Most Important Battles Challenge (5)

I understand and accept that no rebuttals are allowed. If some of my quotes sound that way, I do not mean it. I will explain later when I get there. The Battle of Kursk Date: July 5th - August 23rd, 1943Armies Engaged: Germany (Army Group Centre and Army Group South) versus The Soviet Union (Western Front, Bryansk Front, Central Front, Voronezh Front, and Steppe Front)Main Leaders: Erich von Manstein (Germany) versus Georgy Zhukov (The Soviet Union) The BattleThe Germans hoped to shorten their lines by eliminating the Kursk salient (also known as the Kursk bulge), created in the aftermath of their defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad. They envisioned pincers breaking through its northern and southern flanks to achieve a great encirclement of Red Army forces. The Soviets, however, had intelligence of the German Army's intentions, provided in part by the British. This and German delays to wait for new weapons, mainly the Tiger heavy tank and what would become the first significant battlefield appearance of the new Panther medium tank,gave the Red Army time to construct a series of defense lines and gather large reserve forces for a strategic counterattack. Advised months in advance that the attack would fall on the neck of the Kursk salient, the Soviets designed a plan to slow, redirect, exhaust, and progressively wear down the powerful German panzer spearheads by forcing them to attack through a vast interconnected web of minefields, pre-sighted artillery fire zones, and concealed anti-tank strong points comprising eight progressively spaced defense lines 250 km deep—more than 10 times as deep as the Maginot Line—and featuring a greater than 1:1 ratio of anti-tank guns to attacking vehicles. By far the most extensive defensive works ever constructed, it proved to be more than three times the depth necessary to contain the furthest extent of the German attack. When the German forces had exhausted themselves against the defences, the Soviets responded with counter-offensives, which allowed the Red Army to retake Orel and Belgorod on 5 August and Kharkov on 23 August, and push the Germans back across a broad front. [1]Implications First, the Germans lost vaulable men they could not replace. Around 200000-500000 men were casulties, over 1000 tanks and 700 aircraft. [2]"At the time of their defeat at Kursk, they couldn't afford to lose as many tanks and men as they did in battle. The Soviets could replace their lost tanks and men much more easily than the Nazis could at that point in World War II on the Eastern Front. "[7] This battle took away a lot from the Germans that could not be replaced, especially machines. Few were sent as reinforcements. Second, it sealed Germany's fate on the Eastern Front and allowed the Western Front to be much more easily taken. "The significance or this battle in the Eastern Front cannot be denied. Hitler would take a huge gamble, committing a vital portion of his forces to the attack. This gamble, combined with military mistakes, would initiate a defeat that the Wehrmact could not recover from. The German failure also was linked to the Russian strategy and ability to hold off the enormous offensive. Zhukov's planned counter attack would seal Germany's fate, as it would begin in Kursk and lead a Soviet offensive towards Germany. Militarily the battle was critical for both sides success. Many argue that Stalingrad is what shifted the war; it was a significant victory, but it was truly Kursk that turned the tide for Russia and her allies. "[3](Hope that last sentence didn't sound like a refutation. ) "The battle of Kursk had ended Germany's expansion and would dictated its fate in the war. It is one of the most militarily significant battle in the whole Second World War. As the largest tank battle in history, it is not only important because of the numbers of manpower and resources involved, but it critically wounded Germany beyond recovery. "[3]Third, it opened the door for the Russians to enter Berlin. "When Hitler abandoned Operation Citadel on July 13, the Germans' last opportunity to influence events on a strategic level in the East was lost. "[4] Because of their dimmed numbers in man and machine and loss of morale ([5]), the Germans were easily overrun by the vastly numerically superior, better equipped, and determined force that took Berlin less than two years after Kursk. All of this put together had drastic influences on the war. Hilter, now faced with the inevitable march of the Russians on Berlin, funnled division after division from the Atlantic defences East just to keep the line stable and unbroken. [6] This left the Atlantic drastically unmanned and outgunned for the Allied landing at Normandy in 1944. As those numbers funneled east were barely enough to keep the front from collasping, soon, it was a three-way pincer movement against Germany from Russia, France, and Italy. The Germans were faced with an inevitable defeat in 1945. In addition to possibly (but not likely) preventing Germany from winning the war, Kursk saved billions of dollars, millions of lives, and at least a year in time as that pincer movement was finally possible. Had the Germans won Kursk (and they certainly could have), it is unlikely there would have been a serious breach on any front for at least another year. It saved billions as less infrastrucutre had to be rebuilt and fewer soldiers had to be paid. It saved millions as another year of war would have killed millions both directly and indirectly (through concentration camps). Also, if another year had been added to the war, the atomic bomb may have been dropped several more times - and with devestating effect. In conclusion, Kursk was extremely significant in ending the war quicker and with less lives lost. Kursk was the turning point of the war. "Accordingly, it was the Battle of Kursk that provided the turning point in the Eastern Front. "[8]Sources For a more detailed order of battle list, please see: . http://en.wikipedia.org...[1]: . http://en.wikipedia.org...[2]: Zetterling, Niklas; Frankson, Anders (2000). Kursk 1943: A Statistical Analysis. Cass Series on the Soviet (Russian) Study of War. London: Routledge, pp.116-7; Frieser, Karl-Heinz - Klaus Schmider, Klaus Schönherr, Gerhard Schreiber, Kristián Ungváry, Bernd Wegner (2007) (in German). Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg – Vol. 8: Die Ostfront 1943/44 – Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten. München, pp. 201: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt München. ; Bergström, Christer (2008). Bagration to Berlin — The Final Air Battle in the East: 1941–1945. Burgess Hill: Chervron/Ian Allen, pp. 120. [3]: . http://stalingrad_1943.tripod.com...[4]: Rolf-Dieter Muller and Gerd R. Ueberschar, Hitlers War in the East 1941-1945 (Oxford, USA, 1997), pp. 127. [5]: Clark, Alan. Barbarossa. New York: Quill, 1965. , pp. 366. [6]: Zhukov, G. K. The Memoirs of Marshal Zhukov. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd. , 1971. , pp. 476. [7]: . http://www.armchairgeneral.com...[8]: . http://www.allempires.com...