Following the Soviet victory at Stalingrad in February 1943, the Red Army rapidly advanced from its eastern lines towards the bulk of the German Army, situated in the western USSR. This led to a period of preparation and re-arming for the exhausted Soviet and German armies, in anticipation of the next great battle which would prove to be utterly decisive on the Eastern Front, and would lead to the end of the war itself: the Battle of Kursk. Situated 280 miles southwest of the capital Moscow, Kursk was part of a 'bulge' of Soviet divisions which could prove to be an ample target for the reorganized and re-energized Wehrmahct. Hitler originally intended this to be a great counter-offensive to halt the rapid advance westwards of the Soviet Union, and looked like it could indeed work. Beginning on the 5th July 1943, it would prove to be not only one of the decisive engagements of the war, but also would be christened 'the largest tank battle in the history of humanity'. With over seven thousands tanks in engagement against one another, it would prove to be just this. The Germans did not achieve the desired breakthrough at either the north or southern points of the bulge, with some of the heaviest and most brutal fighting occurring at the town of Prokohovka, 50 miles south-eastward of Kursk itself, where 1,500 tanks engaged one another. On the southern line of attack, the original German advance, led by Erich von Manstein, faced similar difficulties and eventually the Russians, under the overall command of Georgi Zhukov, managed to halt the advance and launch their own counter-offensive, eventually taking the strategic city of Kharkov on 23rd August. Again, the losses encountered by both sides were massive, and it certainly put an end to German hopes of winning the war. Over 1 million German and Russian soldiers lost their lives or were gravely injured in the fighting, and incredibly over 6,000 tanks were lost or damaged on both sides. These great losses in material and men are only matched in some of the other ferocious battles of the war, especially on the Eastern Front.
Me? I'm 17 years old, from Dawlish, Devon and studying (tirelessly) at Exeter College. I love pretty much anything, am a fan of numerous TV programmes and films, countless books and topics, from Sherlock to the Cold War, Doctor Who to Muse and my ambition is to become a journalist in any field which I have an interest in, and I hope to show my opinions (although varied) to the full.
