On 5-15 July 1943, the Battle of Kursk, codenamed Operation Citadel, was fought between the Germans under Erich Von Manstein and the Russians under Georgi Zhukov during the Second World War.
Why did it happen?
On 22 June 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa: the invasion of the Soviet Union. The operation was one of the largest military campaigns in history, involving 4 million men and 3,600 tanks on the German side and 2.3 million men and 10,000 tanks on the Russian side. It was both “a racial war waged between Germany upon Slavic peoples viewed by Nazi ideology as inferiors and a fight to the death between Europe’s two most powerful dictatorships” (Grant, 2005, p.306). However, after the surrender of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad on 2 February 1943, the Germans failed to capture Russia’s Caucasian oilfields and were subsequently driven back across the Russian and Ukrainian steppes. On 16 March, Erich Von Manstein recaptured Kharkov in Ukraine, which left a significant Russian salient bulging into German-held territory around Kursk. After receiving permission from Hitler, Manstein massed two-thirds of his entire tank corps and aircraft for a pincer movement designed to destroy all the Russian forces in the salient. The operation, codenamed Citadel, was put back from an initial planned date of 3 May to 5 July.
Who was involved?
The German forces at Kursk numbered 900,000 infantry, 2,700 tanks, 10,000 artillery, and 2,000 aircraft. The German forces were divided into two field armies: the Ninth Army under Walter Model in the north and the Fourth Panzer Army under Hermann Hoth. Although the German commanders, Erich Von Manstein and Walter Model, disagreed on conducting the operation, the German plan was to execute a double envelopment manoeuvre to cut off and destroy the Russian forces stationed in the Kursk salient. The Russian forces at Kursk numbered 1.3 million infantry, 3,500 tanks, 20,000 artillery and 2,650 aircraft. Against the advice of Joseph Stalin, Russian commander Georgi Zhukov chose to adopt a defence-in-depth strategy with formidable, fortified lines defended by minefields, entrenched infantry, anti-tank guns and artillery. As stated by R.G. Grant, “He would let the German tanks exhaust themselves against their defences before unleashing his armoured reserves in a counterattack” (Grant, 2010, p.312). The Central Front army group was positioned inside the Kursk salient under Konstantin Rokossovky and Nikolai Valutin’s Voronezh Front.
What happened?
At 5am on 5 July, the Fourth Panzer Army under Hoth and the German Ninth Army under Model made preliminary attacks from the south and north, respectively, while German and Russian aircraft engaged each other in the skies over the battlefield. On 7 July, the German Ninth Army attacked the strongpoint of Ponyri, which was captured on 8 July after sustaining heavy casualties. At the same time, the Russian Fifth Guards Tank Army began to drive 350km from the east to join the battle in the southern sector. On 9 July, Model renewed his attack in the north of the salient but only achieved limited gains and called off further frontal assaults on the Russian defensive lines. On 11 July, Georgi Zhukov committed his reserves towards Orel, which caused Model to transfer forces away from the Kursk salient. As German forces made faster progress in the south, Manstein believed he was on the verge of achieving a breakthrough, and on 12 July, he committed II SS Panzer Corps against the Fifth Guards Tank Army at Prokhorovka. In the ensuing battle, 300 Russian tanks and 100 German tanks were destroyed. On 13 July, Manstein agreed to end Operation Citadel on 15 July after hearing of the Allied invasion of Sicily on 10 July. Before the end of the offensive, Russian forces advanced on Orel, forcing Model to withdraw to avoid encirclement. Throughout the battle, German forces sustained 210,000 casualties, while Russian losses amounted to 178,000 killed or wounded.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Kursk was a Russian victory. One month after the end of the battle, Russian forces in the south launched Operation Rumyantsev, designed to retake Kharkov, which they succeeded in doing on 23 August. The Russian victory at Kursk meant that the initiative on the Eastern Front permanently shifted to the Red Army, and Georgi Zhukov could go on the offensive on a broader front against the Germans. By 1944, Germany had suffered five million casualties on the Eastern Front. After the success of Operation Bagration that year, Russian forces drove German armies to the outskirts of Berlin, where the final battle of the war in Europe would be fought in April 1945.
Bibliography
Garofalo, Robert. The Great Tank Battle of Kursk. UK, Pegasus, 2002. DVD.
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Grant, R.G. Commanders: History’s Greatest Military Leaders. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2010.
Sommerville, Donald. The Complete Illustrated History of World War II. Wigston, Hermes House, 2012.