He also wanted the tactical advantage of controlling Kursk’s railways and roads. Hitler needed to prove to his allies, the Axis Powers, and to the world that Germany was still a formidable enemy and in control of the Eastern Front. The salient became known as the Kursk Bulge and was a strategic location for Germany.
At the center of the salient lay the Russian city of Kursk. And at the center of the disputed area, a year’s worth of fighting had created a massive salient (an outward-protruding bulge of land on a battle line) approximately 150 miles from north to south and 100 miles from east to west. It also showed the world they weren’t invincible and deeply humiliated Hitler, who in response planned a massive offensive attack to permanently solve his Soviet problem.Īccording to an article in ARMOR, Germany and Russia had reached an impasse by the winter of 1943 from Leningrad to the Black Sea. It pushed the Germans back to southern Russia and left them weak and on the defensive. Germany’s defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad was a pivotal point in the war. Left with little choice, German General Friedrich Paulus went against Hitler’s orders and surrendered his weakened troops to Russia on February 2, 1943, an act which Hitler later called treason. The Germans were unprepared for Russia’s brutal winter and suffered freezing temperatures, starvation and disease. They saw the writing on the wall and had a chance to escape but Hitler commanded they “hold their positions to the last man and the last round…” He also promised additional provisions – provisions that never arrived. The carnage was horrific on both sides.īy mid-November, the Germans found themselves outnumbered, outgunned, extremely low on food and medical supplies and surrounded by Russians. Ferocious fighting ensued as the Germans fought their way through the city, building by building, house by house and were met with heavy resistance. When the German Sixth Army reached Stalingrad in September, they were unprepared for the well-armed and well-trained Red Army.
But Stalin rallied both Russian troops and civilians who dug in and vowed to fight to the end. Germany’s Epic Defeat at the Battle of Stalingradīy June 1942, Hitler had advanced into the Soviet Union and hoped to easily take the strategic city of Stalingrad, the namesake city of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
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