Akash Yechuri; Cade Traino; Anish Rao; Jackson Zariski; Vladyslav Krasnovsky

Operation Zitadelle and the March of the Red Army

ThesisGermany attacked the Soviet Union at Kursk in order to undermine Soviet supremacy. The battle would have had Germany encircle Kursk and bombard the majority of the Red Army. However, the Soviets were ready for the attack, and fought back on equal footing with the Germans. Germany’s tactical defeat led to the Red Army’s march westward, and Germany’s ultimate demise in the fall of Berlin.

● After the Battle of Stalingrad, the Wehrmacht was greatly weakened (“World War II…”).

● Hitler wanted to prove that the German army was still formidable after heavy losses at Stalingrad.

● Hitler took many months to plan his attack. When he was ready, the operation was supposed to “...shine like a beacon around the world.” (“World War II...”).

● Despite heavy allied bombing, German arms production was increasing at an unprecedented rate (“The Battle…”).

Setting the Stage

Hitler’s Master Plan: Operation “Zitadelle”

● The main goal of the Operation was to eliminate the Red Army located at the city of Kursk. The town of Kursk was not a strategic target; it was chosen because it was the point of a salient (bulge) in the Soviet forces located between Field Marshal Erich von Manstein’s Army Group South, and Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge’s Army Group Center (“World War II…”).

● The Germans planned to encircle and cut off the salient from the main body of Soviet forces (map to be shown later).

● Hitler hoped that the attack would destroy a whopping five Soviet armies, thus preventing them from mounting an offensive for at least the rest of the year. Victory would also allow Hitler to focus more on the war in the Mediterranean (“World War II…”).

A brand new “Elefant” heavy tank destroyer which Hitler would use in the upcoming operation

Soviet Preparations (The Battle…)

• Hitler greatly underestimated the Soviet forces, which had improved a lot since the beginning of the war.

• Soviet spies discovered the German plan and alerted the government in Moscow.

• The Soviets decided to pursue a defensive strategy to allow the Germans to wear themselves out before a massive Soviet counterattack.

• The Russians prepared an enormous amount of defenses to prepare for the German onslaught. They also gathered a huge reserve army in case the Germans had some initial success.

The Commanders

Field Marshal Erich von Manstein

Field MarshalGünther von Kluge Marshal Georgy Zhukov

Vs.

On a side note, that’s

a LOT of medals.

Strength of The Forces (“The Battle…”)

● Troops: 912,460 (Germany) vs 1,910,361(USSR)

● Artillery: 9,966(Germany) vs 25,013(USSR)

● Tanks: 2,928(Germany) vs 5,128(USSR)

● Aircraft: 2,110(Germany) vs 2,400(USSR)

The Battle Begins● British intelligence along with Russian spies tipped off Field Marshal

Zhukov of the Red Army. He ordered a massive artillery bombardment ten minutes before Citadel was supposed to begin (“The History…”).

● Right from the start, Hitler’s new tanks proved ineffective due to superior Russian anti-tank defenses (“The History…”).

● Germany was doomed from the start. Hitler’s delays gave the Russians too much time to prepare for the incoming assault, thus their defences were already primed and ready by the time the Germans reached Kursk.

● Even worse for Hitler, during the battle he received news that the allies were invading Sicily (“The History…”).

The Battle● On July 5th, the Soviets, who had found out about the attack, launched an artillery bombardment on the

German forces (History Learning Site).

● Germany, knowing its plans had been compromised, started its own artillery barrage, then began its main armor and infantry attack when air support arrived (History Learning Site).

● After the first few days of the battle, Germany had gained ground but at the cost of ⅔ of their tanks in addition to thousands of men (History Learning Site).

● After the Germans failed to achieve a breakthrough, the Soviets launched a massive counterattack (History Learning Site).

○ On July 12th at Prokhorovka, the largest tank battle in history occurred. 1,500 tanks were involved (History Learning Site).

● By July 23rd, the Germans were pushed back by the Soviets behind their original starting position. The Germans were now on their back foot for the rest of the battle and the war (History Learning Site).

Key

Red Army

Germans

The lower half of the Kursk Salient

Early German Difficulties● Hitler chose to wait three months before implementing

Operation Citadel. He wanted to make sure that his his new German Tiger tanks were ready (Mixon).

● Bad weather and allied attacks on both Manstein’s and Kluge’s fronts delayed the operation even more (“World War II”).

● By the time the German army was actually ready to attack, the Soviets had already been preparing, thus taking away Germany’s “element of surprise” advantage entirely.

Even the mighty Tiger tank was no match for the better-prepared Soviet forces.

Aftermath of the Soviet Victory● Although the Soviets managed to beat Germany at Kursk, Hitler enacted a

scorched-earth policy on his retreat in order to leave nothing of value for the Red Army (“The History…”).

● Soviet casualties were also much higher than those of Germany, though they had enough men to replace their losses (“The Battle…”).

Things were bad for the Soviets, but they were worse for Hitler. His dream of Lebensraum in Eastern Europe was over, and instead of being on the offensive, Hitler now had to worry about the incoming Soviet invasion.

Outcomes and Lasting Effects● The Germans lost the majority of their military strength on the Eastern front. They

would be unable to launch another major offensive on this front for the rest of the war.

● Germany was unable to recover from the losses of this battle, passing the initiative to the Red Army and putting the Wehrmacht on the defensive (“World War II…”).

● The Soviets seized this opportunity after their victory to keep advancing into the heart of Nazi controlled Europe (“World War II…”). They never lost the initiative and would not let up until they reached and destroyed Berlin itself.

This is the important stuff.

Timeline● July 5, 1943: Hitler started his attack on the Red army. Unfortunately for

him, the Soviets were already well-prepared for the assault.● July 11, 1943: While Operation Citadel was in full force, the allies landed in

Sicily during Operation Husky. Hitler wanted to call off Citadel, which made Manstein furious.

● July 12, 1943: The Luftwaffe began air raids on Soviet positions, but was surprised to face heavy resistance.

● July 15, 1943: The Soviet counter offensive began and pushed the Germans back to Hitler’s line of “retreat”.

● August 20, 1943: All German forces withdrew from the area. The Soviets began their march to Berlin.

Works Cited"The Battle of Kursk". HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2014. Web."The History Place - Defeat of Hitler: The Kursk Gamble." The History Place. Www.Historyplace.com, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.

Mixon, Jon. "Had Hitler Not Ordered..." Quora. Quora, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.

"World War II: Operation Citadel." Operation Citadel. Jewish Virtual Library, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.

Music: “Marche Slav” by Tchaikovsky

Works Cited Cont…Pictures & Video:

● www.worldwar2aces.com

● http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Kursk_south.svg

● www.wikipedia.com

● www.britannica.com

● http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/soviet/T34-76_model4142_winter42.png

● http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi_germany/PzIV-J_12PzD-NRussia44.png

● http://www.ekran.no/html/nazismexposed/local/images/symbols/nazi_flag_s.png

● http://rationalwiki.org/w/images/thumb/7/7e/Hammer_and_sickle.svg/256px-Hammer_and_sickle.svg.png

● http://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/150/f/2013/055/1/8/iron_cross_by_skycloud_nya-d5w34s5.png

● http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LoPTdkHrjjk/StCaCOJJyDI/AAAAAAAAFjQ/6K7jcweFQJE/s1600/battle-kursk-map-second-world-war-july-1943.jpg

● https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ndkdxAJWtxs