Project Nomination One of the Main Great Patriotic

Project Nomination: «One of the Main Great Patriotic War Battles» Topic: «The Battle of Kursk» Performed by Diana Pogosyan Form 7 «B» School № 23 Under the supervision Z. M. Davidova

I have always been very interested in any aspect of World War II, mostly because my father extremely interested in WW II. Throughout his life he has read a lot of books about wars, seen various moves about great battles of WW II. Now I am very knowledgeable about World War II , and hope to add the information that I learn in this project to my previous knowledge of the war and world history. Moreover, last year my cousin was in Kursk with a group of students. She told me many interesting facts about the largest battle in WW II, and gave photos.

The battle of Kursk took place in July 1943. The battle was a World War II engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near Kursk(450 kilometers or 280 miles southwest of Moscow) in the Soviet Union during July and August 1943.

Defense of Kursk was put into the hands of two generals –K. Rokossovsky and N. Vatutin.

For the attack on Kursk, Germany had grouped 900, 000 soldiers in the region, 10, 000 artillery guns, 2, 700 tanks and 2, 000 aircraft. About 1/3 rd of all Germany`s military strength was concentrated in the area.

The Russians had also placed vast numbers of men and equipment in the Kursk bulge. 1. 3 million soldiers were based there, 20, 000 artillery pieces, 3, 600 tanks and 2, 400 planes.

By July 11 th the Germans had taken their positions to attack Prokhorovka. Not large area near Prokhorovka was occupied by nearly 1, 500 tanks at the same time. The battle near Prokhorovka has been the greatest tank battle in war history and had huge importance for the whole of Kursk operation and WW II in general.

Memoirs of Pavel Rotmistrov, the marshal of the armored forces: “In the morning of July 12 th I was at an observation point alongside a group of officers. We were able to observe the field of the upcoming battle properly. By 6 a. m. it was reported that the troops are ready for the fight. And during the very first minutes of the battle two huge “billows” of tanks started to move towards each other covered in dust and smoke. Not large area near Prokhorovka was occupied by nearly 1, 500 tanks at the same time. That was the beginning of the most severe tank battle in the whole of war history.

After the battle of Kursk , the War in the eastern front was a long Russian advanced , in which the Russian army returned to all the territory it lost to the Germans. The Germans could know longer at attack or stop the Russian advanced, and were just pushed back in a long retreat. The German Army couldn`t recover after the battle. Its best commanders and crews were buried on that battlefield forever. It was the last such a global operation undertaken by the Germans

It was the last major offensive they launched in Russia.

Alexander Mikhailov, governor of Kursk region of the Russian Federation: «Kursk battle was an example of adamant fortitude, selflessness of soldiers, officers, and all Soviet people. This was our common victory. »

There are many monuments and Victory memorials in Kursk.

This battle show brave and self sacrificing officers and soldiers were.

A cathedral on the Field of Prokhorovka. It commemorates the Red Army victory in the battle of the 5 th Guards Tank Army

This year all Russian people will celebrate the 70 th anniversary of the Victory in WW II. On the 9 th of may 2015 we will put flowers to the monuments to honoor the memory of the war heroes. We shall always remember what our grandfathers have done for peace on the earth.

“Flying round the Earth in the space-ship I saw how wonderful our planet was. People, let us preserve this beauty and not destroy it!” /Yuri Gagarin/