Students of military history know the battle of Kursk in 1943 as the largest-ever clash of armoured forces – a battle that would prove a vital turning point in the defeat of Nazi Germany. It was a battle that devoured the strength of the German armed forces, and demonstrated the growing effectiveness of the Red Army and maturity of its general staff.
The battle opened on July 5 1943. It saw an initial German offensive south of Moscow, which aimed to regain the initiative lost after their epic defeat at Stalingrad earlier in the year. But this German push was swiftly blunted by the defensive tactics of the Soviet armed forces, and was followed by a Russian counteroffensive which drove a degraded and deflated enemy ever further to the west, opening up the road to Berlin and defeat for Hitler’s Nazi regime.
