Here, the Soviets were far superior to the Germans. More important were overall economic factors, in particular the ability of both sides to produce the means of destruction, to field men and war machines in large quantities. No laughing matter: The Death of Stalin and Putin's anxietiesĪs David Stahel of UNSW at the Australian Defence Force Academy, a leading operational historian of the Wehrmacht in the East, put it in an interview a few years ago: “Ultimately, whether a hundred extra German tanks went this way or that, does that really determine the outcome of the battle? I think not.” Recent research is more circumspect, stressing the surprisingly good performance of the Germans but also the overall strategic advantage of the Soviets, which nullified such tactical superiority. Historians once viewed the battle as a turning point – a Soviet victory which ended the Wehrmacht’s ability to wage offensive war in the East. Its climax, the Battle of Prokhorovka (12 July), is routinely described as “one of the largest tank battles in military history.”
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk (5-16 July 1943). German tanks deploy during the Battle of Kursk, July 1943. “My tunic was soaked,” wrote Malinovskii. The crews in the Soviet T-34s sweat through their uniforms.
Together with our artillery we burned and destroyed twenty-one German tanks.”ĭinner was brought up to the line, but he was too exhausted to eat.
In July 1943, during a moment of respite amid the heavy fighting going on all around him, Soviet tank man Lev Nikolaevich Malinovskii wrote from the Kursk battlefield to his brother: “The fighting today lasted five hours.
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