Largest Tank Battle in History (operation Citadel)

The Germans fighting in Russia were weakened by the Battle of Stalingrad, but the army still could put more than three million troops in the field. Hitler was willing to fight more to prove to the world that Germany was still capable of fighting. He thought that this attack on the Red Army at Kursk would destroy five Soviet armies which would knock them out for the remainder of the year. It would also allow Hitler to direct resources through the Mediterranean.

This attack was supposed to be a blitzkrieg operation, but bad weather and distraction on the other fronts postponed the attack. When the Germans were finally able to attack, the Soviets had already set 2,400 -anti tank and 2,700 anti-personnel for every mile for 6,000 miles of front. After four days of German offensive, the Russians counterattacked. Hitler was forced to call off Citadel and send his troops, to meet the Allied forces, in Italy.

There were a total of 6,000 tanks and 3,000 German tanks were lost. This loss devastated the Germans for they could not manufacture new ones quickly enough to replace them. This fight for Kursk involved the largest tank battle in history.