1. Operation Citadel & the Red Army’s Advance West
By: Ankur Garg, Orion Cox, Nico Erazo, and Giao Nguyen

2. - Hitler to his Generals
“A victory at Kursk would shine like a beacon to the world”
- Hitler to his Generals

3. Thesis
Operation Citadel along with the Red Army’s advance West created a shift in momentum for the Soviet forces after securing a key victory at the Battle of Kursk, isolating Hitler’s Eastern forces, therefore influencing the withdrawal of Axis forces on the Eastern front, leading to the victory of the Allied Powers in WWII.

4. Operation Citadel (5 July 1943 - 16 July 1943)
Operation Citadel was the title of a German attempt to capture Kursk (a Russian city), which was an alternative plan of revenge after their defeat at Stalingrad commenced by Manstein.
The battle would later be known as the Battle of Kursk.
It stood as a key turning point in WWII in favor of the Soviet advancements.
German forces vs. Soviet Union forces

6. Key Persons - Germany Walther Model Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany
Field Marshal leading 9th German Army

7. Key Persons - Germany Continued
Erich von Manstein
Guenther von Kluge
Commander led German Army on Southern side of bulge
Field Marshal led German Army on Northern side of bulge

8. Key Persons - Germany Continued
Hermann Hoth
General Werner Kempf
Lieutenant commanded Army Detachment "Kempf"
General led 4th Panzer Army

9. Konstantin Rokossovky
Key Persons - USSR
Nikolai Vatutin
Army General
Konstantin Rokossovky
Marshal of USSR/Poland

10. Key Persons - USSR continued
Ivan Konev
Georgy Zhukov
Military Commander
Marshal

11. Warfare The Germans assembled 900,000 men and 2,700 tanks.
The Soviets had known about the attack through double agents and had amassed 1.3 million men and 3,600 tanks.
The Germans advanced only 10 miles (16 km) into the salient in the north and 30 miles (48 km) in the south, losing many of their tanks in the process. At the height of the battle on July 12, the Soviets began to counterattack, having built up by then a marked preponderance of both troops and tanks.
The attack commenced on July 5th, 1943 and lasted until August 23, 1943.

12. Timeline ( July 5th - July 15th 1943 )
Soviet Marshal-General Rokossovsky counter-attacks on the Central Front
Fails but slows the Germans advancements.
German General Hoth leads 4th Panzer army
Success in the salient got them closer to Pokrovka
Zhukov and Vassilevky given control of Kursk
Bryansk Front moves in on the German 9th Army
Soviets deploy over 1000 tanks toward Pokrovka against 4th Panzer Army
Sokolosky moves against German 9th army.
Hitler orders the end of Operation Citadel
Germans Enact Operation Citadel
Russian Defenses Prepare for attack
Fighting in the Kurk salient officially ends.
July 5th 1943
July 6th 1943
July 7th 1943
July 8th 1943
July 9th 1943
July 10th 1943
July 11th 1943
July 12th 1943
July 13th 1943
July 14th 1943
July 15th 1943

13. Outcome
“The Battle of Kursk was the largest tank battle in history, involving some 6,000 tanks, 2,000,000 troops, and 4,000 aircraft. It marked the decisive end of the German offensive capability on the Eastern Front and cleared the way for the great Soviet offensives of 1944–45”
Russia’s momentum from driving Germany out of Kursk pushed Hitler’s troops far enough in order for Allied troops to recover the city of Orel (now Oryol).

14. Ending the Conflict
On July 13, Hitler called many of the soldiers from Kursk to go reinforce Sicily, Italy, where the Allies had landed.
The German offensive lasted until August 5th and the Soviets were able to re-claim Kharkov on the 23rd.
The entire battle involved over 4 million men, 13,000 Armored Vehicles, and 14,000 Aircraft, making it one of the largest battles of the war.
The Germans had lost 70,000 men, 2,900 tanks, and 1,392 Planes.
With this Soviet victory, the Allies had successfully halted the Axis advancement West.

15. Red Army’s advance West
Following the German’s commencement of Operation Citadel, the Soviet High Command, Stavka, learned of the enemy movement and counter acted.
The USSR sent a legion of their elite tanks to combat the mobilizing German Waffen SS.
The outcome was a clash “by a muzzle-to- muzzle, hull-to-hull confrontation between the war’s finest signature tanks—Germany’s Tiger and Russia’s T-34”.
This battle would be known as the Battle of Prokhorovka (July 1943).

16. Warfare
German forces included: 2,700 tanks including many Tiger tanks.
Soviet forces included: 3,600 tanks, with ⅔ of the tanks being T-34 tanks.

17. Outcome of Prokhorovka
Although the USSR was able to deny German advance westward, the Soviets suffered much higher losses of troops and artillery units.
“But what really counts is that the Germans, too, were stopped completely. Their best troops, under their best commanders, failed to execute a comprehensively planned operation”
Historians believe that the clash was fought in huge numbers, but without any significant gain.

18. “The Russian Colossus. has been underestimated by us
“The Russian Colossus...has been underestimated by us...whenever a dozen divisions are destroyed the Russians replace them with another dozen” - German Army General Chief of Staff Franz Haldervon Armin

19. Works Cited
Axelrod, Alan. "Battle of Kursk." Encyclopedia of World War II, Vol. 2. Facts On File, 2013.History Research Center. Web. 22 Apr
"Battle of Kursk." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Web. 22 Apr
Frame, Arthur T. "Battle of Kursk: World War II." World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society. ABC-CLIO, Web. 20 Apr
"Kursk - WW2." Second World War History. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr
Showalter, Dennis. "A New Deconstruction of Prokhorovka." HistoryNet. N.p., 05 Oct Web. 26 Apr
"The Battle of Kursk." The Battle of Kursk. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016
"World War 2 Quotes." Second World War History. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr
Borrero, Mauricio. "Battle of Kursk." Russia. Facts On File, Modern World History Online. Web. 26 Apr