Kursk Strategic Defensive Operation

Battle of Kursk
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
2nd SS Panzer Division soldiers, Tiger I tank, in June 1943 just before the battle
Date 5 July 1943 (1943-07-05) – 16 July 1943 (1943-07-16) (German offensive: 1 week and 4 days) 12 July 1943 (1943-07-12) – 23 August 1943 (1943-08-23) (Soviet offensive: 1 month, 1 week and 4 days) Location Kursk, Kursk Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union Result Soviet victory Axis lose ability to initiate strategic offensive operations The Soviet Red Army gains the initiative over the German Wehrmacht Territorial changes Soviets regain territory along a 2,000 km (1,200 mi) wide front after the battle
Belligerents
Nazi Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Erich von Manstein Günther von Kluge Hermann Hoth Werner Kempf Walter Model Otto Deßloch Robert Ritter von Greim	Georgy Zhukov Konstantin Rokossovsky Nikolai Vatutin Ivan Konev Sergei Rudenko
Strength
Operation Citadel: 780,900 men 2,928 tanks 9,966 guns and mortars Soviet counteroffensive phase: 940,900 men 3,253 tanks 9,467 guns and mortars 2,110 aircraft	Operation Citadel: 1,910,361 men 5,128 tanks 25,013 guns and mortars Soviet counteroffensive phase: 2,500,000 men 7,360 tanks 47,416 guns and mortars 2,792 to 3,549 aircraft
Casualties and losses
Operation Citadel: 54,182 men 252–323 tanks and assault guns destroyed, 600–1,612 tanks and assault guns damaged 159 aircraft c. 500 guns Battle of Kursk: Approximately 50,000 killed or missing and 134,000 wounded (per German military medical data) 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 459 ~ 1,000 aircraft Battle of Kursk: 254,470 killed, missing or captured 608,833 wounded or sick Total 863,000 men 6,064 tanks and assault guns destroyed 1,626–1,961 aircraft 5,244 guns
Location in the Soviet Union

Soviet victory

The Battle of Kursk was a Second World War engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near Kursk (450 kilometres or 280 miles south-west of Moscow) in the Soviet Union, during July and August 1943. The battle began with the launch of the German offensive, Operation Citadel (German: Unternehmen Zitadelle), on 5 July, which had the objective of pinching off the Kursk salient with attacks on the base of the salient from north and south simultaneously. After the German offensive stalled on the northern side of the salient, on 12 July the Soviets commenced their Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation with the launch of Operation Kutuzov (Russian: Кутузов) against the rear of the German forces in the northern side. On the southern side, the Soviets also launched powerful counterattacks the same day, one of which led to a large armoured clash, the Battle of Prokhorovka. On 3 August, the Soviets began the second phase of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation with the launch of Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev (Russian: Полководец Румянцев) against the German forces in the southern side of the Kursk salient.

The battle was the final strategic offensive that the Germans were able to launch on the Eastern Front. Because the Allied invasion of Sicily had begun, Adolf Hitler was forced to have troops training in France diverted to meet the Allied threat in the Mediterranean, rather than use them as a strategic reserve for the Eastern Front. Hitler canceled the offensive at Kursk after only a week, in part to divert forces to Italy, resulting in a reduction of German strength on the Eastern Front. Germany's extensive losses of men and tanks ensured that the victorious Soviet Red Army enjoyed the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war.