1943 July 5th. Kursk.

• 1943 – World War II: German forces begin a massive offensive against the Soviet Union at the Battle of Kursk, also known as Operation Citadel.
• Battle of Kursk
• Battle of Kursk
  Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
  2nd SS Panzer Division soldiers, Tiger I tank, during the battle.
  Date 5 July 1943 – 16 July 1943 (German offensive:1 week and 4 days) 12 July 1943 – 23 August 1943 (Soviet offensive: 1 month, 1 week and 4 days) Location Kursk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union Result Decisive Soviet victory Germany's offensive power on the Eastern Front is crippled Territorial changes Soviets liberate  territory along a 2,000 km (1,200 mi) wide front
  Belligerents
  Germany	Soviet Union
  Commanders and leaders
  Erich von Manstein  Günther von Kluge  Hermann Hoth  Werner Kempf  Walther Model	Georgy Zhukov  Konstantin Rokossovsky  Nikolai Vatutin  Ivan Konev
  Strengths
  912,460 men 2,928 tanks 9,966 guns and mortars 2,110 aircraft	1,910,361 men 5,128 tanks 25,013 guns and  mortars 2,792to 3,549aircraft
  Casualties and losses
  Operation Citadel: 54,182 men 323 tanks and assault guns destroyed, and ~600 tanks and assault guns damaged  159 aircraft  ~500 guns  Battle of Kursk: According to German:~198,000 MIA, KIA, WIA (not inculd Army Group Reserve,Luftflotte 4 and Luftflotte 6's casualties)  Estimate 760 tanks and assault guns destroyed, 681 aircraft (for 5–31 July)	Operation Citadel: 177,847 men 1,614 1,956 tanks and assault guns destroyed or damaged 459aircraft 3,929 guns[ Battle of Kursk:  254,470 killed, missing or captured 608,833 wounded or sick  6,064 tanks and assault guns destroyed or damaged 1,626 – 1,961 aircraft 5,244 guns

  
  

  The eastern front at the time of Operation Citadel. Orange areas show the destruction of an earlier Soviet breakthrough. Green areas show German advances on KurskThe Battle of Kursk was a World War II engagement betweenGerman and Soviet forces on theEastern Front near Kursk (450 kilometres or 280 miles southwest of Moscow) in the Soviet Union during July and August 1943. The German offensive was code-named Operation Citadel(German: Unternehmen Zitadelle) and led to one of the largestarmoured clashes in history, theBattle of Prokhorovka. The German offensive was countered by two Soviet counter offensives,Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev (Russian:Полководец Румянцев) andOperation Kutuzov (Russian:Кутузов). For the Germans, the battle represented the final strategic offensive they were able to mount in the east. For the Soviets, the 

  decisive victory gave the Red Army the strategic initiative for the rest of the war.

  The Germans hoped to weaken the Soviet offensive potential  for the summer of 1943 by cutting off a large number of forces that they anticipated would be in the Kursksalient assembling for an offensive.By eliminating the Kursk salient they would also shorten their lines of defence taking the strain off of their overstretched forces.  The plan envisioned an envelopment by a pair of pincers breaking through the northern and southern flanks of the salient.  Hitler thought that a victory here 
  would reassert Germany's strength and improve his prestige with allies who were considering withdrawing from the war. It was also hoped that large numbers of Soviet prisoners would be captured to be used as slave labour in Germany's 
  armaments industry.

  The Soviets had intelligence of the German intentions,provided in part by British intelligence service and Tunny intercepts. Aware that the attack 
  would fall on the neck of the Kursk salient months in advance, the Soviets built a defence in depth designed to wear down the Germanpanzer spearheads. The Germans delayed the start date of the offensive while they tried to build up their forces and waited for new weapons, mainly the new
   Panther tank but also larger numbers of the Tiger heavy tank. This gave the RedArmy time to construct a series of deep defensive lines. The defensive preparations included minefields, fortifications, pre-sighted artillery fire zones and anti-tank strong points, which extended 
  approximately 300 km (190 mi) in depth. In addition,Soviet mobile formations were moved out of the salient and a large reserve force was formed 
  for strategic counteroffensives.

  The Battle of Kursk was the first time a German strategic offensive had been halted before it could break through enemy defences and penetrate to its strategic depths. Though the Soviet Army had 
  succeeded in winter offensives previously, their counter-offensives following the German attack were their first successful strategic summer offensives of the war.