Kursk photos

Kursk might be a good subject to discuss, so I throw in a question about it and see where it goes.

The battle of Kursk was a huge battle with a lot of resources spent on both sides. Was the Citadel the final nail in the coffin for the Nazi-Germany? The result of the battle, the Germans lost their ability to get the initiative for the rest of the war. Or had they lost it earlier?

My opinion is, the Germans had lost it earlier, but the Kursk battle caused severe losses for the Germans, losses that couldn't be replaced
 
I tend to think the Germans were out of ideas by Stalingrad, there is no doubt in my mind that had they followed standard methods they would have simply encircled Stalingrad and moved on, had they have done this and driven on to the Caspian sea the Russians quite possibly would have collapsed (again only personal opinion).

Doing this would have made the Russian defence of the Southern oil fields almost impossible and while they may not have been any use to the Germans initially their loss to the Russians would have had a greater impact (although not a critical one as the Russians had multiple sources) it would have also allowed the Germans to shorten their lines by not having to defend the Kerch peninsula.

Kursk to me was a strange plan as it also went away from the successful plans of the past, it was limited in its scope with no real gain other than the shortening of defensive lines, I also find it hard to believe that they had no idea how much of the Russian army they were facing yet they chose to go ahead with it, then when they discovered the difficulty they chose to limit the offensive further along a north-south rather than heading east and enveloping the pocket.

It is almost as though they had lost their nerve.
 
The Germans focused too much on the city of Stalingrad when they should have focused on the oil fields.

Do you think the Russian knowledge about the German intentions at Kursk had a significant importance for the German failure of Citadel?
 
The Germans focused too much on the city of Stalingrad when they should have focused on the oil fields.
Stalingrad was important for the security of the German left flank due to the nature of the terrain holding that bend in the river was critical as can be seen by the fact that they began withdrawing Army Group A from the Caucasus the second Army Group B failed.

Do you think the Russian knowledge about the German intentions at Kursk had a significant importance for the German failure of Citadel?

Obviously, it was but given the concentration of Russian forces I find it inconceivable that the Germans did not twig to the Russian plan, the Luftwaffe claimed to have covered every inch of the battlefield prior to the assault I find it hard to believe they missed all the preparations.
 
The Germans focused too much on the city of Stalingrad when they should have focused on the oil fields.
Stalingrad was important for the security of the German left flank due to the nature of the terrain holding that bend in the river was critical as can be seen by the fact that they began withdrawing Army Group A from the Caucasus the second Army Group B failed.



Obviously, it was but given the concentration of Russian forces I find it inconceivable that the Germans did not twig to the Russian plan, the Luftwaffe claimed to have covered every inch of the battlefield prior to the assault I find it hard to believe they missed all the preparations.

Can the Germans have overestimated the quality of their new vehicles? Hitler postponed the attack to get more of the latest tanks before the launch of their offensive
 
The Germans focused too much on the city of Stalingrad when they should have focused on the oil fields.

Can the Germans have overestimated the quality of their new vehicles? Hitler postponed the attack to get more of the latest tanks before the launch of their offensive

I have no doubt they did overestimate their abilities and underestimate the Russians but even so, it was never in the German doctrine to go charging into strongpoints.

They had gone as far as they did by bypassing and isolating strong points, for some reason at Kursk they abandoned that and decided to revisit WW1.
 
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