Kursk Bulge message. Oryol-Kursk arc

Battle of Kursk- one of the largest and most important battles The Great Patriotic War, which took place from July 5 to August 23, 1943.
The German command gave a different name to this battle - Operation Citadel, which, according to Wehrmacht plans, was supposed to counterattack the Soviet offensive.

Causes of the Battle of Kursk

After the victory at Stalingrad, the German army began to retreat for the first time during the Great Patriotic War, and the Soviet army launched a decisive offensive that could only be stopped at the Kursk Bulge and the German command understood this. The Germans organized a strong defensive line, and in their opinion, it should have withstood any attack.

Strengths of the parties

Germany
At the start of the Battle of Kursk, the Wehrmacht troops numbered more than 900 thousand people. In addition to a huge amount of manpower, the Germans had a considerable number of tanks, among which were tanks of all the latest models: these are more than 300 Tiger and Panther tanks, as well as a very powerful tank destroyer (anti-tank gun) Ferdinand or Elephant "including about 50 combat units.
It should be noted that among the tank army there were three elite tank divisions, which had not suffered a single defeat before - they included real tank aces.
And in support of the ground army, an air fleet was sent with a total number of more than 1,000 combat aircraft of the latest models.

USSR
To slow down and complicate the enemy's offensive, the Soviet Army installed approximately one and a half thousand mines on every kilometer of the front. The number of infantrymen in the Soviet Army reached more than 1 million soldiers. And the Soviet Army had 3-4 thousand tanks, which also exceeded the number of German ones. However a large number of Soviet tanks are outdated models and are not rivals to the same “Tigers” of the Wehrmacht.
The Red Army had twice as many guns and mortars. If the Wehrmacht has 10 thousand of them, then the Soviet Army has more than twenty. There were also more planes, however exact numbers historians cannot give.

Progress of the battle

During Operation Citadel, the German command decided to launch a counterattack on the northern and southern wings of the Kursk Bulge in order to encircle and destroy the Red Army. But the German army failed to accomplish this. The Soviet command hit the Germans with a powerful artillery strike to weaken the initial enemy attack.
Before the start of the offensive operation, the Wehrmacht launched powerful artillery strikes on the positions of the Red Army. Then, on the northern front of the arc, German tanks went on the offensive, but soon encountered very strong resistance. The Germans repeatedly changed the direction of the attack, but did not achieve significant results; by July 10, they managed to break through only 12 km, losing about 2 thousand tanks. As a result, they had to go on the defensive.
On July 5, the attack began on the southern front of the Kursk Bulge. First came a powerful artillery barrage. Having suffered setbacks, the German command decided to continue the offensive in the Prokhorovka area, where tank forces were already beginning to accumulate.
The famous battle of Prokhorovka is the largest tank battle in history, began on July 11, but the height of the battle in the battle was on July 12. On small area 700 German and about 800 Soviet tanks and guns collided on the front. The tanks of both sides mixed and throughout the day many tank crews left their combat vehicles and fought in hand-to-hand combat. By the end of July 12, the tank battle began to wane. The Soviet army failed to defeat the enemy tank forces, but managed to stop their advance. Having broken a little deeper, the Germans were forced to retreat, and the Soviet Army launched an offensive.
German losses in the Battle of Prokhorovka were insignificant: 80 tanks, but the Soviet Army lost about 70% of all tanks in this direction.
In the next few days, they were almost completely bled dry and had lost their attacking potential, while the Soviet reserves had not yet entered the battle and were ready to launch a decisive counterattack.
On July 15, the Germans went on the defensive. As a result, the German offensive did not bring any success, and both sides suffered serious losses. The number of those killed on the German side is estimated at 70 thousand soldiers, a large amount of equipment and guns. According to various estimates, the Soviet army lost up to 150 thousand soldiers, a large number of this figure being irretrievable losses.
The first offensive operations on the Soviet side began on July 5, their goal was to deprive the enemy of maneuvering his reserves and transferring forces from other fronts to this section of the front.
July 17 from the side Soviet army The Izyum-Barvenkovskaya operation began. The Soviet command set the goal of encircling the Donbass group of Germans. The Soviet army managed to cross the Northern Donets, seize a bridgehead on the right bank and, most importantly, pin down German reserves on this area front.
During the Mius offensive operation of the Red Army (July 17 - August 2), it was possible to stop the transfer of divisions from Donbass to the Kursk Bulge, which significantly reduced the defensive potential of the arc itself.
On July 12, the offensive began in the Oryol direction. Within one day, the Soviet army managed to drive the Germans out of Orel, and they were forced to move to another defensive line. After Orel and Belgorod, the key cities, were liberated during the Oryol and Belgorod operations, and the Germans were driven back, it was decided to arrange a festive fireworks display. So on August 5, the first fireworks display during the entire period of hostilities in the Great Patriotic War was organized in the capital. During the operation, the Germans lost over 90 thousand soldiers and a large amount of equipment.
In the southern region, the offensive of the Soviet army began on August 3 and was called Operation Rumyantsev. As a result of this offensive operation, the Soviet army managed to liberate a number of strategically important cities, including the city of Kharkov (August 23). During this offensive, the Germans attempted to counterattack, but they did not bring any success to the Wehrmacht.
From August 7 to October 2, the offensive operation “Kutuzov” was carried out - the Smolensk offensive operation, during which the left wing of the German armies of the “Center” group was defeated and the city of Smolensk was liberated. And during the Donbass operation (August 13 – September 22), the Donetsk basin was liberated.
From August 26 to September 30, the Chernigov-Poltava offensive operation took place. It's over complete success for the Red Army, since almost all of Left Bank Ukraine was liberated from the Germans.

Aftermath of the battle

The Kursk operation became a turning point in the Great Patriotic War, after which the Soviet Army continued its offensive and liberated Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and other republics from the Germans.
The losses during the Battle of Kursk were simply colossal. Most historians agree that more than a million soldiers died on the Kursk Bulge. Soviet historians say that the losses of the German army amounted to more than 400 thousand soldiers, the Germans talk about a figure of less than 200 thousand. In addition, a huge amount of equipment, aircraft and guns were lost.
After the failure of Operation Citadel, the German command lost the ability to carry out attacks and went on the defensive. In 1944 and 45, local offensives were launched, but they did not bring success.
The German command has repeatedly said that defeat on the Kursk Bulge is a defeat on the Eastern Front and it will be impossible to regain the advantage.

Battle of Kursk: its role and significance during the war

Fifty days, from July 5 to August 23, 1943, the Battle of Kursk continued, including the Kursk defensive (July 5 - 23), Oryol (July 12 - August 18) and Belgorod-Kharkov (August 3-23) offensive strategic operations of the Soviet troops. In terms of its scope, the forces and means involved, tension, results and military-political consequences, it is one of the largest battles of the Second World War.

General course of the Battle of Kursk

Huge masses of troops and military equipment were involved on both sides in the fierce clash on the Kursk Bulge - more than 4 million people, almost 70 thousand guns and mortars, more than 13 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery units, up to 12 thousand aircraft. The fascist German command threw more than 100 divisions into battle, which accounted for over 43% of the divisions located on the Soviet-German front.

The salient in the Kursk region was formed as a result of stubborn battles in the winter and early spring of 1943. Here the right wing of the German Army Group Center hung over the troops of the Central Front from the north, and the left flank of the Army Group South covered the troops of the Voronezh Front from the south. During the three-month strategic pause that began at the end of March, the warring parties consolidated their positions, replenished their troops with people, military equipment and weapons, accumulated reserves and developed plans for further action.

Considering great importance Kursk salient, the German command decided in the summer to carry out an operation to eliminate it and defeat the Soviet troops occupying the defense there, hoping to regain the lost strategic initiative and change the course of the war in their favor. He developed a plan for an offensive operation, codenamed “Citadel”.

To implement these plans, the enemy concentrated 50 divisions (including 16 tank and motorized), attracted over 900 thousand people, about 10 thousand guns and mortars, up to 2.7 thousand tanks and assault guns and over 2 thousand aircraft. The German command had high hopes for the use of new heavy Tiger and Panther tanks, Ferdinand assault guns, Focke-Wulf-190D fighters and Henschel-129 attack aircraft.

The Kursk salient, which had a length of about 550 km, was defended by troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts, which had 1336 thousand people, more than 19 thousand guns and mortars, over 3.4 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 2.9 thousand aircraft. East of Kursk, the Steppe Front, which was in the reserve of the Supreme Command Headquarters, was concentrated, which had 573 thousand people, 8 thousand guns and mortars, about 1.4 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, and up to 400 combat aircraft.

The Supreme High Command headquarters, having timely and correctly determined the enemy's plan, made a decision: to move on to a deliberate defense on pre-prepared lines, during which they would bleed the strike groups of German troops, and then go on a counter-offensive and complete their defeat. A rare case in the history of war occurred when the strongest side, which had everything necessary for an offensive, chose from several possible ones the most best option of your actions. During April - June 1943, a deeply layered defense was created in the area of ​​the Kursk salient.

Troops and local population About 10 thousand km of trenches and communication passages were dug, 700 km of wire barriers were installed in the most dangerous directions, 2 thousand km of additional and parallel roads were built, 686 bridges were restored and rebuilt. Hundreds of thousands of residents of the Kursk, Oryol, Voronezh and Kharkov regions participated in the construction of defensive lines. 313 thousand wagons with military equipment, reserves and supply cargo were delivered to the troops.

Having information about the time of the start of the German offensive, the Soviet command carried out a pre-planned artillery counter-training in areas where enemy strike forces were concentrated. The enemy suffered significant losses, and his plans for a surprise attack were thwarted. On the morning of July 5, German troops went on the offensive, but enemy tank attacks, supported by the fire of thousands of guns and aircraft, were defeated by the insurmountable resilience of Soviet soldiers. On the northern face of the Kursk salient he managed to advance 10 - 12 km, and on the southern face - 35 km.

It seemed that nothing living could resist such a powerful steel avalanche. The sky turned black with smoke and dust. The corrosive gases from the explosions of shells and mines blinded my eyes. From the roar of guns and mortars, the clanging of caterpillars, the soldiers lost their hearing, but they fought with unparalleled courage. Their motto became the words: “Not a step back, stand to the death!” German tanks were shot down by the fire of our guns, anti-tank rifles, tanks and self-propelled guns buried in the ground, hit by aircraft, and blown up by mines. The enemy infantry was cut off from the tanks and exterminated by artillery, mortar, rifle and machine gun fire, or in hand-to-hand combat in the trenches. Hitler's aviation was destroyed by our planes and anti-aircraft artillery.

When German tanks broke into the depths of the defense in one of the sectors of the 203rd Guards Rifle Regiment, the deputy battalion commander for political affairs, Senior Lieutenant Zhumbek Duisov, whose crew was wounded, knocked out three enemy tanks with an anti-tank rifle. The wounded armor-piercers, inspired by the officer’s feat, again took up arms and successfully repelled a new enemy attack.

In this battle, armor-piercing officer Private F.I. Yuplankov knocked out six tanks and shot down one Yu-88 plane, armor-piercing junior sergeant G.I. Kikinadze knocked out four, and Sergeant P.I. Houses - seven fascist tanks. The infantrymen boldly allowed enemy tanks through their trenches, cut off the infantry from the tanks and destroyed the Nazis with fire from machine guns and machine guns, and burned the tanks with combustible bottles and knocked them out with grenades.

Bright heroic feat committed by the tank crew of Lieutenant B.C. Shalandina. The company in which he was operating began to be surrounded by a group of enemy tanks. Shalandin and his crew members, senior sergeants V.G. Kustov, V.F. Lekomtsev and Sergeant P.E. Zelenin boldly entered into battle with a numerically superior enemy. Acting from an ambush, they brought enemy tanks within direct shot range, and then, hitting the sides, burned two Tigers and one medium tank. But Shalandin’s tank was also hit and caught fire. With the car on fire, Shalandin’s crew decided to ram it and immediately crashed into the side of the “tiger.” The enemy tank caught fire. But our entire crew also died. To Lieutenant B.C. Shalandin was posthumously awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union. By order of the Minister of Defense, he was forever included in the lists of the Tashkent Tank School.

Simultaneously with the fighting on the ground, there were fierce battles in the air. An immortal feat was accomplished here by guard pilot Lieutenant A.K. Gorovets. On July 6, as part of a squadron on a La-5 aircraft, he covered his troops. Returning from a mission, Horovets saw large group enemy bombers, but due to damage to the radio transmitter, he was unable to inform the presenter about this and decided to attack them. During the battle, the brave pilot shot down nine enemy bombers, but he himself died.

On July 12, in the Prokhorovka area, the largest counter-attack in World War II took place. tank battle, in which up to 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part on both sides. During the day of the battle, the opposing sides lost from 30 to 60% of tanks and self-propelled guns each.

On July 12, the turning point in the Battle of Kursk came, the enemy stopped the offensive, and on July 18, he began to withdraw all his forces to their original position. The troops of the Voronezh Front, and from July 19, the Steppe Front, switched to pursuit and by July 23 drove the enemy back to the line that he occupied on the eve of his offensive. Operation Citadel failed; the enemy failed to turn the tide of the war in their favor.

On July 12, troops of the Western and Bryansk fronts began an offensive in the Oryol direction. On July 15, the Central Front launched a counteroffensive. On August 3, troops of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts began a counteroffensive in the Belgorod-Kharkov direction. The scale of hostilities expanded even further.

Our troops showed massive heroism during the battles on the Oryol salient. Here are just a few examples.

In the battle for a strong point southwest of the village of Vyatki on July 13, the commander of a rifle platoon of the 457th Infantry Regiment of the 129th Infantry Division, Lieutenant N.D., distinguished himself. Marinchenko. Carefully camouflaging himself, unnoticed by the enemy, he led the platoon to the northern slope of the height and, from close range, brought down a shower of machine-gun fire on the enemy. The Germans began to panic. They threw down their weapons and ran. Having captured two 75-mm cannons at a height, Marinchenko’s fighters opened fire on the enemy from them. For this feat, Lieutenant Nikolai Danilovich Marinchenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

On July 19, 1943, in the battle for the village of Troena, Kursk Region, a heroic feat was accomplished by the gunner of a platoon of 45-mm cannons of the 896th Infantry Regiment of the 211th Infantry Division, Sergeant N.N. Shilenkov. The enemy here repeatedly launched counterattacks. During one of them, Shilenkov allowed German tanks to reach 100 - 150 m and set one on fire with cannon fire and knocked out three of them.

When the cannon was destroyed by an enemy shell, he took the machine gun and, together with the riflemen, continued to fire at the enemy. Nikolai Nikolaevich Shilenkov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

On August 5, two ancient Russian cities, Orel and Belgorod, were liberated. That same day, in the evening, an artillery salute was fired for the first time in Moscow in honor of the troops who liberated them.

By August 18, Soviet troops, having inflicted a heavy defeat on Army Group Center, completely liberated the Oryol bridgehead. At that time, troops of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts were fighting in the Kharkov direction. Having repelled strong counterattacks from enemy tank divisions, our units and formations liberated Kharkov on August 23. Thus, the Battle of Kursk ended in a brilliant victory for the Red Army.

The date August 23 is now celebrated in our country as the Day of Military Glory of Russia - the defeat of Nazi troops in the Battle of Kursk (1943).

At the same time, it should be noted that the victory in the Battle of Kursk came at a very high cost to Soviet troops. They lost over 860 thousand people killed and wounded, more than 6 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 5.2 thousand guns and mortars, over 1.6 thousand aircraft. Nevertheless, this victory was joyful and inspiring.

Thus, the victory at Kursk was new convincing evidence of the loyalty of Soviet soldiers to the oath, military duty and combat traditions of our Armed Forces. It is the duty of every soldier of the Russian Army to strengthen and multiply these traditions.

Historical significance of the victory at Kursk

The Battle of Kursk is one of the most important stages on the path to victory in the Great Patriotic War. The crushing defeat of Nazi Germany at the Kursk Bulge testified to the increased economic, political and military power of the Soviet Union. The military feat of the soldiers merged with the selfless work of the home front workers, who armed the army with excellent military equipment and provided it with everything necessary for victory. What is the world-historical significance of the defeat of the Nazi troops at Kursk?

Firstly, Hitler’s army suffered a severe defeat, huge losses, which the fascist leadership could no longer make up for with any total mobilizations. The grandiose battle of the summer of 1943 on the Kursk Bulge demonstrated to the whole world the ability of the Soviet state on our own defeat the aggressor. The prestige of German weapons was irreparably damaged. 30 German divisions were destroyed. The total losses of the Wehrmacht amounted to more than 500 thousand soldiers and officers, over 1.5 thousand tanks and assault guns, 3 thousand guns and mortars, more than 3.7 thousand aircraft. By the way, along with Soviet pilots In the battles on the Kursk Bulge, the pilots of the French Normandy squadron fought selflessly, who shot down 33 German aircraft in air battles.

The enemy tank forces suffered the heaviest losses. Of the 20 tank and motorized divisions that took part in the Battle of Kursk, 7 were defeated, and the rest suffered significant losses. The chief inspector of the Wehrmacht tank forces, General Guderian, was forced to admit: “As a result of the failure of the Citadel offensive, we suffered a decisive defeat. The armored forces, replenished with such great difficulty, were put out of action for a long time due to large losses in men and equipment... The initiative finally passed to the Russians.”

Secondly, in the Battle of Kursk, the enemy’s attempt to regain the lost strategic initiative and take revenge for Stalingrad failed.

The offensive strategy of the German troops was a complete failure. The Battle of Kursk led to a further change in the balance of forces at the front, made it possible to finally concentrate the strategic initiative in the hands of the Soviet command, and created favorable conditions for the deployment of a general strategic offensive of the Red Army. The victory at Kursk and the advance of Soviet troops to the Dnieper marked a radical turning point in the course of the war. After the Battle of Kursk, the Nazi command was forced to finally abandon the offensive strategy and go on the defensive along the entire Soviet-German front.

However, at present, some Western historians, shamelessly falsifying the history of the Second World War, are trying in every possible way to belittle the significance of the victory of the Red Army at Kursk. Some of them claim that the Battle of Kursk is an ordinary, unremarkable episode of the Second World War, others in their voluminous works either simply remain silent about the Battle of Kursk, or speak about it sparingly and incomprehensibly, other falsifiers seek to prove that the German- The fascist army was defeated in the Battle of Kursk not under the blows of the Red Army, but as a result of Hitler’s “miscalculations” and “fatal decisions”, due to his reluctance to listen to the opinions of his generals and field marshals. However, all this has no basis and is in conflict with the facts. The German generals and field marshals themselves recognized the inconsistency of such statements. “Operation Citadel was the last attempt to maintain our initiative in the east,” admits the former Nazi Field Marshal, who commanded a group of artillery units.
mission "South" E. Manstein. - With its termination, tantamount to failure, the initiative finally passed to the Soviet side. In this respect, "Citadel" is a decisive, turning point of the war on the Eastern Front."

Thirdly, the victory in the Battle of Kursk is a triumph of Soviet military art. During the battle, Soviet military strategy, operational art and tactics once again proved their superiority over the military art of Hitler's army.

The Battle of Kursk enriched the domestic military art with the EXPERIENCE of organizing a deeply layered, active, sustainable defense, conducting flexible and decisive maneuver of forces and means during defensive and offensive actions.

In the field of strategy, the Soviet Supreme High Command took a creative approach to planning the summer-autumn campaign of 1943. The originality of the decision was expressed in the fact that the side with strategic initiative and overall superiority in forces went on the defensive, deliberately giving an active role to the enemy in the initial phase of the campaign. Subsequently, within the framework of a single process of conducting a campaign, following the defense, a transition to a decisive counter-offensive and the deployment of a general offensive was planned. The problem of creating an insurmountable defense on an operational-strategic scale was successfully solved. Its activity was ensured by the saturation of the fronts with a large number of mobile troops. It was achieved by conducting artillery counter-preparation on the scale of two fronts, wide maneuver of strategic reserves to strengthen them, and launching massive air strikes against enemy groups and reserves. The Supreme High Command headquarters skillfully determined the plan for conducting a counteroffensive in each direction, creatively approaching
choosing the directions of the main attacks and methods of defeating the enemy. Thus, in the Oryol operation, Soviet troops used concentric attacks in converging directions, followed by fragmentation and destruction of the enemy group in parts. In the Belgorod-Kharkov operation, the main blow was delivered by adjacent flanks of the fronts, which ensured the rapid breaking of the enemy’s strong and deep defenses, the dissection of his group into two parts and the exit of Soviet troops to the rear of the enemy’s Kharkov defensive region.

In the Battle of Kursk, the problem of creating large strategic reserves and their effective use was successfully resolved, and strategic air supremacy was finally achieved, which was held by Soviet aviation until the end of the Great Patriotic War. The Supreme High Command headquarters skillfully carried out strategic interaction not only between the fronts participating in the battle, but also with those operating in other directions.

Soviet operational art in the Battle of Kursk for the first time solved the problem of creating a deliberate positional insurmountable and active operational defense up to 70 km deep.

During the counter-offensive, the problem of breaking through the enemy’s deeply layered defense was successfully resolved by decisively massing forces and means in the breakthrough areas (from 50 to 90% of them total number), the skillful use of tank armies and corps as mobile groups of fronts and armies, close cooperation with aviation, which carried out a full front-scale air offensive, which largely ensured the high rate of advance of ground forces. Valuable experience was gained in conducting oncoming tank battles both in a defensive operation (near Prokhorovka) and during the offensive when repelling counterattacks of large enemy armored groupings.

The successful conduct of the Battle of Kursk was facilitated by the active actions of the partisans. Striking the enemy's rear, they pinned down up to 100 thousand enemy soldiers and officers. The partisans carried out about 1.5 thousand raids on railway lines, disabled more than 1 thousand locomotives and destroyed over 400 military trains.

Fourthly, the defeat of the Nazi troops during the Battle of Kursk was of enormous military-political and international significance. He significantly increased the role and international authority of the Soviet Union. It became obvious that the power Soviet weapons Nazi Germany faces inevitable defeat. Sympathy increased even more ordinary people to our country, the hopes of the peoples of the countries occupied by the Nazis for imminent release, the front of the national liberation struggle of resistance movement groups in France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway expanded, and the anti-fascist struggle intensified both in Germany itself and other countries of the fascist bloc.

Fifth, the defeat at Kursk and the results of the battle had a profound impact on German people, undermined the morale of the German troops and faith in the victorious outcome of the war. Germany was losing influence on its allies, disagreements within the fascist bloc intensified, which later led to a political and military crisis. The beginning of the collapse of the fascist bloc was laid - Mussolini's regime collapsed, and Italy came out of the war on the side of Germany.

The victory of the Red Army at Kursk forced Germany and its allies to go on the defensive in all theaters of World War II, which had a huge impact on its further course. The transfer of significant enemy forces from the west to the Soviet-German front and their further defeat by the Red Army facilitated the landing of Anglo-American troops in Italy and predetermined their success.

Sixth, under the influence of the victory of the Red Army, cooperation between the leading countries of the anti-Hitler coalition strengthened. She had a great influence on the ruling circles of the USA and Great Britain. At the end of 1943, the Tehran Conference took place, at which the leaders of the USSR, USA, and Great Britain I.V. met for the first time. Stalin; F.D. Roosevelt, W. Churchill. At the conference, it was decided to open a second front in Europe in May 1944. Assessing the results of the victory at Kursk, the head of the British government, W. Churchill, noted: “Three huge battles - for Kursk, Orel and Kharkov, all carried out within two months, marked the collapse of the German army on the Eastern Front.”

Victory in the Battle of Kursk was achieved thanks to the further strengthening of the military-economic power of the country and its Armed Forces.

One of the decisive factors that ensured victory at Kursk was the high moral, political and psychological condition personnel of our troops. In a fierce battle, such powerful sources of victory appeared with all their might Soviet people and his army, as patriotism, friendship of peoples, self-confidence and success. Soviet soldiers and commanders showed miracles of mass heroism, exceptional courage, perseverance and military skill, for which 132 formations and units received the Guards rank, 26 were awarded the honorary titles of Oryol, Belgorod, and Kharkov. More than 100 thousand soldiers were awarded orders and medals, and 231 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The victory at Kursk was also achieved thanks to a powerful economic base. Increased opportunities Soviet industry, the heroic feat of home front workers, made it possible to provide the Red Army with huge quantities of advanced models of military equipment and weapons, superior in a number of decisive indicators to the military equipment of Nazi Germany.

Highly appreciating the role and significance of the Battle of Kursk, the courage, resilience and mass heroism shown by the defenders of the cities of Belgorod, Kursk and Orel in the struggle for freedom and independence of the Fatherland, by Presidential Decrees Russian Federation On April 27, 2007, these cities were awarded the honorary title “City of Military Glory.”

Before and during a lesson on this topic, it is advisable to visit the museum of the formation or unit, organize viewing of documentaries and feature films about the Battle of Kursk, and invite veterans of the Great Patriotic War to perform.

In the introductory remarks, it is advisable to emphasize the importance of such historical event, like the Battle of Kursk, emphasize the fact that here a radical turning point in the course of the war ended and the mass expulsion of enemy troops from our territory began.

When covering the first question, it is necessary, using a map, to show the location and balance of forces of the warring parties on different stages The Battle of Kursk, emphasizing that it is an unsurpassed example of Soviet military art. In addition, it is necessary to talk in detail about the exploits, give examples of the courage and heroism of soldiers of their branch of troops committed in the Battle of Kursk.

In the course of considering the second question, it is necessary to objectively show the significance, role and place of the Battle of Kursk in Russian military history, and to consider in more detail the factors that contributed to this great victory.

At the end of the lesson, it is necessary to draw brief conclusions, answer questions from the audience, and thank the invited veterans.

1. Military encyclopedia in 8 volumes. T.4. - M.: Military Publishing House. 1999.

2. Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941 - 1945: Short story. - M., 1984.

3. Dembitsky N., Strelnikov V. The most important operations of the Red Army and Navy in 1943 // Landmark. - 2003. - No. 1.

4. History of the Second World War 1939 -1945 in 12 volumes. T.7. - M., 1976.

Lieutenant colonel
Dmitry Samosvat,
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Lieutenant Colonel
Alexey Kurshev

July '43... These hot days and nights of war are an integral part of the history of the Soviet Army with the Nazi invaders. The front, in its configuration in the area near Kursk, resembled a giant arc. This segment attracted the attention of the fascist command. The German command prepared the offensive operation as revenge. The Nazis spent a lot of time and effort developing the plan.

Hitler's operational order began with the words: “I have decided, as soon as weather conditions permit, to carry out the Citadel offensive - the first offensive of this year... It must end with quick and decisive success.” Everything was gathered by the Nazis into a powerful fist. The fast-moving tanks “Tigers” and “Panthers” and super-heavy self-propelled guns “Ferdinands”, according to the Nazis’ plan, were supposed to crush, scatter the Soviet troops, and turn the tide of events.

Operation Citadel

The Battle of Kursk began on the night of July 5, when a captured German sapper said during interrogation that the German Operation Citadel would begin at three in the morning. There were only a few minutes left before the decisive battle... The Military Council of the front had to make a very important decision, and it was made. On July 5, 1943, at two hours and twenty minutes, the silence exploded with the thunder of our guns... The battle that began lasted until August 23.

As a result, events on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War resulted in the defeat of Hitler's groups. The strategy of Operation Citadel of the Wehrmacht on the Kursk bridgehead is crushing blows using surprise against the forces of the Soviet Army, encircling and destroying them. The triumph of the Citadel plan was to ensure the implementation of further plans of the Wehrmacht. To thwart the plans of the Nazis, the General Staff developed a strategy aimed at defending the battle and creating conditions for the liberation actions of the Soviet troops.

Progress of the Battle of Kursk

The actions of the Army Group "Center" and the Task Force "Kempf" of the Armies "South", which came from Orel and Belgorod in the battle on the Central Russian Upland, were to decide not only the fate of these cities, but also change the entire subsequent course of the war. Reflecting the attack from Orel was entrusted to the formations of the Central Front. Units of the Voronezh Front were supposed to meet the advancing detachments from Belgorod.

The steppe front, consisting of rifle, tank, mechanized and cavalry corps, was entrusted with a bridgehead in the rear of the Kursk bend. July 12, 1943 Russian field near the Prokhorovka railway station, the greatest end-to-end tank battle took place, noted by historians as unprecedented in the world, the largest end-to-end tank battle in scale. Russian power on its own soil passed another test and turned the course of history towards victory.

One day of battle cost the Wehrmacht 400 tanks and almost 10 thousand human losses. Hitler's groups were forced to go on the defensive. The battle on the Prokhorovsky field was continued by units of the Bryansk, Central and Western fronts, starting Operation Kutuzov, the task of which was to defeat enemy groups in the Orel area. From July 16 to 18, the corps of the Central and Steppe Fronts eliminated Nazi groups in the Kursk Triangle and began pursuing it with the support of air forces. With their combined forces, Hitler's formations were thrown back 150 km to the west. The cities of Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov were liberated.

The meaning of the Battle of Kursk

• Of unprecedented force, the most powerful tank battle in history, was key in the development of further offensive actions in the Great Patriotic War;
• The Battle of Kursk is the main part of the strategic tasks of the General Staff of the Red Army in the plans of the 1943 campaign;
• As a result of the implementation of the “Kutuzov” plan and the “Commander Rumyantsev” operation, units of Hitler’s troops in the area of ​​​​the cities of Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov were defeated. The strategic Oryol and Belgorod-Kharkov bridgeheads have been liquidated;
• The end of the battle meant the complete transfer of strategic initiatives into the hands of the Soviet Army, which continued to advance to the West, liberating cities and towns.

Results of the Battle of Kursk

• The failure of the Wehrmacht's Operation Citadel presented to the world community the impotence and complete defeat of Hitler's campaign against the Soviet Union;
• A radical change in the situation on the Soviet-German front and throughout as a result of the “fiery” Battle of Kursk;
• The psychological breakdown of the German army was obvious; there was no longer confidence in the superiority of the Aryan race.

The Battle of Kursk, which lasted from July 5, 1943 to August 23, 1943, is a turning point in the central event of the Great Patriotic War and a gigantic historical tank battle. The Battle of Kursk lasted 49 days.

Hitler had great hopes for this major offensive battle called “Citadel”; he needed a victory to raise the morale of the army after a series of failures. August 1943 became fatal for Hitler, as the countdown in the war began, the Soviet army confidently marched towards victory.

Intelligence service

Intelligence played an important role in the outcome of the battle. In the winter of 1943, intercepted encrypted information constantly mentioned the Citadel. Anastas Mikoyan (member of the CPSU Politburo) claims that Stalin received information about the Citadel project as early as April 12.

Back in 1942, British intelligence managed to crack the Lorenz code, which encrypted messages from the 3rd Reich. As a result, the summer offensive project was intercepted, as was information about the overall Citadel plan, location and force structure. This information was immediately transferred to the leadership of the USSR.

Thanks to the work of the Dora reconnaissance group, the Soviet command became aware of the deployment of German troops along the Eastern Front, and the work of other intelligence agencies provided information on other directions of the fronts.

Confrontation

The Soviet command was aware of the exact time of the start of the German operation. Therefore, the necessary counter-preparations were carried out. The Nazis began the assault on the Kursk Bulge on July 5 - this is the date the battle began. The main offensive attack of the Germans was in the direction of Olkhovatka, Maloarkhangelsk and Gnilets.

The command of the German troops sought to get to Kursk along the shortest route. However, the Russian commanders: N. Vatutin - Voronezh direction, K. Rokossovsky - Central direction, I. Konev - Steppe direction of the front, responded to the German offensive with dignity.

The Kursk Bulge was supervised by talented generals from the enemy - General Erich von Manstein and Field Marshal von Kluge. Having received a repulse at Olkhovatka, the Nazis tried to break through at Ponyry with the help of the Ferdinand self-propelled guns. But here, too, they were unable to break through the defensive power of the Red Army.

From July 11, a fierce battle raged near Prokhorovka. The Germans suffered significant losses of equipment and people. It was near Prokhorovka that a turning point in the war occurred, and July 12 became a turning point in this battle for the 3rd Reich. The Germans struck immediately from the southern and western fronts.

One of the global tank battles took place. Hitler's army brought 300 tanks into the battle from the south, and 4 tank and 1 infantry divisions from the west. According to other sources, the tank battle consisted of about 1,200 tanks on both sides. The Germans were defeated by the end of the day, the movement of the SS corps was suspended, and their tactics turned defensive.

During the Battle of Prokhorovka, according to Soviet data, on July 11-12, the German army lost more than 3,500 people and 400 tanks. The Germans themselves estimated the losses of the Soviet army at 244 tanks. Operation Citadel lasted only 6 days, in which the Germans tried to advance.

Equipment used

Soviet medium tanks T-34 (about 70%), heavy - KV-1S, KV-1, light - T-70, self-propelled artillery units, nicknamed "St. John's wort" by soldiers - SU-152, as well as SU-76 and SU-122, met in confrontation with German tanks Panther, Tiger, Pz.I, Pz.II, Pz.III, Pz.IV, which were supported by self-propelled guns "Elephant" (we have "Ferdinand").

Soviet guns were practically unable to penetrate the 200 mm frontal armor of the Ferdinands; they were destroyed with the help of mines and aircraft.

Also the Germans' assault guns were the StuG III and JagdPz IV tank destroyers. Hitler relied heavily on new equipment in the battle, so the Germans postponed the offensive for 2 months in order to release 240 Panthers to the Citadel.

During the battle, Soviet troops received captured German Panthers and Tigers, abandoned by the crew or broken. After the breakdowns were repaired, the tanks fought on the side of the Soviet army.

List of forces of the USSR Army (according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation):

• 3444 tanks;
• 2172 aircraft;
• 1.3 million people;
• 19,100 mortars and guns.

As a reserve force there was the Steppe Front, numbering: 1.5 thousand tanks, 580 thousand people, 700 aircraft, 7.4 thousand mortars and guns.

List of enemy forces:

• 2733 tanks;
• 2500 aircraft;
• 900 thousand people;
• 10,000 mortars and guns.

The Red Army had numerical superiority at the beginning of the Battle of Kursk. However, the military potential was on the side of the Nazis, not in quantity, but in the technical level of military equipment.

Offensive

On July 13, the German army went on the defensive. The Red Army attacked, pushing the Germans further and further, and by July 14 the front line had moved up to 25 km. Having battered the German defensive capabilities, on July 18 the Soviet army launched a counterattack with the goal of defeating the Kharkov-Belgorod German group. The Soviet front of offensive operations exceeded 600 km. On July 23, they reached the line of the German positions occupied before the offensive.

By August 3, the Soviet army consisted of: 50 rifle divisions, 2.4 thousand tanks, more than 12 thousand guns. On August 5 at 18:00 Belgorod was liberated from the Germans. From the beginning of August, the battle for the city of Oryol was fought, and on August 6 it was liberated. On August 10, soldiers of the Soviet army cut the Kharkov-Poltava railway road during the offensive Belgorod-Kharkov operation. On August 11, the Germans attacked in the vicinity of Bogodukhov, weakening the tempo of fighting on both fronts.

Heavy fighting lasted until August 14. On August 17, Soviet troops approached Kharkov, starting a battle on its outskirts. German troops carried out the final offensive in Akhtyrka, but this breakthrough did not affect the outcome of the battle. On August 23, an intense assault on Kharkov began.

This day itself is considered the day of the liberation of Kharkov and the end of the Battle of Kursk. Despite the actual fights with the remnants of the German resistance, which lasted until August 30.

Losses

According to different historical reports, losses in the Battle of Kursk vary. Academician Samsonov A.M. states that losses in the Battle of Kursk: more than 500 thousand wounded, killed and prisoners, 3.7 thousand aircraft and 1.5 thousand tanks.

Losses in the difficult battle on the Kursk Bulge, according to information from the research of G.F. Krivosheev, in the Red Army were:

• Killed, disappeared, captured - 254,470 people,
• Injured - 608,833 people.

Those. In total, human losses amounted to 863,303 people, with an average daily loss of 32,843 people.

Losses of military equipment:

• Tanks – 6064 pcs.;
• Aircraft – 1626 pcs.,
• Mortars and guns - 5244 pcs.

The German historian Overmans Rüdiger claims that the losses of the German army were 130,429 killed. The losses of military equipment were: tanks - 1500 units; airplanes – 1696 pcs. According to Soviet information, from July 5 to September 5, 1943, more than 420 thousand Germans were killed, as well as 38.6 thousand prisoners.

Bottom line

Irritated, Hitler laid the blame for the failure in the Battle of Kursk on the generals and field marshals, whom he demoted, replacing them with more capable ones. However, later major offensives “Watch on the Rhine” in 1944 and the Balaton operation in 1945 also failed. After the defeat in the battle on the Kursk Bulge, the Nazis did not achieve a single victory in the war.

Battle of Kursk

July 5 – August 23, 1943
By the spring of 1943, there was a lull on the battlefields. Both warring sides were preparing for the summer campaign. Germany, having carried out total mobilization, concentrated more than 230 divisions on the Soviet-German front by the summer of 1943. The Wehrmacht received many new heavy T-V tanks I "Tiger", medium tanks T-V "Panther", assault guns "Ferdinand", new aircraft "Focke-Wulf 190" and other types of military equipment.

The German command decided to regain the strategic initiative lost after the defeat at Stalingrad. For the offensive, the enemy chose the “Kursk Salient” - a section of the front formed as a result of the winter offensive of the Soviet troops. The plan of the Hitlerite command was to encircle and destroy a group of Red Army troops with converging attacks from the areas of Orel and Belgorod and again develop an offensive against Moscow. The operation was codenamed "Citadel".

Thanks to actions Soviet intelligence, the enemy’s plans became known at the headquarters of the Supreme High Command. It was decided to build a long-term defense in the depths of the Kursk salient, wear out the enemy in battles and then go on the offensive. In the north of the Kursk salient there were troops of the Central Front (commanded by Army General K.K. Rokossovsky), in the south by troops of the Voronezh Front (commanded by Army General N.F. Vatutin). In the rear of these fronts there was a powerful reserve - the Steppe Front under the command of Army General I.S. Koneva. Marshals A.M. were assigned to coordinate the actions of the fronts on the Kursk salient. Vasilevsky and G.K. Zhukov.

The number of Red Army troops in defense was 1 million 273 thousand people, 3,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, 20,000 guns and mortars, 2,650 combat aircraft.

The German command concentrated more than 900,000 people, 2,700 tanks and assault guns, 10,000 guns and mortars, and 2,000 aircraft around the Kursk salient.

At dawn on July 5, 1943, the enemy launched an offensive. Fierce fighting broke out on the ground and in the air. At the cost of huge losses, the fascist German troops managed to advance 10–15 km north of Kursk. Particularly heavy fighting took place in the Oryol direction in the area of ​​the Ponyri station, which participants in the events called “Stalingrad of the Battle of Kursk.” Here a powerful battle took place between the shock units of three German tank divisions with formations of Soviet troops: the 2nd Tank Army (commanded by Lieutenant General A. Rodin) and the 13th Army (commanded by Lieutenant General N.P. Pukhov). In these battles, junior lieutenant V. Bolshakov performed a feat, covering the embrasure of an enemy firing point with his body. Sniper I.S. Mudretsova replaced the incapacitated commander in battle, but was also seriously wounded. She was rightfully considered one of the best snipers in the army, destroying 140 Nazis.

In the Belgorod direction, south of Kursk, as a result of fierce fighting, the enemy advanced 20–35 km. But then his advance was stopped. On July 12, near Prokhorovka, on a field of approximately 7 by 5 km, the largest counter tank battle of the Second World War took place, in which about 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part on both sides. The unprecedented battle lasted 18 hours in a row and subsided only long after midnight. In this battle, the Wehrmacht tank columns were defeated and retreated from the battlefield, losing more than 400 tanks and assault guns, including 70 new heavy Tiger tanks. For the next three days, the Nazis rushed to Prokhorovka, but were unable to break through or bypass it. As a result, the Germans were forced to withdraw the elite SS tank division "Totenkopf" from the front line. G. Hoth's tank army lost half of its personnel and vehicles. Success in the battles near Prokhorovka belongs to the troops of the 5th Guards Army under the command of Lieutenant General A.S. Zhadov and the 5th Guards Tank Army, Lieutenant General P.A. Rotmistrov, who also suffered heavy losses.

During the Battle of Kursk, Soviet aviation achieved strategic air supremacy and maintained it until the end of the war. Il-2 attack aircraft, which widely used the new PTAB-2.5 anti-tank bombs, were especially helpful in the fight against German tanks. The French Normandie-Niemen squadron under the command of Major Jean-Louis Tulian fought courageously alongside the Soviet pilots. In heavy battles in the Belgorod direction, the troops of the Steppe Front, commanded by Colonel General I.S., distinguished themselves. Konev.

On July 12, the Red Army counteroffensive began. Troops of the Bryansk, Central and parts of the Western fronts went on the offensive against the enemy’s Oryol grouping (Operation Kutuzov), during which the city of Oryol was liberated on August 5. On August 3, the Belgorod-Kharkov offensive operation began (Operation Rumyantsev). Belgorod was liberated on August 5, Kharkov was liberated on August 23.

On August 5, 1943, by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin in Moscow was given the first artillery salute in the Great Patriotic War. On August 23, Moscow again saluted the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe Fronts in honor of the liberation of Kharkov. Since then, every major new victory of the Red Army began to be celebrated with fireworks.

Operation Citadel was the last offensive operation of the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front in World War II. From now on, the fascist German troops forever switched to defensive actions in battles against the Red Army. In the Battle of Kursk, 30 enemy divisions were defeated, the Wehrmacht lost more than 500,000 people killed and wounded, 1,500 tanks and assault guns, about 3,100 guns and mortars, and over 3,700 combat aircraft. The losses of the Red Army in the Battle of Kursk amounted to 254,470 people killed and 608,833 people wounded and sick.

In the battles on the Kursk Bulge, soldiers and officers of the Red Army showed courage, perseverance and mass heroism. 132 formations and units received the guards rank, 26 units were awarded the honorary names “Oryol”, “Belgorod”, “Kharkov”, etc. More than 110 thousand soldiers were awarded orders and medals, 180 people received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The victory in the Battle of Kursk and the advance of the Red Army troops to the Dnieper marked a radical turning point in the Second World War in favor of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

After the defeat of the Nazi troops in the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army began an offensive along the entire front from Velikiye Luki to the Black Sea. At the end of September 1943, Red Army troops reached the Dnieper and began crossing it without an operational pause. This thwarted the German command’s plan to delay Soviet troops on the Dnieper using the “Eastern Wall” system of defensive fortifications on the right bank of the river.

The defending enemy group consisted of 1 million 240 thousand people, 2,100 tanks and assault guns, 12,600 guns and mortars, 2,100 combat aircraft.

The Red Army troops on the Dnieper amounted to 2 million 633 thousand people, 2,400 tanks and self-propelled guns, 51,200 guns and mortars, 2,850 combat aircraft. Warriors of the Central, Voronezh, Steppe, and Southwestern Fronts, using available means - pontoons, boats, boats, rafts, barrels, planks, under artillery fire and enemy bombing, crossed a powerful water barrier. During September–October 1943, Red Army troops, having crossed the river and breaking through the defenses of the Eastern Wall, captured 23 bridgeheads on the right bank of the Dnieper. Conducting fierce battles, Soviet troops liberated Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, on November 6, 1943. The entire Left Bank and part of the Right Bank Ukraine were also liberated.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and officers of the Red Army showed examples of courage and courage during these days. For the exploits accomplished during the crossing of the Dnieper, 2,438 soldiers, officers and generals of the Red Army were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.