By the summer of 1943, two-thirds of the German Army was based in Russia.īy the summer of 1943, the Russians had steadily advanced east. As there was no second front in the west – and the Germans predicted that there would not be in 1943 – men based in the west were moved to the Russian Front. The new equipment was matched by an increase in manpower. The Luftwaffe received the Focke-Wolfe 190A fighter and the Henschel 129. The Tiger, King Tiger and Panther tanks were introduced as was the new Ferdinand self-propelled gun. The production of planes had doubled between the two years ammunition production had increased three-fold by 1943.īy the summer of 1943, the Wehrmacht was also being equipped with new weaponry. In 1942, Germany produced 5,700 medium and heavy tanks. The German industrial sector headed by Albert Speer, was expanding at a massive rate despite the bombing of Germany by the Allies. Therefore, for the morale of the German Army, the German High Command had to organise a massive offensive against Russia – if only to prove that the German Armed Forces based in Russia were still mighty and a force to be reckoned with.īy the summer of 1943, the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe were increasingly well armed. A continued retreat would also encourage the work of the Russian partisans massed in the west of their country – waiting to strike on a retreating army. If this retreat west continued, it would prove to Germany’s enemies that the nation’s military power had been fatally wounded at Stalingrad. However, after the defeat at Stalingrad, the German army on the Eastern Front had been in retreat. The Russian (Red) Army had little in reserve and the Germans nearly made it to Moscow before the infamous Russian winter set in at the end of 1941. Together with aerial support, the Wehrmacht’s tanks had torn swathes through the masses of the Russia Army.

Operation Barbarossa had shown the power of armoured warfare when Hitler unleashed Blitzkrieg on the Red Army.

This could only be to the advantage of the Germans. A defeat of Russia in the east might result in the collapse of any form of relationship between the Russians and the Allies in the west. It was known that the Russians were becoming increasingly tired at the seeming unwillingness of Britain and America to open up a second front in the west. However, they also hoped to force through a political one. A successful German offensive had obvious military consequences for the Germans.

Largest tank battle in world history