Battle of Prokhorovka: The Tank Battle at Kursk, the Largest Clash of Armor in History

The Battle of Kursk was one of the defining moments of World War II. In July 1943, German forces under Erich von Manstein—one of Germany’s best generals—launched a massive attack in an offensive code-named Citadel. A week later, the Soviets counterattacked, sparking a huge clash of tanks at Prokhorovka, the largest armor battle in history, pitting more than six hundred Soviet tanks against some three hundred German panzers. Though the Germans gained a tactical victory, destroying huge numbers of Soviet tanks, they failed to achieve their objectives, and in the end the battle marked a turning point on the Eastern Front. The Red Army gained the strategic initiative and would not lose it.