After the defeat of the 6th Army of Army Group B near Stalingrad, the German military leadership tried to work out a campaign plan for the summer of 1943, which would again seize the military initiative.
At the same time, there was no consensus among the leadership of the Wehrmacht: some believed that it was in the summer of 1943 that a decisive blow could be delivered, after which it would be possible to make another attempt to attack Moscow, others suggested either launching an offensive not in the summer, but in the spring, or completely abandon offensive.

Meanwhile, even despite certain local successes of its armed forces, the situation for Germany was far from in the best way: a crushing defeat at Stalingrad, where Romanian, Croatian and Italian units were defeated, and an unsuccessful small blitzkrieg in the Caucasus, led to the fact that relations among the Axis countries were far from the same as at the very beginning of the war.
That is why Germany needed an unconditional victory, which would allow it to restore its reputation.

At the same time, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command expected to strike, after which the military initiative would finally pass to the USSR.

Already in the spring of 1943, both sides knew that the decisive battle would unfold in the very center of the Soviet-German front: even during the winter offensive of the Red Army and the counter-offensive of the Wehrmacht that followed it, a ledge stretching for 200 kilometers up to 150 kilometers deep was formed, facing west - the Kursk Bulge.

Both sides were well aware of the operational and strategic significance of the Kursk salient. And each of the parties tried to use the operational lull that had come in the spring of 1943 with the maximum benefit for itself.

Back in March 1943, the Supreme High Command of the German Ground Forces issued Order No. 5, signed by Hitler: "to preempt the Soviet troops after the end of the thaw in the offensive (....) to impose their will on the Red Army."
It was planned that the shock and tank groups created near Kharkov and Orel would be able to destroy the Soviet troops on the Kursk salient with converging strikes, and then continue to advance towards Moscow and Leningrad.

Almost at the same time, he sent his vision of the spring-summer campaign to the Headquarters of the Supreme Command and G.K. Zhukov. In his report, Zhukov spoke about the inexpediency of the Red Army offensive, the purpose of which was to preempt the enemy: "... it would be better if we exhausted the enemy on our defenses (...) and then, introducing fresh reserves (...) we finally finished off the main enemy grouping.

Categorically against Zhukov, and A.M., who supported him. Vasilevsky, N.F. Vatutin, R.Ya. Malinovsky and K.E. Voroshilov: they proposed to launch a preemptive strike in the Donbas region.

Soon Soviet intelligence will provide irrefutable evidence of the imminent start of Operation Citadel: in order to achieve the success of its offensive, the Wehrmacht leadership planned the massive use of armored vehicles in the first operational echelon, which was supposed to be supported by aviation, including new aircraft - Focke-Wulf fighters and attack aircraft "Henkel". Therefore, Zhukov's point of view was no longer questioned. As a result, a rather unique decision was made: the Soviet side, which by the summer of 1943 had all the necessary forces to carry out a successful offensive operation chose defense.

In the summer of 1943, Soviet military leaders recalled the bitter experience of the first two years of the war, when the defense did not always withstand the enemy's blow: in the areas of operation of the Central and Voronezh fronts - namely, they were supposed to conduct a defensive operation - a deep line of defense was urgently created. In the shortest possible time, anti-tank lines were built, tens of thousands of kilometers of trenches were dug, and minefields were equipped. By the beginning of the operation, the line of defense Soviet troops consisted of eight defensive lines and lines up to 300 kilometers deep.

At the end of June, the Soviet-German front froze in heavy expectation - everyone was well aware that the battle, on the outcome of which the further course of the war depended, would begin in the near future.

On July 5, 1943, the Soviet troops, having received intelligence about the imminent start of the enemy offensive, conducted a powerful artillery counter-training. And after it, the weakened shock groups of the Nazis launched an offensive on the Kursk Bulge.

The advancing 900,000-strong grouping of the Nazis on the Kursk Bulge was opposed by almost 1,400 thousand soldiers and officers of the Red Army. The headquarters of the Supreme Command, aware that the transition to the defense, even if carefully planned, is a certain risk, managed to create a Reserve Front, which was supposed to prevent any sudden threat to the troops of the Central and Southern Fronts.

The offensive of the Wehrmacht began to choke from the first hours. The minefields, which were part of the system of defensive lines, noticeably slowed down the advance of the newest armored vehicles of the Nazis: the Tiger and Panther tanks.

However, by the end of the first day of the battle, German troops were able to break through the first lines of Soviet defense by the end of the day on the northern and southern faces of the Kursk salient.
At the same time, the shortness of the offensive of the 9th Army of the Model on the northern front led to the fact that the exhausted troops were deeply bogged down in Soviet defense by the end of the second day. At the same time, the situation remained unchanged until July 12 - the Nazis fought endless battles near Olkhovatka and near the Ponyri station. At the same time, the Soviet command was transferring tank reserves to the southern front to defeat the enemy grouping that had broken through to the Prokhorovka area. On July 10, fierce battles began in the Prokhorovka direction.

On July 12, 1943, Soviet troops begin the offensive phase of the Battle of Kursk - Operation Kutuzov. Just a day later, the Red Army breaks through the enemy defenses, and by the end of July 15, it restores all positions lost during the previous days on the northern front. On the southern front, the situation was more complicated: the 2nd SS Panzer Corps and the 3rd Panzer Corps were liquidating a small ledge in the Rzhavets-Gostishchevo area.

Literally a week later, a turning point in the battle occurs: on July 19, the troops of the Central Front go on the offensive in the Kursk-Kromsky direction, and on the southern front, the Wehrmacht units that have exhausted their capabilities go on the defensive. Realizing that there would be no more suitable time for a counteroffensive, the command orders the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts to push the Nazis back to their original lines.

By July 26, the Nazis leave the Oryol bridgehead and hastily transfer the surviving units to the east - to defensive line"Hagen". On the southern front, the Red Army waged offensive battles until August 1.

And then the situation developed much more rapidly. On August 3, the operation "Commander Rumyantsev" begins, two days later, units of the Red Army liberate Orel and Belgorod. On August 11, the Nazis attempted to launch a counterattack in the Bogodukhov area, which ended in failure. On August 13, the troops of the Steppe Front break through the Kharkov defensive bypass and four days later begin battles to liberate Kharkov, which will end on August 23, 1943 ....

On August 23, Soviet troops will liberate not only Kharkov. They will complete the Battle of Kursk - one of the largest battles in the history of mankind.

50 days of the most difficult, exhausting battles led to the fact that the initiative completely passed to the Red Army. Now Soviet troops along the entire front line were moving from defense to offensive - it is generally accepted that fighting The Red Army during the winter of 1942 - summer of 1943 marked a radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War.

The main forces of the Panzerwaffe, the armored forces of the Wehrmacht, were put out of action. All Nazi commanders were unanimous in their opinion: Battle of Kursk became a complete failure of the Nazi army.

It was no longer a question of whether German troops could reach Moscow.

The question was already different: how long would the German troops be able to hold off the growing offensive of the Red Army ...

August 23 in accordance with federal law No. 32-FZ of March 13, 1995 "On the days of military glory (victory days) of Russia" celebrates the Day of Military Glory of Russia - the Day of the defeat of the Nazi troops by the Soviet troops in the Battle of Kursk (1943).

The Battle of Kursk (Battle of the Kursk Bulge), which lasted from July 5 to August 23, 1943, is one of the key battles of the Great Patriotic War. In Soviet and Russian historiography, it is customary to divide the battle into three parts: the Kursk defensive operation (July 5-23); Orel (July 12 - August 18) and Belgorod-Kharkov (August 3-23) offensive.

During the winter offensive of the Red Army and the subsequent counter-offensive of the Wehrmacht in Eastern Ukraine, a ledge up to 150 km deep and up to 200 km wide was formed in the center of the Soviet-German front, facing the west (the so-called "Kursk Bulge"). The German command decided to conduct a strategic operation on the Kursk salient. For this, a military operation was developed and approved in April 1943 under the code name "Citadel". Having information about the preparation of the Nazi troops for the offensive, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to temporarily go on the defensive on the Kursk Bulge and, during the defensive battle, bleed the enemy’s strike groups and thereby create favorable conditions for the transition of the Soviet troops to a counteroffensive, and then to a general strategic offensive. .

To carry out Operation Citadel, the German command concentrated 50 divisions, including 16 tank and motorized divisions. The enemy grouping, according to Soviet sources, consisted of about 900 thousand people, up to 10 thousand guns and mortars, about 2.7 thousand tanks and more than 2 thousand aircraft. Air support for the German troops was provided by the forces of the 4th and 6th air fleets.

This amounted to about 70% of tank, up to 30% of motorized and more than 20% of infantry divisions, as well as over 65% of all combat aircraft operating on the Soviet-German front, which were concentrated on a sector that was only about 14% of its length.

By the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (VGK) created a grouping (Central and Voronezh Fronts), which had more than 1.9 million people, more than 26.5 thousand guns and mortars, over 4.9 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts (ACS), about 2.9 thousand aircraft. Soviet troops outnumbered the enemy grouping opposing them near Kursk in personnel by 2.1 times, artillery by 2.5 times, tanks and self-propelled guns by 1.8 times, and aircraft by 1.4 times.

The troops of the Central Front (commander - General of the Army Konstantin Rokossovsky) defended the northern front of the Kursk ledge, and the troops of the Voronezh Front (commander - General of the Army Nikolai Vatutin) - the southern front.

In their rear, strategic reserves were deployed, united in the Steppe Military District, from July 9 - the Steppe Front (commanded by Colonel General Ivan Konev), which was entrusted with the task of preventing a deep breakthrough of the enemy, and when the Soviet troops went on a counteroffensive, to increase the force of the strike from depths. The coordination of the actions of the troops of the fronts was entrusted to representatives of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command Marshals Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov and Alexander Vasilevsky, Colonel-General of Artillery Nikolai Voronov, and Air Force Marshal Alexander Novikov.

On July 5, 1943, according to the plan of Operation Citadel, German strike groups launched an attack on Kursk from the Orel and Belgorod regions. From the side of Orel, a grouping under the command of Field Marshal Günther Hans von Kluge (Army Group Center) was advancing, from Belgorod, a grouping under the command of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein (operational group Kempf of the Army Group South).

The task of repelling the offensive from the side of Orel was entrusted to the troops of the Central Front, from the side of Belgorod - the Voronezh Front.

On July 12, in the area of ​​​​the Prokhorovka railway station, 56 km north of Belgorod, the largest oncoming tank battle of the Second World War took place between the advancing enemy tank group (Task Force Kempf) and the counterattacking Soviet troops. On both sides, up to 1200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part in the battle. The fierce battle lasted all day, by the evening the tank crews, together with the infantry, fought hand to hand. In one day, the enemy lost about 10 thousand people and over 360 tanks and was forced to go on the defensive.

On the same day, the troops of the Bryansk, Central and left wing of the Western Fronts launched Operation Kutuzov, which had the goal of crushing the Oryol grouping of the enemy. On July 13, the troops of the Western and Bryansk fronts broke through the enemy defenses in the Bolkhov, Khotynets and Oryol directions and advanced to a depth of 8 to 25 kilometers. On July 15, the troops of the Central Front launched attacks from the south and southeast in the direction of the city of Kromy.

On July 16, the troops of the Bryansk Front reached the line of the Oleshnya River, after which the German command began to withdraw its main forces to their original positions. By July 18, the troops of the right wing of the Central Front completely eliminated the enemy's wedge in the Kursk direction. On the same day, the troops of the Steppe Front were introduced into the battle, which began to pursue the retreating enemy. Concentric strikes by troops from the fronts broke through the enemy's defenses in depth.

Developing the offensive, the Soviet ground forces, supported from the air by strikes from the forces of the 2nd and 17th air armies, as well as long-range aviation, by August 23, 1943, pushed the enemy westward by 140-150 kilometers, liberated Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov.

The Battle of Kursk was one of the largest battles of World War II. On both sides, more than 4 million people, over 69 thousand guns and mortars, more than 13 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, up to 12 thousand aircraft were involved in it.

According to Soviet sources, the Wehrmacht lost 30 divisions in the Battle of Kursk, including 7 tank divisions, over 500 thousand soldiers and officers, 1.5 thousand tanks and assault guns, more than 3.7 thousand aircraft, 3 thousand guns.

The losses of the Soviet troops amounted to: irretrievable - 254,470 people, sanitary - 608,833 people.

After the Battle of Kursk, the balance of forces on the front changed dramatically in favor of the Red Army, which provided it with favorable conditions for launching a general strategic offensive.

On the evening of August 5, 1943, an artillery salute in honor of the liberation of Orel and Belgorod (12 volleys from 120 guns) thundered in Moscow for the first time.

In the Battle of Kursk, Soviet soldiers showed courage, steadfastness and mass heroism. Over 100 thousand people were awarded orders and medals, 231 people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 132 formations and units received the title of guards, 26 were awarded the honorary titles of Oryol, Belgorod, Kharkov and Karachay.

Material prepared on the basis of open sources

(Additional

Battle of Kursk Complete chronicle - 50 days and nights Andrey Suldin

August 23, 1943

The Belgorod-Kharkov operation (“Rumyantsev”) ended: the troops of the Voronezh and Steppe fronts defeated 15 enemy divisions, advanced 140 kilometers to the south and south-west, came close to the enemy’s Donbass grouping and liberated Kharkov - for the second and last time. Favorable conditions were created for the liberation of Left-Bank Ukraine.

By 12 o'clock on August 23, Kharkov was completely cleared of German troops. In the battles for the city, the 28th, 89th Guards, 84th, 116th, 252nd and 299th Rifle Divisions of the 53rd Army (I.M. Managarov), 93rd Guards, 183 1st and 375th Rifle Divisions of the 69th Army (V.D. Kryuchenkon), 15th Guards Division of the 7th Guards Army (M.S. Shumilov). All these divisions were given the honorary name of Kharkov.

The Germans managed to withdraw the bulk of their troops from Kharkov the day before. During the occupation and fighting, the Nazis destroyed about 300 thousand civilians and prisoners of war in the city and region, drove 160 thousand people to work in Germany, destroyed over 500 industrial enterprises, all cultural, educational, medical and municipal institutions and over one and a half million square meters housing. 1,144,000 Soviet soldiers and officers took part in the Belgorod-Kharkov operation. Losses amounted to: 71,611 (6.2%) people killed and 183,955 wounded. The average daily loss is 12,170 people.

The 40th Army (K.S. Moskalenko) and the 47th Army (P.P. Korzun), which continued to pursue the retreating units of the Germans, by the end of August 23, captured the city of Lebedin, as well as the large settlements of Veprik, Oleshnya, Chupakhovka and tied up battles for Zenkov.

I. Stalin gave the order to Colonel-General I.S. Konev, Army General N.F. Vatutin, General of the Army R.Ya. Malinovsky on the encouragement of military personnel: "... In offensive battles for the capture of the city of Kharkov, our troops showed high combat skills, courage and ability to maneuver ... For excellent military operations, I express gratitude to all the troops led by you who participated in the operation to liberate Kharkov." Ten rifle divisions are given the name "Kharkov". On this day, Moscow saluted our valiant troops with twenty artillery salvos from 224 guns.

The troops of the left wing of the Kalinin Front on August 23, after a five-day pause, resumed the offensive. The 39th Army (A.I. Zygin), reinforced by the 5th Guards Rifle Corps, launched an offensive against Dukhovshchina. The enemy, having pulled up reserves, offered fierce resistance, continuously counterattacked and improved his defensive positions. As a result of intense battles, the resistance of the Germans could not be broken even these days.

The troops of the Southern Front repulsed the German counterattacks, accompanied by massive air strikes, and expanded the breakthrough. On August 23, mechanized units reached the Donetsk-Amvrosievka area and with a decisive attack captured this important stronghold in the enemy’s defense.

The month and a half (from July 5 to August 23. This day marks the Day of Military Glory of Russia) Battle of Kursk, the largest battle of World War II, has ended. If the Battle of Stalingrad was a psychological turning point in the war, then Kursk was a turning point in military terms. The fascist troops were forced to go on the defensive along the entire Soviet-German front. The Germans lost 30 divisions, including 7 tank divisions (over 500 thousand soldiers and officers killed and wounded), 1.5 thousand tanks, more than 3.7 thousand aircraft. From our side, only in three major operations of the Battle of Kursk - Kursk defensive, Oryol offensive and Belgorod-Kharkov offensive - losses (according to official data) amounted to 254,470 people killed and 608,833 wounded. Losses in tanks and aircraft were more significant than the German ones (the Ministry of Defense still keeps these figures secret). But they can be judged by one single fact: near Kursk and Orel, almost two-thirds of the original composition of the French Normandie air regiment, including such aces as Lefebvre and Tyulian, died. And this, despite the fact that they flew on our best Yak-3 fighters, and they flew perfectly: once in one day the French shot down 100 German aircraft. This gives an idea of ​​the terrible losses that yesterday's flight school cadets suffered, who were thrown into the Kursk meat grinder.

The July-August offensive of the Soviet troops was planned surprisingly well: the left wing Western front launched an attack on Orel on July 12, the Central Front launched a counteroffensive on July 15, the left wing of the Bryansk Front resumed the offensive on July 25. The Steppe Front began to strike in the Belgorod region on August 3, the offensive of the right wing of the Western Front in the Spas-Demensk region began on August 7. Thus, the pauses between strikes in different parts of the huge front did not exceed a week, or even 3-4 days - a time during which, even with reserves, it would be impossible to organize their effective transfer and supply of fuel and ammunition. However, one of the developers of the Battle of Kursk G.K. Zhukov admitted in his memoirs that events unfolded more slowly than expected - the advance of the fronts on average did not exceed 4 kilometers per day. “The main mistake lay in the fact that the Headquarters was somewhat hasty with the transition to counter-offensive operations and did not create a stronger grouping as part of the left wing of the Western Front, which, moreover, had to be seriously reinforced during the battle ... Then we all believed that it was necessary to beat the enemy as soon as possible until he's settled firmly on the defensive. But this was an erroneous reasoning. All this, taken together, was the result of an underestimation of the defensive capabilities of the enemy,” Zhukov wrote and cited Stalin’s instruction, which no one dared to challenge: “Our task is to expel the Germans from our territory as soon as possible, and we will surround them when they become weaker.” Meanwhile, it was already clear that the frontal frontal strikes did not justify themselves. “It was possible to carry out operations to cut off and encircle significant enemy groupings, which would facilitate the further conduct of the war,” said Zhukov and other military leaders.

After the end of the Battle of Kursk, the English correspondent Alexander Werth visited the battlefields: “When I was driving ... from Volchansk to Valuiki and further to Belgorod and Kharkov, I saw that the area north of Belgorod to Kharkov (where the Germans penetrated about 50 kilometers into Kursk ledge) turned into a gloomy desert - even all the trees and bushes here were swept away by artillery fire. The battlefield was still littered with hundreds of burnt tanks and wrecked planes, and even a few kilometers away, the stench of thousands of half-buried corpses hung in the air... In the distance, on a hill under a blue summer sky, one could see the ruins of churches, the remains of houses, and lonely chimneys... The ruins on the hill were ruins of Mtsensk. Two old women and four cats - these are all the living creatures that the Soviet soldiers found where the Germans withdrew on July 20.

On August 23, our troops knocked out and destroyed 77 German tanks on all fronts. In air battles and anti-aircraft artillery fire, 106 enemy aircraft were shot down.

The commander of the 670th anti-aircraft artillery regiment, Pyotr Stepanovich Kandaurov, died in the liberation battles in Kharkov. Ensuring the military operations of the army in January-August 1943, its unit destroyed 52 enemy aircraft. Hero of the Soviet Union P.S. Kandaurov became posthumously.

After the end of the Battle of Kursk, the entire diplomatic corps in the USSR was allowed to return to Moscow from Kuibyshev. The diplomatic corps and all foreign journalists were evacuated to Kuibyshev in October 1941, when the Germans were standing near Moscow.

I. Stalin signed the directive of the Stavka to the commander of the Siberian Military District on the formation of the Stalinist Volunteer rifle corps Siberians.

Residents of the village of Khvastovichi liberated from the German invaders, Oryol region - A. Novikov, M. Sviridov and M. Novikova say: “Having occupied Khvastovichi in October 1941, the Germans staged wholesale robberies. The soldiers went from house to house, taking away bread, livestock and valuables. After registering the population, the commandant's office issued each resident a bandage with a number to wear on the left arm. Those detained on the street without a humiliating bandage were beaten and arrested by the Germans. The Nazi executioners drove women, children, old people from the surrounding villages to Khvastovichi, and here they were tortured and executed. In the center of the village near the dairy plant, the Germans built a gallows, on which more than 150 peaceful Soviet citizens were hanged at different times. By order of the German commandant, Ober-Lieutenant Hoffmann, the Nazis shot a group of women in the forest near the Frolovsky Bolshak. The children of these women were gathered by the fiends at the firebox and shot from machine guns. German slave traders stole from the village. Khvastovichi and nearby villages over 500 people for German penal servitude. Before the retreat, the Germans burned all the houses, blew up the school, the mill, the sawmill, the hospital and the house of the pioneers.

The growing fear of the Germans fueled the absolutely unbelievable rumors that circulated in Germany in the summer of 1943. Some said that the Reich was preparing to use new super-missiles against England, others spoke of the upcoming invasion of British Isles thousand Japanese pilots. The incessant aerial bombardment gave rise to bloodthirsty thoughts of revenge. The media stigmatized the Anglo-American bomber pilots as murderers of helpless women and children, but when the plane was shot down and the pilots parachuted down and were taken prisoner, they were treated like officers and gentlemen. The miners of one of the industrial regions of the Reich sang a ditty:

Dear Tommy, fly yourself, fly.

And we, the miners, are not afraid underground.

Fly straight to Berlin.

There live those who yelled "Yes!".

The last line referred to the hysterical enthusiasm with which Berliners on February 18 greeted Goebbels' speech on total war. From the jokes that went around the Reich in 1943, he gave away the humor of the gallows. He was so contagious that even employees of the Goebbels Ministry of Propaganda secretly told jokes to each other. Question: What is the difference between Germany and India? Answer: "In India, one starves for all." The cynics even went so far as to call the North African city, where the German-Italian troops were defeated in the spring, "Tunisgrad". In another sick joke, it was about a man who was taken out from under the ruins 2 days after the air raid. His wife and son are dead, but he throws his injured right arm forward in the Nazi salute and shouts: “Heil Hitler! Danzig is German, and this is the most important thing!” Another anecdote concerned another man whose house was destroyed in a raid and was left practically naked, but because of the endless bombardments and the shortage of consumer goods, he cannot buy a suit and exclaims indignantly: “And all this because of one, the only person!" The man is immediately seized and dragged to the Nazi court, where they ask who he meant? The man raises his head and looks at the judge in surprise: “Churchill. And who did you mean?" The objects of popular humor increasingly became Nazi bosses: “Twenty years have passed since the end of the war. Goebbels sells newspapers on the streets, and Goering earns his living by selling medals and orders. A passer-by stops and asks what they are doing; started talking. Goebbels and Goering are interested in his name, and he says: “Don't you recognize me? I am Lord Hess."