![\"Panzer](\"https:\/\/secondbysecondworldwar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Wkursk1-300x186.jpg\")
<\/a>Panzer VI (Tiger) tank of the Waffen-SS Division ‘Das Reich’ near Kursk [Bundesarchiv_Bild_Zschaeckel-207-12]<\/p><\/div>This week in the war, on 12 July 1943, Hitler summoned two of his generals, G\u00fcnther von\u00a0Kluge and\u00a0Erich von Manstein,\u00a0to his headquarters in East Prussia (the Wolf’s Lair<\/em>) and ordered them to end the massive tank battle raging\u00a0near the Soviet town of Kursk, some 450 kilometers southwest of Moscow. The German plan had been to attack the bulge in the Soviet line, the \u2018Kursk salient,\u2019 simultaneously from the north and south, thereby cutting off and destroying the enemy infantry and armoured forces trapped within.<\/p>\n The Battle of Kursk had begun on 5 July and most Germans, particularly Hitler,\u00a0had been\u00a0expecting to win—in part because of the massive force of tanks they had assembled. These included the new Panthers and Tigers.<\/p>\n Within days, it became clear that the\u00a0battle\u00a0could end in failure. The German panzer force was suffering irreparable losses but still failing to\u00a0advance deeply enough into\u00a0Soviet territory. Despite the continued optimism of von Manstein, whose troops had been performing well, Hitler called an end to the offensive. He was already worried by the recent Allied invasion of Sicily<\/a> and was intent on moving troops from the Eastern Front to Italy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This week in the war, on 12 July 1943, Hitler summoned two of his generals, G\u00fcnther von\u00a0Kluge and\u00a0Erich von Manstein,\u00a0to his headquarters in East Prussia (the Wolf’s Lair) and ordered them to end the massive tank battle raging\u00a0near the Soviet … Continue reading