what tanks fought at the battle of kursk

German generals are convinced that Russia is on the brink of surrendering. Erich von Manstein creates the military strategy for Operation Citadel. Fake airfields and artillery positions are built to trick the Luftwaffe. The Red Army prepares for the Wehrmacht attacks by enlisting citizens to dig trenches and anti-tank ditches. General Georgy Zhukov anticipates the battle and creates a solid defense. Hitler hopes that Operation Citadel will drive out the Red Army, but delays its strike. Soviet soldiers stand up to the German troops, who are not used to the cold Russian winter. Field Marshall Friedrich Paulus surrenders at Stalingrad on January 31, 1943. The French army is starved very few soldiers return home.

Memory of Humanity (02:56)Ĭompare Operation Barbarossa to the Russian invasion led by Napoleon Bonaparte. Minsk falls in one week by the end of December, the USSR loses 3 million men. The Wehrmacht invades the Soviet Union with the goal of conquering the country before the start of winter. Operation Barbarossa (03:35)Īdolf Hitler enters the 'wolf's lair' in East Prussia for the first time on June 23rd, 1941. Key moments in the fall of the Third Reich include the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, Soviets fortifying the Kursk Region, and the Red Army battles Nazis in Berlin. Imagine if the Axis Forces won the battle of Kursk and Europe fell to Germany during the Normandy Invasion. The USSR Strikes Back (02:17) FREE PREVIEW

What tanks fought at the battle of kursk