Kursk: The German ViewA historic reassessment of the pivotal World War II battle that was a major Allied victory—from the German military perspective. The battle of Kursk, fought in the summer of 1943, involved six thousand German and Soviet armored vehicles, making it the biggest tank battle of all time and possibly the largest battle of any kind. Students of military history have long recognized the importance of Kursk, also known as "Operation Citadel," and there have been several serious studies of the battle. Yet, the German view of the battle has been largely ignored. After the war, U.S. Army Intelligence officers gathered German commanders' post-war reports of the battle. Due, in part, to poor translations done after the war, these important documents have been overlooked by World War II historians. In Kursk: The German View, history professor Steven H. Newton has collected, translated, and edited these accounts, including reports made by the Chiefs of Staff of Army Group South and the Fourth Panzer Army, and by the Army Group Center Operations Officer. As a result, this unprecedented picture of German strategy and operations is available. The translated staff reports are supplemented by Newton's commentary and original research, which challenges a number of widely accepted ideas about this pivotal battle. |
Contents
July 1943 | 27 |
March 1943 | 61 |
Fourth Panzer Army | 71 |
Ninth Army and Second Panzer Army | 97 |
to Operation Citadel | 134 |
Second Panzer and Ninth Armies | 140 |
Luftflotte Four | 179 |
Railroad Transportation | 201 |
July14 August 1943 | 304 |
PART 3 | 355 |
A Fatal Delay? | 371 |
Analysis and Critique | 381 |
Was Kursk a Decisive Battle? | 407 |
Notes | 439 |
| 457 | |
| 463 | |