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Battle of Kursk or the Kursk Bulge (see article)
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Soldiers of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich advance through the southern Voronezh Front
Date German Kursk: July 4 – July 20, 1943 Soviet Kursk: July 4 – August 23, 1943 Location 51°30′4″N 36°3′5″E / 51.50111°N 36.05139°E / 51.50111; 36.05139 Kursk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union Result strategic Soviet victory
Belligerents
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Erich von Manstein Günther von Kluge Hermann Hoth Walther Model Hans Seidemann Robert Ritter von Greim	Georgy Zhukov Konstantin Rokossovskiy Nikolay Vatutin Ivan Konev
Strength
778,907 men 2,465 tanks and assault guns 7.417 guns 2,110 aircraft	1,910,361 men 4,938 tanks and assault guns 31,415 guns 2,792 aircraft
Casualties and losses
Operation Zitadelle: 54,182 men 252 – 323 tanks and assault guns 159 aircraft ~500 guns Battle of Kursk: 170,000 men 720 tanks and assault guns 681 aircraft Guns unknown	Operation Zitadelle: 177,847 1,614 – 1,956 tanks and assault guns >459 – 1,961 aircraft 3,929 guns Battle of Kursk: 863,303 casualties 6,064 tanks and assault guns 1,626 - 4.209 aircraft 5,244 guns

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The Battle of Kursk refers to German and Soviet operations on the Eastern Front of World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armoured clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka and the costliest single day of aerial warfare. It was the last strategic offensive the Germans were able to mount in the east. The resulting decisive Soviet victory gave the Red Army the strategic initiative for the rest of the war.

The Germans hoped to shorten their lines by eliminating the Kursk salient (also known as the Kursk bulge), created in the aftermath of their defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad. They envisioned pincers breaking through its northern and southern flanks to achieve yet another great encirclement of Red Army forces. However, the Soviets had excellent intelligence of Hitler's intentions. This and German delays to wait for new weapons, mainly Tiger and Panther tanks, gave the Red Army time to construct elaborate, layered defenses and position large reserve forces for a strategic counterattack.

Although often thought of as a tank battle, Kursk as a whole arguably demonstrated the triumph of artillery, infantry and engineers over armour. The Soviet plan was to soak up the German assault in a colossal web of defensive positions and only then launch their armoured counter-attack. It was also an important air battle, in which the balance shifted in favour of the Soviets.

— John Keegan

Once the German forces had exhausted themselves against the defence-in-depth, the Soviets responded with their own counteroffensives, which allowed the Red Army to retake Orel and Belgorod on 5 August and Kharkov on 23 August, and push back the Germans across a broad front.

Though the Red Army had had success in winter, this was the first successful strategic Soviet summer offensive of the war. The model strategic operation earned a place in war college curricula. The Battle of Kursk was the first battle in which a "Blitzkrieg" offensive had been defeated before it could break through enemy defences and into its strategic depths.

Background

In the winter of 1942–43, the Red Army had conclusively won the Battle of Stalingrad. The German Sixth Army had been destroyed, along with about 800,000 German and other Axis troops, seriously depleting Axis strength in the east.

In 1917, the Germans had built the famous Hindenburg Line on the Western Front, shortening their lines and thereby strengthening their defense. They planned on repeating this strategy in the USSR and started construction of a massive series of defensive works known as the Panther-Wotan line. They intended to retreat to the line late in 1943 and bleed the Soviets against it while their own forces recuperated.

In February and March 1943, German Field Marshal Erich von Manstein had won the Third Battle of Kharkov, leaving the front line running roughly from Leningrad in the north to Rostov in the south. In the middle lay a large 200 km (120 mi) wide and 150 km (90 mi) deep Soviet-held salient (bulge) in the lines between German forward positions near Orel in the north, and Kharkov in the south.

Most of the German front commanders agreed a defensive stance should be the priority, to contain Soviet offensives and deliver counter blows. Hitler accepted this advice. Erich von Manstein insisted first strike was still an option and an offensive to pinch out the Soviet bulge at Kursk would be achieveable before moving further south to recover more lost territory. Manstein wanted to attack in May but owing to the poor tank strength of the German Army, Hitler delayed it until July when newer tanks minimized the risk of defeat. The High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW)) hoped to regain the initiative on the Eastern Front.

German plans

Manstein pressed for a new offensive along the same lines he had just successfully pursued at Kharkov, when he had cut off an overextended Red Army offensive. He suggested tricking the Red Army into attacking in the south against the desperately re-forming Sixth Army, leading them into the Donets Basin in the eastern Ukraine. He would then turn south from Kharkov on the eastern side of the Donets river towards Rostov and trap the entire southern wing of the Red Army against the Sea of Azov.

Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) did not approve of Manstein's plan and instead turned their attention to the obvious bulge in the lines between Orel and Kharkov. Two Red Army Fronts, the Voronezh and Central Fronts, occupied the ground in and around the salient and pinching it off would trap almost a fifth of the Red Army's manpower. It would also result in a much straighter and shorter line and recapture the strategically useful railway city of Kursk, located on the main north-south railway line from Rostov to Moscow.

In March, the plans crystallized. Walter Model's 9th Army would attack southwards from Orel while Hermann Hoth's 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment "Kempf" under the overall command of Manstein would attack northwards from Kharkov. They planned to meet near Kursk but if the offensive went well, they would have permission to continue forward on their own initiative, with a general plan to re-establish a new line at the Don River, several weeks' march to the east.

Contrary to his recent behavior, Hitler gave the OKH considerable control over the planning of the operation. Over the next few weeks, they continued to increase the scope of the forces attached to the front, stripping the German line of practically anything remotely useful for deployment in the operation. They first set the attack for 4 May but delayed in order to allow more time for new weapons to arrive from Germany, especially the new Tiger and Panther tanks. Hitler postponed the offensive several more times. On 5 May, the launch date became 12 June. Due to the potential threat of an Allied landing in Italy, and delays in armour deliveries Hitler set the launch date to 20 June. On 17 June, he further postponed it until 3 July, and then later to 5 July. The concept behind the German offensive was the traditional (and for the Germans usually successful) double-envelopment, or Kesselschlacht (cauldron battle). The German Army had long favored such a Cannae-style method and the tools of Blitzkrieg made these types of tactics even more effective. Blitzkrieg depended on mass, shock and speed to surprise an enemy and defeat him through disruption of command and supply rather than by destroying all his forces in a pitched battle.

Such breakthroughs were easier to achieve by attacking in unexpected locations, as the Germans had done in the Ardennes in 1940, Kiev in 1941 and towards Stalingrad and the Caucasus in 1942. The OKH's plan for the attack on the Kursk salient, "Operation Citadel", violated the principle of surprise: anyone with the most basic grasp of military strategy could deduce that the Kursk salient was the most obvious target for any German attack. A number of German commanders questioned the idea, notably Guderian, who asked Hitler:

"Was it really necessary to attack Kursk, and indeed in the east that year at all? Do you think anyone even knows where Kursk is? The entire world doesn't care if we capture Kursk or not. What is the reason that is forcing us to attack this year on Kursk, or even more, on the Eastern Front?"
Perhaps more surprisingly, Hitler replied:
"I know. The thought of it turns my stomach."

The German force numbered fifty divisions, including 17 Panzer and Panzergrenadiere, among them the elite Wehrmacht Großdeutschland Division as well as Waffen-SS divisions 1st SS PzGrenDiv Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, 2nd SS PzGrenDiv Das Reich and 3rd SS PzGrenDiv Totenkopf grouped into the II SS Panzer Corps. The High Command concentrated all their armor, the Tiger and new Panther tanks and the new Ferdinand tank destroyer, being used as assault guns. They also massed a high proportion of their available air units and artillery and despite the problems of the German plan it was a formidable concentration of armor.

The German deception plan included defensive-sounding names for major formations. For example, the 9.Armee was given the name "Festungsstab II", Fortress Staff II. Model ordered that recordings were to be made of massed German tanks' engines. This noise was to be played on loudspeakers to confuse the Soviets as to the whereabouts of German armour concentrations. Many German AFVs were painted with new divisional insignia used only for this campaign. These deception measures were generally unsuccessful.

Soviet plans

The Red Army had also begun planning for their summer offensives, and had settled on a plan that mirrored that of the Germans. Attacks in front of Orel and Kharkov would flatten the line and potentially lead to a breakout near the Pripyat Marshes. Soviet commanders had considerable concerns over the German plans.

The locations of all previous German attacks had caught the Red Army by surprise but in this case, Kursk seemed the obvious target. Moscow received warning of the German plans through the Lucy spy ring in Switzerland. This was almost unnecessary, since Marshal Zhukov had already predicted the site of the German attack as early as 8 April, when he wrote his initial report to Stavka (the Red Army General Staff), in which he also recommended the strategy eventually followed by the Red Army.

The pattern of the war up until this point had been one of German offensive success. Blitzkrieg had worked against all opponents, including the Red Army. On the other hand, Soviet results during both winters had shown that their own offensives were now effective. Stalin and some Stavka officers wanted to strike first. However, the overwhelming majority of Stavka, most notably Zhukov, advised waiting for the Germans to exhaust themselves first. Zhukov wrote in a letter to Stalin on 8 April 1943:

I consider it inadvisable for our forces to go over to the offensive in the very first days of the campaign in order to forestall the enemy. It would be better to make the enemy exhaust himself against our defences, and knock out his tanks and then, bringing up fresh reserves, to go over to the general offensive which would finally finish off his main force.

The German delay in launching their offensive gave the Red Army four months in which to prepare and with every day, they turned the salient into one of the most heavily defended areas on Earth. Two Fronts, the Central and Voronezh, manned the defensive lines and the Steppe Front was available as a reserve. The Red Army and thousands of civilians laid about one million land mines and dug about 5000 km (3000 mi) of trenches, to a depth of 175 km (95 mi). They massed a huge army of their own, including some 1,300,000 men, 3,600 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces and 2,792 aircraft. This amounted to 26% of the total manpower of the Red Army, 26% of its mortars and artillery, 35% of its aircraft and 46% of its tanks. Due to the disparity in populations, industrial capability and continual German delays in tank production, the Red Army could build up forces faster than the Germans; each month they pulled further ahead in men and matériel. The Germans also received reports of rapid and powerful Soviet concentrations in the Kursk area and delayed the offensive to allow for more Panther tanks to reach the front line.

Many of the forces assigned to the defense of the salient were recent veterans of the Battle of Stalingrad but the Red Army also added over one million new men in the first half of 1943. Thus, the Red Army was larger than in 1942, even after the losses at Stalingrad. The long delay between the identification of the likely site of the German attack and the beginning of the offensive gave the new units an unusually long time to train.

The density of artillery in the salient was unusual; there were more artillery regiments in the salient than infantry regiments. The Red Army was determined to grind down attacking German units with a combination of mines and artillery fire. Indirect fire from howitzers would stop the German infantry, while direct fire from 45mm (1.7"), 57mm (2.24"), and 85 mm (3.3") towed anti-tank guns and 76.2mm (3") divisional field guns would destroy the tanks. In the 13th Army sector (facing the German 9th Army on the northern face of the salient) the density of anti-tank guns was 23.7 guns per kilometre of defended front. In the 6th and 7th Guards Army sectors in the south the density was lower, about 10 guns per kilometre.

The preparation of the battlefield by Red Army military engineers was thorough. Reports indicate 503,993 anti-tank mines and 439,348 anti-personnel mines were laid in the defended area. On average, 1,500 anti-tank and 1,700 anti-personnel mines were laid per kilometre of front. In the sectors eventually attacked, densities were never lower than 1,400 per kilometre and sometimes reached as high as 2,000 per kilometre. Red Army engineers also constructed miles of trenches, laid barbed wire, built anti-tank obstacles, and constructed thousands of gun and mortar positions. Soviet deception plans, like the German were most elaborate; unlike the German plans, the Soviet deceptions were generally successful. Dummy positions were constructed and dummy aircraft were placed on false airfields and false radio traffic sent to confuse German intelligence. Camouflaging of actual positions and minefields was excellent; the first warning most German units had of the presence of Soviet minefields or dug-in guns was their own vehicles exploding.

State of the Red Air Force

The Red Air Force (VVS) had lost over 36,900 aircraft in 1941-1942. However the Soviet aircraft industry had replaced losses in machines and had now rearmed and dispensed with obsolete types such as the I-16, MiG-3 and the LaGG-3. The most widely used Soviet fighters in the Kursk battle were the Yak-1, Yak-7B and La-5. The La 5FN was considered to be a match for both the Bf 109 and Fw 190. Pilot training was short and lacked thoroughness. The 13,383 Soviet pilots who were trained in 1942 received 13–15 flight hours before combat. Sturmovik and bomber pilots received just 18 and 15 hours respectively. Of the Soviet bomber and ground attack units, just seven percent of its pilots had seen action prior to Kursk. Most Soviet pilots were forced to train on the type they would fly in combat. As a result the Soviets lost 10,600 aircraft to accidents up until the summer of 1943. At senior command, the Soviets possessed highly skilled leaders, such as Colonel General Aleksandr Novikov, Commander-in-Chief of the VVS in the Kursk region. A lack of experience at lower levels led to costly losses. In the aftermath of Kursk, Soviet aviation rapidly improved its coordination with the ground forces. Its pilots also received a rapidly improving training program. As a result, the Soviets were able to build the Red Banner units of highly skilled fighter pilots. Just six months after Kursk, the ratio of Soviet to German aircraft losses had fallen from 4:1 to 3:2.

Sub-operations and nomenclature

For Wehrmacht's OKH, the Battle of Kursk was a part of the strategic Operation Citadel Offensive (Template:Lang-de).

For the Soviet historians the series of operations conducted as part of the Summer-Autumn Campaign of 1943 (1 July – 31 December) include:

• Kursk Strategic Defensive Operation (5–23 July 1943)

Orel-Kursk Defensive Operation (5–11 July)

Belgorod-Kursk Defensive Operation (5–23 July)

Denial air operations over the Kursk Bulge (5–23 July)

Air superiority operations in Operation Kutuzov

• Orel Strategic Counter-offensive Operation (codenamed Operation Kutuzov) (12 July – 18 August 1943)

Volkhov-Orel Offensive Operation (12 July – 18 August)

Kromy-Orel Offensive Operation (15 July – 18 August)

Air superiority operations in Operation Rumyantsev

• Belgorod-Kharkov Counter-offensive Offensive Operation (codenamed Operation Rumyantsev) (3–23 August 1943)

Belgorod-Bogodukhov Offensive Operation (3–23 August)

Belgorod-Khar'kov Offensive Operation (3–23 August)

Battle of Prokhorovka (12 July 1943)

Zmiyev Offensive Operation (12–23 August)

The exact definition of the operations varies. The Germans saw it only as the Operation Citadel offensive, while the Soviet and Russian historians continue today to combine Citadel and the subsequent Soviet counter-offensives, Operation Kutuzov and Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev as a single strategic event.

Preliminaries

Aviation

The Soviet Air Arm played a significant role in hampering the German preparations. On 17 April 1943, a raid on the German airfield at Orsha-South destroyed five Ju 88 reconnaissance aircraft from 1.(F)/Aufklärungsgruppe 100 and 4.(F)/121, and then three Do 17s/Do 217s of 2. Nachtaufklärungsstaffel. Three days later, another ten high-level reconnaissance aircraft were destroyed on the ground. As a result, the only operational strategic reconnaissance Staffel was 4.(F)/14.

The Luftwaffe was also busy before the main operation. The tank factory at Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ) was subjected to a series of heavy attacks throughout June 1943. On the night of 4/5 June, He 111s of Kampfgeschwader 1 (KG 1), KG 3, KG 4, KG 55 and KG 100 dropped 179 tons of bombs, causing massive destruction to buildings and production lines. All of GAZ No. 1 plant's 50 buildings, 9,000 metres (30,000 ft) of conveyers, 5,900 pieces of equipment and 8,000 tank engines were destroyed. However, the Germans made an error in target selection. The GAZ plant No. 1 produced only the T-70 light tank. Factory No. 112, the second-biggest producer of the more formidable T-34, continued production undisturbed. Soviet production facilities were repaired or rebuilt within six weeks. In 1943, Factory No. 112 produced 2,851 T-34s, 3,619 in 1944, and 3,255 in 1945. The Luftwaffe had also failed to hit the Gorkiy Artillery Factory (No. 92) or the aircraft plant where the Lavochkin La-5 and La 5FN were made. The Luftwaffe failed to disrupt the Soviet preparation for the coming battle.

Ground

It took four months before Hitler allowed Manstein to attack, by which time the Germans had added 90 Elefant Panzerjägers, all 79 flyable Henschel Hs 129 ground attack aircraft, as well as 270 Tigers, late model Panzer Mark-IVs and even a number of captured T-34s. In total, they assembled some 3,000 tanks and assault guns, 2,110 aircraft and 900,000 men. It formed one of the greatest concentrations of German fighting power ever put together. Even so, Hitler expressed doubts about its adequacy.

By this time, Allied action in Western Europe was beginning to have a significant impact on German military strength. Although actions in North Africa hardly constituted the Red Army's longed-for second front, the operation there did begin to tell on the Germans, and in the last quarter of 1942 and the first half of 1943, 40% of Luftwaffe losses occurred in the battles over Malta and Tunisia. German air superiority was no longer guaranteed. The Soviet Air Force outnumbered the Luftwaffe, and were gaining in technological quality as well. Both air forces possessed very effective ground-attack aircraft types capable of decimating armour: the Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik and the German Junkers Ju 87G (Initially Ju 87D-3/5 with a pair of added Bordkanone 37 mm gunpods).

The start date for the offensive had been moved repeatedly as delays in preparation had forced the Germans to postpone the attack. Finally, on 1 July, the orders were issued to attack on 5 July. The following day, Marshal Vasilyevskiy warned the Front commanders (N. F. Vatutin, K. K. Rokossovskiy and I. S. Konev) that the long-awaited German offensive would begin sometime between 3 and 6 July. For months, the Soviets had been receiving detailed information on the planning of the offensive from their Red Orchestra (German: Rote Kapelle, and the "Lucy Group") espionage organization, whose sources allegedly included officers in Hermann Göring’s aviation ministry and other parts of the Nazi administration.

Preliminary fighting started on 4 July 1943 in the south, as 4th Panzer Army had elected to try to take Soviet outposts prior to the main assault on 5 July. Thus they deliberately sacrificed tactical surprise. Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin, having received reports that the German offensive was imminent, ordered Voronezh Front to bombard German positions on the night of 4 July.

In the afternoon, Stuka dive bombers blew a two-mile-wide gap in the Soviet front lines on the north in a period of 10 minutes, and then turned for home while the German artillery opened up to continue the pounding. Hoth's armored spearhead, the III Panzer Corps, then advanced on the Soviet positions around Zavidovka. At the same time, the Großdeutschland Division attacked Butovo in torrential rain, and the 11th Panzer Division took the high ground around Butovo. To the west of Butovo, the going proved tougher for Großdeutschland and the 3rd Panzer Division, which met stiff Soviet resistance and did not secure their objectives until midnight. The II SS Panzer Corps launched preliminary attacks to secure observation posts, and again met with strong resistance, until assault troops equipped with flamethrowers cleared the bunkers and outposts.

At 2:30, the Red Army hit back with an artillery bombardment in the north and south. This barrage by over 3,000 guns and mortars expended about half of the artillery ammunition for the entire operation. The goal was to delay and disorganize the German attack. In the northern face, the Central Front artillery fired mostly against German artillery positions and managed to suppress 50 of the 100 German batteries they attacked, resulting in much weaker German artillery fire on the opening day of the attack. This bombardment disrupted German units and caused them to attack at different times on 5 July. In the south, the Red Army chose to fire largely against the German infantry and tanks in their assembly areas. This was partially successful in delaying the German attack, but caused few casualties.

Main operations — the northern face

Northern ground battle

The 9th Army attack in the north fell far short of its objectives on 5 July. The attack sector had been correctly anticipated by the Red Army Central Front. Attacking on a 45-kilometre-wide front, the Germans found themselves trapped in the huge defensive minefields, and needed engineering units to come up and clear them under artillery fire. Although a few Goliath and Borgward remote-controlled engineering vehicles were available to clear lanes in the minefields, they were not generally successful. Even when the vehicles cleared mines, they had no on-board marking system to show following tanks where the cleared lanes were. Red Army units covered the minefields with small arms and artillery fire, delaying German engineers clearing manually; German losses were high. For example, the German 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion began the attack with 49 Ferdinand self-propelled guns; 37 of them were lost in the minefields before 17:00 on 5 July. Although most of the lost vehicles were mobility kills rather than permanent losses, they were out of action until they could be repaired. They were also easier for Red Army artillery to knock out permanently. However, since the Germans were advancing, any repairable vehicles could be recovered, repaired, and put back into action. After the first day of attack, the german units penetrated 8 km deep into the russian lines for the loss of 1,287 KIA & MIA and 5,921 WIA

The Germans also noted a fundamental flaw in their armoured vehicles, particularly the Elefant. Although excellent against any Soviet tank at long to medium range, they lacked secondary armament and were vulnerable to attacks from Soviet slit trenches once separated from the heavy machine gun protection of the lighter tanks, vehicles and infantry. Guderian noted in his diary:

Once they had broken through into the enemy's infantry zone they literally had to go quail-shooting with cannons. They did not manage to neutralise, let alone destroy, the enemy's rifle and machine guns, so that our own infantry was unable to follow up behind them. By the time they reached the Soviet artillery they were on their own

At the second day the Central-Front under Rokossovskiy started a counterattack against the german 9th Army especialy the XLVI Tankcorps. The red army attacked with the 2nd Tankarmy and the XIX Tankcorps. But this operational counterattack was launched to early and not enough prepared, the russian attack failed in the very beginning. Russian tanks saw the first time combat with the Tiger tanks of the s.Pz.Abt 505 and sustained heavy losses. The 107th and 164th Tankbrigade lost 69 tanks within minutes and the russian attack was stopped. After the encounter with german Tiger's Rokossovskiy decided to dig in most of his tanks and use them as static anti-tank guns. In his book, Rokossovskiy explains that russian tank crews attack the Tigers and were repulsed with heavy casualties so he was forced to dig them in . Russian tended to overexaggerate the numbers of Tigers but were correct with the assesement of their strengh, nearly all duels between the T-34 and Tiger were won by the tiger's . The most dangerous enemy of the heavy Tiger's were the well prepared minefields, out of the 52 Panzer VI, 18 were damaged by mines and had to be repaired.

The next two days of the attack brought heavy fighting around the strongpoint of Ponyri ( Ponyri lay on the railwayline Orel-Kursk), which was one of the most fortified positions in the northern sector. Both opponents saw this area as a vital point and so the a very intense battle took place. The german tanks were awaited by 70 antitankguns per km. At the 7th July the 86th and 292nd german infantrydivisions attack Ponyri and captured the town after intense house to house fighting. The russians counterattacked and forced the german troops to withdraw temporaly, many counterattacks of both sides followed and the town changed hand many times. Not before the evening of the 8th july the german units captured most of the town. The heavy Ferdinands were called into action to take the hill 253,3 and succeed at the 9th. It developed a battle of attrition with heavy casualties for both sides, John called Ponyri "the new Douaumont". German units were exhausted while russian reserves were commited.

Model decided to pause the attack to rearrange his units. At the 10th he renewed his attack with additional air support but his gains were minor. New russian formations repelled german attacks and only limited penetrations were achieved, the diary of 9th army describes the heavy fighting as a "new type of mobile attritionbattle" . Model cancels the new attack.

The cancellation of the attack brought a changing of the german plans, Model accepted that his forces had not enough power to advance directly through the russian strongpoints. He decided to bypasse the heights of Ol'chovatka and shift the schwerpunkt to XXXXVI Panzercorps, he also decided to use the uncommited 12th Pz.Div. The first time in the northern sector a heavy concentration of tanks was planned. Models hesitation to use the concept of concentration, which is described as decisive element of attack , earlier lead to an slow advance of the 9th army. Because of the limited action of the tank units only 63 tanks and assault guns were written of till the 12th july . Now the german units had a respectable number of tanks for their planned attack but On 12 July, Zhukov ordered Operation Kutuzov.

The russian formations, including the 3rd Tank Army and the Soviet 11th Guards Army, attacked the german 2nd Tankarmy, which were positioned in the rear of 9th army. The outnumbered 2nd Tankarmy had trouble to handle the russian attack. Russian formations achieved deep penetration and threatened german supply routs with their advance on Orel, even the encirlement of the 9th army was possible. So german leaders decided to deliver some infantry- and tank-divisions from the 9th army to the 2nd tankarmy. Model hoped that the divisions could defeat the attack of Brjansk front and be delivered back to a further attack on Kursk. The russian attack appeared as full operation counterattack and on the 13th july model recognized that it was futile to resume his attack. On the same day Hilter canceled the operation of the northern pincer.

There are a number of factors that explain the 9th Army’s lack of progress, mainly the combination of Soviet defensive planning and German lack of concentration of force. German armor was committed piecemeal rather than in strength, and often without sufficient infantry support. Soviet defensive preparation was also a major factor. The Central Front under Marshal Rokossovskiy had correctly anticipated the likely areas of German attack and had fortified those areas very heavily, holding other areas more thinly. The 13th Army, which bore the brunt of the German attack, was far stronger in men and anti-tank guns than the other Central Front units, and indeed held the strongest defensive positions in the entire salient.

A major planning error by the Soviet Supreme High Command and the General Staff was their expectation that the main weight of the German attack would come in the north on the Central Front, causing them to concentrate more strength there. Also, the Central Front chose to defend the tactical zone (to a depth of 20 km) very heavily, leaving far fewer units in the depths of the defense. Model's army had fewer tanks than Manstein had in the south, and the German 9th Army also committed major units piecemeal because Model was afraid of the Bryansk Front, which stood ready for counterattack in the north of his army. Model decided to place his most powerfull corpsgroup, Korpsgruppe Esbeck (2 Pz.Div and 1 Pz.Gren.Div), far behind the frontline to use it as "firebrigade" against a possible onslaught of Bryansk Front. Model's refusal to use his Panzerdivisions as a concentrated force, can be seen as the most significant reason for the poor penetration of the northern pincer. Finally, the 9th Army led with reinforced infantry divisions that were already in the line facing the Red Army, rather than attacking with uncommitted units.

Review of attack frontages and depth of German penetration shows clearly that the Red Army defensive tactics were succeeding. Beginning with a 45-kilometre-wide attack frontage on 5 July, the next day, the German 9th Army attacked on a 40-kilometre front. This dropped to 15 kilometres wide by 7 July, and only 2 kilometres on 8–9 July. Each day, the depth of the German advance slowed: 5 kilometres on the first day, 4 on the second, never more than 2 km each succeeding day. By 10 July, the 9th Army had been stopped in its tracks.

A great deal of the Soviet defensive success was down to its method of fire control, known to the Germans as Pakfront. This relied upon a group of 10 or more anti-tank guns under a single commander, which would fire at a single target at a time. These positions were protected with heavy concentrations of mortar and machine-gun nests, which were ordered to fire on German infantry only.

Air operations

The real operation opened on 5 July 1943. The Soviet Air Force, now aware even of the exact time of the planned German offensive, launched a massive attack on the Luftwaffe airbases in the area, in an attempt to counter the classic German tactic of eliminating local air support within the first hours of an operation. The next few hours turned into possibly the largest air battle ever fought. However, Soviet co-ordination was lacking: the fighters were dispatched too soon and had to withdraw due to a shortage of fuel before their bombers arrived. The German fighters had no trouble taking off and engaging the approaching attackers; the Red Air Force lost 120 aircraft.

The Luftwaffe directed an all-out effort against Red Army positions on the northern flank during the first day of the operation, while Soviet deployment errors granted the Luftwaffe initial air superiority. General-Leytenant Rudenko, unsure whether this was the major German attack, ordered only one-third of his fighter strength to engage the masses of German aircraft, while the rest stood down. The outnumbered Red Army units were engaged over their own rear areas and suffered heavily. The German fighters had flown ahead of the bomber and Stuka units to prevent Red Army intervention. The unprotected Stuka and Kampfgruppen then began their assault on the Red Army positions unhindered. The Soviets fed in their aerial strength piecemeal and suffered heavy losses.

On 6 July, huge air battles raged over the northern sector. However, there was a lack of Soviet air-to-ground liaison officers, and effectiveness suffered. Counter-attacking Red Army units often took ground very quickly, and there was no effective system in place to inform the Soviet air fleets in time; as a result Soviet bombers attacked areas now occupied by Soviet forces, inflicting casualties. The initial air battles enabled the Luftwaffe to at least maintain a balance in numbers, if not air superiority, over the area held by 47 PanzerKorps. The Luftwaffe concentrated most of its I. Fliegerkorps units to this sector. The Soviet 17th Guards Rifle Corps reported "Appearing in formations of 20–30 or even 60–100 aircraft at a time, the enemy air force played a vital role in the battle". The Soviets suffered heavily on the first day, 16 VA losing 91 aircraft (including 22 Sturmoviks, nine A-20 Havocs, and 60 fighters). The air support the Germans gave their army was crucial. The War Diary of the Soviet 19th Independent Tank Corps noted:

The enemy met our attacking tanks with fire from artillery and heavy tanks located in shelters as well as with air attack in which up to 100 aircraft took part. Consequently, and owing also to the losses they suffered, the brigades were withdrawn from combat and received orders to occupy a defense... along the line

However, the Soviets did gain a notable success on 6 July. The 299 ShAD of the 16 VA, equipped with the Sturmovik, arrived over the front when the German fighters had returned to base. The 47 Panzerkorps had broken cover and attacked the 17th Guards Rifle Corps and the 16th Tank Corps, and were out in the open and vulnerable to air attack. The Soviet attack was devastating to the tanks of 47 Panzerkorps. Flying as low as six metres the Soviets destroyed as many as 20 in this action, and 40 damaged, for the loss of one IL-2. The Luftwaffe was also experiencing fuel shortages, and as a result, the number of Stuka and bomber sorties were declining from as early as 6 July. On 5 July, these groups had flown 647 and 582 sorties; by 6 July, this had dropped to 289 and 164 missions. Most of the German combat missions were flown by fighters; although they continued to heavily outscore the Soviets, the continual pressure of Soviet aviation began to take its toll on the Luftwaffe and the Heer.

On 7 July, the Soviet 16 VA flew fewer sorties than the German 1. Fliegerdivision (1,687 to 1,185), but the Soviets, with a few exceptions, were able to prevent further heavy losses, and inflicted serious damage to German ground formations. Units of the 16 VA, including IL-2s, destroyed 60 German tanks and 34 motor vehicles without loss. General der Flieger Friedrich Kless noted that the Soviet attacks against supply lines and direct interdiction or ground attack missions were not effective due to the poor skill levels of Soviet airmen, and the Soviets always met with heavy losses. However, while the lack of Soviet skill was true, Soviet aviation was effective at a heavy cost. Soviet losses in the air of bombers and ground attack aircraft on 7 July were light, 30 aircraft, for six German Fw 190s in the northern sector.

The Luftwaffe also conducted effective operations at low cost, claiming to destroy 14 Soviet tanks, 60 motorised vehicles, 22 artillery pieces and eight ammunition stores. A further 22 tanks were claimed damaged and 25 artillery guns "silenced". In the first three days of fighting over the northern flank, Luftflotte 6 lost a total of 39 aircraft against Soviet losses of 386.

Luftwaffe operations in the Orel Bulge, 16–31 July

After a week of heavy fighting, the Wehrmacht had advanced only 12 km. On 12 July, the Soviets launched their own offensive against the 2nd Panzer Army and the German 9th Army at Orel. The situation became critical for the German forces: the Soviet 11th Guards Army could cut off both German armies.

The Luftwaffe was called upon to halt the offensive, and its actions proved decisive to saving the German armies from encirclement. The Luftwaffe organised a massive aerial offensive to blunt the threat. On 16 July, it flew 1,595 sorties, double that of the previous days. In daylight hours the Sturzkampfgeschwader and Schlachtgeschwader attacked Red Army armoured units while the Kampfgruppen targeted the rear supply lines.

On 17 July, further attempts to intervene on the battlefield were hindered by the arrival of an overwhelming Soviet aviation force. This forced German bombers to operate from higher altitudes, and bombing accuracy suffered. The Soviet 16 VA had greatly improved its organisation and ground control methods, and its pilots were now improving their tactics. The Soviets took advantage of their superior strength to initiate a series of huge aerial offensives against German positions, using waves of up to 350 aircraft per strike. The offensive resulted in large-scale air battles. The limited engagement of the German bomber and ground attack units resulted in only 24 Soviet tanks and 31 lorries being destroyed. However the German fighter units destroyed 90 Soviet aircraft on that date, for 12 losses. 1. Fliegerdivision had carried out 1,693 sorties that day.

Another 1,100 sorties were flown on 18 July, and the Junkers Ju 87 units took a heavy toll of Red Army tank forces; Ju 87s of StG 3 destroyed at least 50 tanks.

On 19 July, the Luftwaffe initiated the aerial operation that, alone, would stop a Soviet breakthrough at Khotynets, which would have taken out a vital rail link, and severed the connection between the two German armies. Some Stuka pilots flew up to six missions on this date. The Fw 190 equipped SchG 1 also contributed to the attacks with 250 kg bombs. Mixed formations of Hs 129s and Ju 87s attacked the Soviet tank formations in three days of "relentless" action against the Is Tank Corps and 70th Tank Brigade. Oberfeldwebel Hans Hans Krohn, a radio operator of a II./StG 3 Ju 87 recalled:

Our "cannon aircraft" took a terrible toll of Soviet armour. We attacked at very low altitude... and my pilot opened fire at a distance of only 50 metres. Most of our attacks were made against the side of the tanks, because in that way they offered the largest targets. I know that some pilots attacked from behind because that was where the armour was weakest, but that also meant the target was so small that it was difficult to hit. By this time Soviet tank crews appeared to be well aware of the potency of our "cannon planes". Whenever we appeared, the tanks would start wild evasive manoeuvres. Occasionally we could see tank crews jump out of the hatches and abandon their tanks when we dived to attack them.

The Soviet losses were so heavy that they were forced to retreat. Tanks that had managed to reach German positions had been quickly routed. 1.Fliegerdivision had claimed 135 tanks put out of action on 19 July, with a total of 66 destroyed. The 1st Tank Corps had only 33 tanks remaining on 20 July. Realising the German armies were about to escape the trap, the Stavka ordered the 3rd Tank Army to pursue the encirclement, and at least catch and destroy the German 35. Army Corps. Once again the Luftwaffe contributed decisively. The Soviet fighter units in the area were disorganised due to constant redirections along the front, and as a result were overwhelmed by a concentrated attack by Luftwaffe forces throughout the day. Over 1,500 sorties were flown, and 38 Soviet tanks, 85 vehicles, eight tank transporters and ten pontoon bridges were destroyed for 13 losses. Model sent a message to von Greim thanking him: "the Luftwaffe's intervention was absolutely decisive to prevent a second, more disastrous Stalingrad".

The end in the north

The 9th Army had to withdraw, and did so through the window of opportunity created for them by the Luftwaffe. Their part in the offensive was over. Because the German armor was not concentrated and used with the same intensity as in the South, the German armor losses were comparatively light – 143 armored vehicles were total losses between 5 and 14 July. Central Front losses were 526 tanks However, this failed to keep up with the steady influx of new soldiers and matériel for the Red Army. Few Red Army guns were captured, and those Red Army units that did retreat did so on orders. The German attack had nearly broken through the main Soviet defence zones, but stalled. The Soviet counter-offensive compelled Model to withdraw or risk the destruction of both German Armies.

Main operations — the southern face

Southern ground battle

In the south, the Voronezh Front fared less well against the 4th Panzer Army with its LII Corps, XLVIII Panzer Corps and II SS Panzer Corps. The II SS Panzer Corps attacked on a narrower frontage against two Red Army rifle regiments. The armored spearhead of Hoth's 4th Panzer Army forced its way forward, and by 6 July, had reached some 15 km past the lines. Again, Red Army planning played a big role. In the south, the Red Army had not been able to pinpoint the German attack sectors; this forced them to spread out their defenses more evenly. For example, three of the four armies of the Voronezh Front had about 10 antitank guns per kilometre of front; this contrasts sharply with the Central Front's distribution of guns, which was twice as heavy in the active sectors. Also, the Voronezh Front made the decision to hold the tactical zone much more thinly, leaving a much higher proportion of units in deeper positions compared to the Central Front. Finally, the Voronezh Front was weaker than the Central Front, yet it faced much stronger German forces.

The German forces made steady progress, but, as in the north, attack frontages (width) and penetration depth tended to drop as the attack proceeded. The trend was not as marked as in the north, however. Beginning with a 30-kilometre-wide attack frontage on 5 July, this dropped to 20-kilometres wide by 7 July and 15 km by 9 July. Likewise, the depth of the penetration dropped from 9 km on 5 July to 5 km on 8 July and 2–3 km each day thereafter until the attack was cancelled.

Red Army minefields and artillery were again successful in delaying the German attack and inflicting losses. The ability of dug-in Red Army units to delay the Germans was vital to allow their own reserves to be brought up into threatened sectors. Over 90,000 additional mines were laid during the operations by small mobile groups of engineers, generally working at night immediately in front of the expected German attack areas. There were no large-scale captures of prisoners nor any great loss of artillery, again indicating that Soviet units were giving ground in good order.

German losses can be seen in the example of the Großdeutschland Division, which began the operation with 118 tanks. On 10 July, after five days of fighting, the division reported it had 3 Tigers, 6 Panthers, and 11 Pzkw-III and Pzkw-IV tanks operational. XLVIII Panzer Corps reported, overall, 38 Panthers operational with 131 awaiting repair, out of the 200 it started with on 5 July.

Nevertheless, it was obvious that the threat of a German breakthrough in the south had to be reckoned with. The Steppe Front had been formed in the months prior to the operation as a central reserve for such an eventuality. Units of the Steppe Front began movement to the south as early as 9 July. This included the 5th Guards Tank Army and other combined-arms armies.

The German flank, however, stood unprotected as the Red Army 7th Guards Army stalled Kempf's divisions, aided by heavy rain, after the Germans had crossed the Donets River. The 5th Guards Tank Army, reinforced with two additional tank corps, moved into positions to the east of Prokhorovka and had started to prepare a counterattack of their own when II SS Panzer Corps arrived. An intense struggle ensued. The Red Army managed to halt the SS—but only just. Little now stood in the way of the 4th Panzer Army, and a German breakthrough looked like a very real possibility. The Soviets therefore decided to deploy the rest of 5th Guards Tank Army.

Prokhorovka

Accounts of this battle remain shrouded in controversy and dispute. The original Soviet account of brave but reckless if ultimately successful mass Red Army assault on heavy German armour is now generally discounted; the most recent revisionist accounts suggest a complete Soviet debacle, with the Soviet charge on German armour being disrupted not by German tanks but fundamentally because so many T-34s fell down a Soviet anti-tank ditch.

What is generally not disputed though is that the Red Army did enough, at very high cost, to stop any German breakthrough here. In that sense this remains a crucial turning point of the battle and indeed of the Great Patriotic War: here the blitzkrieg was ground to a halt, albeit at a huge cost.

On the morning of 12 July, Hoth, determined to push for a breakthrough, scraped together the available reserves of the 4th Panzer Army and advanced on Prokhorovka at the same time that the 5th Guards Tank Army launched a series of attacks as part of multi-front counteroffensive scheduled for 12 July and in an attempt to catch the Germans off balance. The SS and Guards units collided west of Prokhorovka in open country punctuated by farms, rolling hills and gullies. What happened next is open to debate with the release of new information from archives.

In stifling heat, an eight-hour battle began. The German units had 494 tanks and self-propelled artillery pieces in the attack, with 90% operational. The men of the 5th Guards Tank Army had not yet been committed to battle, so they were fresh. The German force found itself heavily outnumbered. After the battle was over, the Soviets held the area, and were able to recover their disabled tanks and wounded crews.

The battle can best be described as a very costly tactical loss, but an operational draw for the Red Army. Neither the 5th Guards Tank Army nor the II SS Panzer Corps accomplished their missions that day.

The air battle was also intense: von Manstein had intended it to be the decisive blow against the Red Army forces, preventing a breakthrough to Oboyan and Kursk. The 5th Guards Tank Army had moved mainly at night, bringing 593 tanks and 37 self-propelled artillery pieces into position at Staryy Oskol. The Soviet had suffered bitter losses, and in this region the 2 Va could muster only 96 Sturmoviks, 266 fighters and 140 bombers. The 17 VA could muster just over 300 machines. 17 VA flew 893 sorties over this sector of the front, while VIII. Fliegerkorps flew 654. Sturmoviks from 291 ShAD attacked the II. SS Panzer Division throughout the day, causing significant damage to German armoured formations. Simultaneously, waves of Hs 129s and Ju 87s caused losses to the 69th Army and 5th Guards Army. Although Soviet tank losses are unknown, a report from the 29th Tank Corps reported "heavy losses in tanks through enemy aircraft and artillery". It also mentioned losses were so heavy that the advance had to be halted, and a switch to the defensive ordered. The Luftwaffe had complete air superiority over Prokhorovka, due to the VVS being concentrated over the flanks of the 4.Panzerarmee. However the Soviet 31 Guard Tank Corps, and the 33rd Guards Rifle Corps fought the II SS Totenkopf to a standstill, employing the tactic of getting in close to German armour and attacking the vulnerable sides of the Tigers. The II SS was soon forced onto the defensive. Although the German formation held, it lost 50 percent of its armour in a prolonged engagement. By the night of 11–12 July, the only success the Germans had to show for their losses was a captured bridgehead over the Donets river at Rzavets. The LSSAH had been stopped by the Soviet 18 Tank Corps; III Panzerkorps and Das Reich were checked by the 2nd Guards Tank Corps and two more Soviet reserve corps.

Tank losses have been a contentious subject ever since. Red Army losses have been stated to be as low as 200 or as high as 822 tanks, but the loss records now show about 300 complete losses, with a similar number damaged. Likewise, German losses have been reported to be as low as 80 . This number is impossible to establish because of the German way of counting lost tanks. 60 to 70 German tanks are thought to have been total losses. In addition to total losses, an unknown number of tanks were damaged, many of which would have been lost in repair depots during the subsequent retreat as a consequence of the Red Army post-Kursk counteroffensive, Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev. Nipe puts the number of operational tank reductions in the whole corps at 70-80, but it is unclear how many of these would have been and in short-term or long-term repair.The SS Corps lost 522 men ( 97 KIA/MIA ) and the 5th Guards Army between 3,563 and 7,107 men In any event, the losses for both the II SS Panzer Corps and the 5th Guards Tank Army in the “greatest tank battle of all time” fell short of the mythic proportions sometimes attributed to the Prokhorovka engagement.

Air battles

The offensive opened, as in the north, with a mass of air activity. German air attacks helped badly maul the Soviet 57th and 67th Guard Divisions. As the Luftwaffe shifted its attention against the 6th Tank Corps, it left the skies empty over the 4. Panzerarmee. As a result of Soviet superiority in the air, reinforced Soviet defences, and a lack of heavy air support, the Großdeutschland Division had around 80 of its 350 tanks operational. Later, the 2nd Soviet Guards Tank Corps attacked the flank of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. In desperation, the Germans launched waves of Fw 190 Fs of 4.(Pz)/Schlachtgeschwader 1 and Hs 129s of I./Jagdgeschwader 51's Panzerjägerstaffel to halt the attack. Using SD-2 anti-personnel bombs, the Luftwaffe was able to inflict heavy losses to Soviet soldiers and "soft" vehicles. The Luftwaffe attacked the Soviet 2nd Tank Corps from dawn to dusk, and Hauptmann Bruno Meyer, Staffelkapitain of I./Sch.G 1 noted: "It was impossible for us to count how many tanks we knocked out". As a result of the losses sustained by the Soviet 2nd Tank Corp, the 5th Guards Tank Corps began their offensive against the II.SS Panzerkorps alone, and failed, with heavy losses. By the end of the day, 2 VA lost 45 aircraft (including 22 Sturmoviks), 17 VA lost 37 Sturmoviks alone. The Soviets lost approximately 90 machines on this date, while the Luftwaffe suffered 11 losses, mostly Ju 87s. The Soviets began attacking German rear areas at night, with the 2 and 17 VA flying 269 sorties in 24 hours.

The end in the south

Significantly, earlier in the operation, the attacking German units had been squeezed into ever-narrowing frontages by the defenders. Elite Red Army Guards Airborne units were holding firm on the flanks of the very narrow German penetration. The Germans could not squeeze many units into this narrow front, nor did they have the combat power to widen the penetration. Thus, as the attackers moved forward, they continually lost strength due to the need to hold their own flanks.

While the German offensive had been stopped in the north by 10 July, in the south the overall situation still hung in the balance, even after 12 July. German forces on the southern wing, exhausted and heavily depleted, had nevertheless breached the first two defensive belts and believed (wrongly) that they were about to break through the last belt. In fact at least five more defensive zones awaited them, although they were not as strong as the initial belts (and some of them did not have troops deployed). Red Army defenders had been weakened, and major parts of their reserve forces had been committed. Still, the available uncommitted Red Army reserves were far larger than the few available German reserves.

On 16 July, German forces withdrew to their start line. Severely depleted, the Germans then had to face Operation Rumyantsev, an offensive launched to smash the German forces in the Belgorod-Kharkov area on 3 August. Belgorod fell on the 5 August, and on 23 August, Kharkov fell, despite fierce resistance from German forces. With the capture of Kharkov, the Soviets considered the Battle of Kursk over.

Hitler cancels the operation

On the night of 9–10 July, the Western Allies mounted an amphibious invasion of Sicily. Three days later, Hitler summoned von Kluge and von Manstein to his Wolfsschanze headquarters in East Prussia and declared his intention to "temporarily" call off Operation Zitadelle. Von Manstein attempted to dissuade him, arguing that Zitadelle was on the brink of victory: "on no account should we let go of the enemy until the mobile reserves which he had committed were decisively beaten". In an unusual reversal of their roles, Hitler gave von Manstein a few more days to continue the offensive, but on 17 July, he ordered a withdrawal and cancelled the operation. He then ordered the entire SS Panzer Korps to be transferred to Italy.

Hitler's decision to call off the operation at the height of the tactical battle has since been strongly criticized by German generals in their memoirs, and also by some historians. For example, it has been pointed out that the SS Panzer Korps would have taken three months to be transferred to Sicily, and thus could not possibly have affected the outcome there, while its contribution to the Kursk operation was vital.

In any event only one German division, 1st SS Panzer Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, departed for Italy, and without their equipment. The others remained behind to try to stem the Red Army counteroffensive launched in the wake of the failed German offensive.

Reasons for the failure of "Zitadelle"

According to the German historian Karl-Heinz Frieser there are five main reasons for the failure of Operation Zitadelle:

• Soviet numerical superiority. Frieser points out that the biggest problem of the OKW were the shortage of infantry. The OKH had no operational reserve while the Red Army could field an entire front (Steppe Front) as reserve. That the Red Army had more tanks than the Wehrmacht had less influence on the outcome according to Frieser.

• Delays: The repeated delays by Hitler gave the Red Army enough time to fortify the bulge around Kursk to an enormous fortress. High officers like Manstein and Zeitzler pushed for a fast attack to catch the Red Army unprepared and low on morale after the third battle of Kharkov. The allied Operation Husky made Hitler's date for the attack the "most adverse possible termin"

• Absence of surprise. One element of the so-called "Blitzkrieg" method was surprise; catching the enemy unaware was a major advantage for breakthrough. When Zitadelle started, the Red Army knew the direction of the German movement and even the exact date.

• The uncreative attack: German forces attacked the strongpoints of the enemy instead of using the tactical superiority of the German tank-units, this led to a "mechanical attrition" in narrow areas.

• Allied landing on Sicily and the war on multiple fronts: The Allied bomber-campaign against Germany forced the OKW to use most of their fighter aircraft to defend German cities and industry. Heavy soviet anti-aircraft artillery and Soviet air superiority damaged German operational mobility.

Red Army counteroffensives

Operation Kutuzov, the Red Army counteroffensive at Orel, decisively changed the situation. German 9th Army units had to be redeployed to resist this attack instead of continuing their own offensive; units from the southern pincer were given warning orders on 15 July to withdraw back to the start lines held on 4 July. The purpose of the withdrawal was to shorten the front, enabling the Germans to re-form a reserve.

To the south, the Red Army needed more time to re-group after the losses sustained in July, and could not launch its counteroffensive again until 3 August when Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev commenced. Aided by diversionary attacks on the Mius River further south, the Red Army took von Manstein's hard-won Belgorod. Fireworks in Moscow marked the capture of Belgorod and Orel, a celebration that henceforward became an institution with the recapture of each Soviet city. On 11 August, the Red Army reached Kharkov, a city Hitler had sworn to defend at all costs. The German units had reduced manpower and shortages of equipment.

Field Marshal von Manstein believed the outcome of the offensive phase of Kursk to be much more grey than black and white. For although the Germans were forced to withdraw, the Germans “managed to, at least, partly destroy the mobile units of the enemy’s operational reserves.” However, despite the losses it suffered in the defensive phase of the Kursk operations, the Red Army managed to go over to a very successful offensive within two weeks, pushing the Germans back to the Dnieper and towards western Ukraine, and Manstein saw the overall campaign as a disaster for the Germans.

By 22 August, utter exhaustion had affected both sides, and the operations of the Kursk salient ended. It was followed by a series of successful Red Army operations that led to the crossing of the Dnieper, and the liberation of Kiev during the autumn of 1943.

Results

The campaign was a decisive Soviet success. For the first time, a major German offensive had been stopped before achieving a breakthrough. The Germans, despite using more technologically advanced armor than in previous years, were unable to break through the in-depth defenses of the Red Army, and were surprised by the significant operational reserves of the Red Army. This was an outcome that few had predicted, and it changed the pattern of operations on the Eastern Front. The victory had not been cheap however; the Red Army, although preventing the Germans from achieving the goals of Citadel, lost considerably more men and matériel than the Wehrmacht .

Heinz Guderian wrote in his diary:

With the failure of Zitadelle we have suffered a decisive defeat. The armoured formations, reformed and re-equipped with so much effort, had lost heavily in both men and equipment and would now be unemployable for a long time to come. It was problematical whether they could be rehabilitated in time to defend the Eastern Front... Needless to say the Russians exploited their victory to the full. There were to be no more periods of quiet on the Eastern Front. From now on, the enemy was in undisputed possession of the initiative.

German casualties listed in German sources during the operation proper (as opposed to the following Red Army counter-offensives north and south of the salient) in the period 5 to 20 July 1943 were between 50,000 and 57,000. German tank write-offs were between 278 and 323. Yet the numbers of destroyed tanks alone does not tell the entire story. For example, Zetterling and Frankson list only 33 tanks destroyed for the three divisions of the SS Panzer Corps as of 17 July, but the number of operational tanks on 17 July as of 19:15 had dropped by 139, leading one to assume that 106 tanks were damaged and not able to take part in the battle, at least temporarily.

Red Army casualties were 177,847 as listed in Krivosheev. However, Restayn and Moller point out that Krivosheev's figures for Central Front strength show a decline in strength during the period 5 to 11 July 1943 of approximately 92,700, of which 33,897 are accounted for as dead or wounded with no explanation given for the further 58,893 losses. Restayn and Moller consider that the missing 58,893 should be accounted for as casualties, in which case total Red Army casualties in this period would be approximately 235,000 (ie 177,847 plus 58,893). Red Army armor losses, again according to Krivosheev, were 1,614 tanks and assault guns destroyed.

From this point on, a new pattern emerged. The initiative had firmly passed to the Red Army, while the Germans spent the rest of the war reacting to their moves. A new front had opened in Italy, diverting some of Germany's resources and attention. Both sides had their losses, but only the Soviets had the manpower and the industrial production to recover fully. The Germans never regained the initiative after Kursk and never again launched a major offensive in the East.

Moreover, the loss further convinced Hitler of the incompetence of his General Staff. He continued his interference in military matters progressively, so that by the end of the war he was involved in tactical decisions. However, the opposite was true for Stalin. After seeing Stavka's planning justified on the battlefield, he trusted his advisors more, and stepped back from operational planning, only rarely overruling military decisions.

Predictable results ensued for both sides: the German Army went from loss to loss as Hitler attempted personally to micromanage the day-to-day operations of what soon became a three-front war, while the Red Army gained more freedom and became more and more fluid as the war continued.

Notes

Footnotes

1. With the final destruction of German forces at Kharkov the Battle of Kursk came to an end. Having won the strategic initiative, the Red Army advanced along a 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) front.
2. After Kursk, Germany could not even pretend to hold the strategic initiative in the East.
3. 9th Army : 335,000 men, 4th Tank Army : 223,907, A.Abt.Kempf: 100,000, 2th Army 120,000
4. 9th Army : 988 afv's, 4th Tank Army & A.Abt.Kempf: 1,377 afv, 2th Army 100 afv
5. ^ figures from German archives. Bundesarchiv-Militararchiv, Freiburg; Luftfahrtmuseum, Hannover-Laatzen; WASt Deutsche Dienststelle, Berlin.
6. Central-front: 711,575 men, Voronez-front: 625,591, Steppe-front 573,195,
7. Central-front: 1,607 afv, Voronez-front: 1,699 afv, Steppe-front 1,632 afv
8. 1,030 of 2. VA, and 611 of 17 VA on the Southern flank, and 1,151 on the Northern sector, figures from Russian archives; Russian aviation trust; Russian Central Military Archive TsAMO, Podolsk; Russian State Military Archive RGVA, Moscow; Monino Air Force Museum, Moscow
9. 9,063 KIA 43,159 WIA 1,960MIA
10. kursk-defence; 177,847 ,orel-counter; 429,890 ,belgorod-counter; 255,566
11. kursk-defence; 1,614 ,orel-counter; 2,568 ,belgorod-counter; 1,864
12. When the week of combat around Kursk had ended, the perceived infallibility of blitzkrieg was destroyed, along with the hopes of the German Army for victory or even stalemate in the east. Kursk announced to the world that for every offensive theory, there is a suitable defensive one available to those who devote the requisite thought necessary to develop it.
13. Source: German Nation Archive microfilm publication T78, Records of the German High Command(Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) Roll 343, Frames 6301178-180 confirms Hitler's teletype to Rommel about reinforcing southern Italy with armoured forces destined to be used for Zitadelle.
14. ^ The air operation is misunderstood in most accounts. The German Freya radar stations established in Belgorod and Kharkov in 1943 had only picked up Soviet formations approaching from Belgorod and were not responsible for the failure of the strike.
15. It is often claimed that the Luftwaffe halted the Western Front's advance on 17 July, but this is a misunderstanding of the chronology; it actually happened two days later.
16. Figures from Grigoriy Koltunov and Boris Solovyev: Kurskaya bitva, 1970

Citations

1. Taylor and Kulish 1974, p. 171.
2. Glantz and House 1995, p. 175.
3. Frieser p. 100
4. Frieser p. 100
5. Zetterling/Frankson, Kursk 1943 p18
6. ^ Bergström 2007, pp. 123–25.
7. Frieser p. 100
8. Koltunov, Kurskaja btva v cifrach page, combat ready on 1.7.43
9. Koltunov, Kurskaja btva v cifrach page 61, 63
10. Bergström 2007, pp. 127–28
11. Bergström 2007, p. 21
12. ^ Operation Zitadelle means the time of the German attack from 4th July to 16th July, Soviet losses are for the period of 5-23 July
13. Frieser p. 154
14. OKW sources
15. ^ Glantz & House, page 276
16. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg page 154: Luftflotte 6 45 losses Luftflotte 4 144 losses
17. no numbers available , estimation bei frieser
18. The whole Battle of Kursk means the time of the German attack and the two Soviet counterattacks from 4th July to 23rd August
19. Zetterling/Frankson Kursk 1943 pages 117, 116 and endnote 18. For all participating armies in the Kursk area there are 203,000 casualties for the July and August
20. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg 8 page. 201: exact numbers are unknown, the entire "ostfront" lost 1,331 tanks and assault guns for July and August so the number of 720 is an estimation.
21. Bergstrom 2008, p. 120: Figures for 5 - 31 July, as given by the Generalquartiermeister der Luftwaffe
22. Krivosheev Kursk
23. ^ Krivosheev Kursk equipment
24. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg 8 page.150
25. Das deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg 8 page.150
26. The whole Battle of Kursk means the time of the German attack and the two Sovie counterattacks from 4th July to 23rd August
27. Krivosheev p.188-190
28. Krivosheev p.370
29. Luftwaffe claims; does not include ground fire and accidents
30. Dunn 1997, p. x
31. Kasdorf, p. 16
32. Glantz 1989, pp. 149–59
33. Keegan 2006 .
34. Glantz, Soviet Defensive Tactics at Kursk.
35. Glantz & House 1995, p. 167.
36. Overy 1995, p. 87.
37. Kulish & Taylor 1974, p. 170.
38. Mulligan 1987, p. 239.
39. Clark 1966, p. 275.
40. Clark 1966, p. 325.
41. Bergström 2007, p. 16.
42. ^ V.M Kulish & A.J.P Taylor 1974, p. 168.
43. Clarke 1966, p. 313.
44. Clarke 1966, p. 327.
45. Bergström 2007, p. 22.
46. ^ Bergström 2007, p. 23.
47. Bergström, Mikhailov, Dikov & Antipov 2000, p. 16.
48. ^ Bergström 2007, p. 44.
49. pp.82-113, Glantz (1990)
50. Bergström 2007, pp. 16-17.
51. ^ Bergström 2007 p. 20
52. Bergström 2007, pp. 124–25.
53. Töppel 2002, p. 33–34.
54. Bergström 2007 p. 79-81; 102; 106; 114; 118.
55. Bergström 2007, pp. 26–7.
56. Mulligan 1987, pp. 236, 254.
57. Clarke 1966, p. 329.
58. AOK9 german military archives
59. Clarke 1966, p. 333.
60. Frieser p. 108
61. Glantz p93
62. Rokossovskiy p. 266
63. Frieser p.109
64. Schneider, "Tiger im Kampf" p. 271
65. Piekalkiewice, Unternehmen Zitadelle p. 154
66. John p. 72
67. Frieser p. 110
68. KTB AOK9 9th July
69. Guderian
70. Clausewitz
71. Frieser 111
72. Frieser p.111
73. Overy 1997, p. 205.
74. Restayn and Moller 2002, p. 333.
75. Frieser p.107
76. Overy 1997, p. 204.
77. Clark 1966, pp. 331–32
78. Bergström 2007, p.26.
79. Bergström 2007, p. 27.
80. Bergström 2007, p. 38.
81. Bergström 2007, p. 47.
82. Bergström 2007, p. 48.
83. Bergström 2007, pp. 44–5.
84. Bergström 2007, p. 48–9.
85. Bergström 2007, pp. 50–3.
86. Bergström 2007, p. 53.
87. Bergström 2007, p. 120.
88. Bergström 2007, p. 102.
89. Bergström 2007, pp. 105–6.
90. Bergström 2007, pp. 108–9.
91. Bergström 2007 p. 108.
92. ^ Bergström 2007 p. 109.
93. Bergström 2007, p. 109.
94. Bergström 2007, p. 113.
95. Restayn and Moller 2002, pp. 333–36.
96. archiv Ministry of Defence of russia
97. Overy 1997, pp. 204–5.
98. Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich at War, London, Allen Lane, 2008, p. 488.
99. Frankson, p. 30.
100. Clark 1966, p. 337.
101. Healy 1992, pp. 76–7.
102. Bergström 2007, p. 77.
103. Bergström 2007, pp. 79–80.
104. Healy 1992, p. 84–7.
105. Bergström 2007, p. 81.
106. Frieser, p.132
107. Zamulin p 508
108. Casualties of 5th Guards Tank Army on 16 july
109. Bergström 2007, pp. 56–7.
110. Bergström 2007, p. 58.
111. ^ Taylor & Kulish 1974, p. 171.
112. Clarke 1966, pp. 337–38.
113. Carell,
114. Frieser p.149
115. Magenheimer, die Militärstrategie Deutschlands 1940-1945 p.244
116. Bergström 2007, p. 121.
117. ^ Glantz & House, p. 275.
118. Zetterling & Frankson, page 112
119. Zetterling & Frankson, adding tables 8.8 and 8.10 on pages 121-122
120. Zetterling & Frankson, pp. 187–88.
121. ^ Restayn & Moller, Volume II, p. 341.
122. Mawdsley, p. 267.

References

• Bergström, Christer (2007). Kursk — The Air Battle: July 1943. Chervron/Ian Allen. ISBN 978-1-903223-88-8. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Bergström, Christer (2008). Bagration to Berlin — The Final Air Battle in the East: 1941–1945. Chervron/Ian Allen. ISBN 978-1-903223-91-8.. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Carell, Paul (1966–1971). Hitler's War on Russia: V1: Hitler Moves East, V2: Scorched Earth. Corgi. ISBN 9780552086387. (Translation of Unternehmen Barbarossa.)
• Clark, Alan (1966). Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict 1941–1945. New York: William Morrow. OCLC 40117106.
• Dunn, Walter (1997). Kursk: Hitler's Gamble, 1943. Greenwood Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0-275957-33-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Frieser, Karl-Heinz (2007). Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg - Vol. 8: Die Ostfront 1943/44 - Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt München 2007. ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Glantz, David M.; House, Jonathon (1995). When Titans Clashed; How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. University of Kansas Press. ISBN 9780700608997. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Glantz, David M.; Orenstein, Harold S. (1999). The Battle for Kursk 1943: The Soviet General Staff Study. Frank Cass. ISBN 0714649333. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Glantz, David M.; House, Jonathan M. (2004). The Battle of Kursk. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0700613358. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Glantz, David M. (1990). The role of intelligence in Soviet military strategy in World War II. Novato CA: Presidio Press. ISBN 0891413804.
• Glantz, David M (1989). Soviet military deception in the Second World War. Routledge. ISBN 9780714633473.
• Glantz, Colonel David M. (1986). "Soviet Defensive Tactics at Kursk, July 1943". U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Soviet Army Studies Office Combined Arms Center Combat Studies Institute (CSI Report No. 11). {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Healy, Mark (1992). Kursk 1943: Tide Turns in the East. Osprey Publishers. ISBN 978-1-855322-11-0. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Kasdorf, Colonel Bruno. "The Battle of Kursk - An Analysis of Strategic and Operational Principles" (PDF). U.S. Army War College. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Keegan, John, ed. (2006). Atlas of World War II. London: Collins. ISBN 0-00-721465-0.
• Krivosheev, Grigoriy (1997). Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the twentieth century. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1853672807.
• Krivosheev, Grigoriy. "Россия и СССР в войнах XX века: Потери вооруженных сил: Статистическое исследование" (in Russian). {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help) Google translation
• Manstein, Erich von (2000). Verlorene Siege (in German). Monch. ISBN 3763752536.
• Mawdsley, Evan (2007). Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. A Hodder Arnold Publication. ISBN 0340613920.
• Mulligan, Timothy P. (1987). "Spies, Ciphers and 'Zitadelle': Intelligence and the Battle of Kursk, 1943" (pdf). Journal of Contemporary History. 22 (2): 235–260. doi:10.1177/002200948702200203.
• Newton, Stephen H. (2003). Kursk: The German View. Westview Press. ISBN 0306811502.
• Nipe, George (1996). Decision In the Ukraine, Summer 1943, II. SS and III. Panzerkorps. J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing Inc. ISBN 0921991355.
• Overy, Richard (1995). Why the Allies Won. New York City: Norton Press. ISBN 978-0-393-31919-3. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
• Restayn, J.; Moller, N. (2002). Operation "Citadel", A Text and Photo Album, Volume 1: The South. J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing. ISBN 0921991703. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Restayn, J.; Moller, N. (2006). Operation "Citadel", A Text and Photo Album, Volume 2: The North. J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing. ISBN 092199172X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Robbins, David L. (2004). Last Citadel. Orion mass market paperback. ISBN 0752859250.
• Taylor, A.J.P; Kulish, V.M (1974). A History Of World War Two. Octopus Books. ISBN 0-70640-399-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Töppel, Roman (2001). "Die Offensive gegen Kursk 1943 - Legenden, Mythen, Propaganda". Dresden: Technical University. {{cite journal}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Zetterling, Niklas; Frankson, Anders (2000). Kursk 1943: A statistical analysis. Cass Series on the Soviet (Russian) Study of War. Routledge. ISBN 0714650528. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)

Further reading

• Licari, Michael J. The Battle of Kursk: Myths and Reality, Mike Licari's Home Page, Retrieved 2008-09-19
• Licari, Michael J. A Review Essay: Books on the Battle of Kursk, Mike Licari's Home Page, Retrieved 2008-09-19
• Remson, Andrew and Anderson, Debbie. "Mine and Countermine Operations in the Battle of Kursk", 25 April 2000 (Prepared for the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command)
• Staff. Germany pits her might against Russia, Sixth Scale Battle, Retrieved 2008-09-19
• Wilson, Alan Kursk - Raw Data to Download, 6 February 1999. —Information from the US Army KOSAVE II study on the southern face battle.

• irbergui (Youtube id), German newsreels showing the Battle of Kursk, YouTube, Retrieved 2008-09-19
• Staff. Images of Kursk - July 1943, www.aeronautics.ru. Retrieved 2008-09-19
• Vázquez, Rodolfo Torres , Battle of Kursk in Images, rtvmodeler.com, Retrieved 2008-09-19
• Wilson, Alan The Kursk Region, 5 July 1943 (map), 27 October 1999.
• La Batalla de Kursk¨from Panzertruppen.org

• 1943 in the Soviet Union
• Tank battles
• Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War
• Battles involving the Soviet Union
• Battles of World War II involving Germany