody, Lutsk and Dubno. While about 1,500 tanks from both sides converged near Prokhorovka, more than 3,200 tanks participated in the battle of 41.

Fact 7

In the Battle of Kursk, and in particular in the battle of Prokhorovka, the Germans especially counted on the strength of their new armored vehicles - the Tiger and Panther tanks, the Ferdinand self-propelled guns. But perhaps the most unusual novelty was the Goliath wedges. This caterpillar self-propelled mine without a crew was remotely controlled by wire. It was intended to destroy tanks, infantry and buildings. However, these tankettes were expensive, slow-moving and vulnerable, and therefore did not provide much help to the Germans.

Memorial in honor of the heroes of the Battle of Kursk