What 1943 WWII battle between Germany and the Soviet Union remains to this day the largest series of armored clashes ever?
"significant German forces at the Battle of Stalingrad, which ended in February 1943 and reversed the tide of the war in Europe. In the summer of 1943, following the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army seized the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war. All Soviet territory was liberated from Axis occupation by 1944. After having driven the Axis armies out of Eastern Europe, in May 1945 the Red Army launched its assault on Berlin, which effectively ended World War II in Europe (see V-E Day). Much of Eastern Europe and great parts of the Soviet Union were devastated"
"Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943) was the largest confrontation of World War II, in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in Southern Russia. Marked by fierce close quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in air raids, it was the largest (nearly 2.2 million personnel) and bloodiest (1.8–2 million killed, wounded or captured) battle in the history of warfare. After their defeat at Stalingrad, the German High Command had to withdraw vast military forces from the Western Front to"
"the Second World War and for the loss of life associated with the battle. The term Stalingrad has become almost synonymous with large-scale urban battles with high casualties on both sides. Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943) was the largest confrontation of World War II, in which Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in Southern Russia. Marked by fierce close quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians in air raids, it was the largest (nearly 2.2 million personnel) and bloodiest (1.8–2"
"Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, starting what was known in the USSR as the ""Great Patriotic War"". The Red Army stopped the seemingly invincible German Army at the Battle of Moscow, aided by an unusually harsh winter. The Battle of Stalingrad, which lasted from late 1942 to early 1943, dealt a severe blow to the Germans from which they never fully recovered and became a turning point in the war. After Stalingrad, Soviet forces drove through Eastern Europe to Berlin before Germany surrendered in 1945. The German Army suffered 80% of its military deaths in the Eastern Front. The"
"commander-in-chief of all German forces in the country surrendered to Field Marshal Harold Alexander, the supreme commander of all Allied forces in the Mediterranean area. Fighting would, however, continue in Greece where a civil war had broke out and end on 1949 after Greek government troops aided by the US and Britain defeated the communist guerrillas supported by Marshall Tito and USSR. On 22 June 1941, Germany launched the invasion of the Soviet Union, code-named Operation Barbarossa. This invasion, the biggest in recorded history, started the bloodiest conflict in world history; the Axis–Soviet War, also known as the Eastern Front."
"German offensive in the Soviet Union turned into a continual fallback. The Battle of Kursk, which involved the largest tank battle in history, was the last major German offensive on the Eastern Front. In June 1944, British and American forces invaded France in the D-Day landings, opening a new front against Germany. Berlin finally fell in 1945, ending World War II in Europe. The war was the largest and most destructive in human history, with 60 million dead across the world. More than 40 million people in Europe had died as a result of World War II, including between 11"
"the defeat of Japan must follow."" The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade. It was at its height from mid-1940 through to the end of 1943. The Battle of the Atlantic pitted U-boats and other warships of the Kriegsmarine (German navy) and aircraft of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) against the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Navy, the United States Navy,"
"of their non-aggression pact. Using his Marshals Zhukov and Konev, he was determined to beat Eisenhower to Berlin and the ""Reichstag"". The Soviet Army ultimately captured Berlin. On 15 April 1945, the Soviet Union fired a massive barrage of some one million artillery shells, one of the largest in history, onto the German positions west of the Oder. After the devastating attack, Marshal Zhukov's troops advanced towards Berlin only to be ambushed by German soldiers that had withdrawn from their positions in the Oder to the fortified positions of the Seelow Heights further west after receiving intelligence about the expected"
"Important remembrance sites Important remembrance sites During the autumn and winter of 1944-45, the longest battle of the Second World War on German soil took place in the Hürtgen Forest. With this battle, which ended in an Allied victory, the war returned to Germany and open the road to Berlin. Seven 'audiospots' have been installed in the region. Important remembrance sites Berlin is the endpoint of the route. The Battle of Berlin was one of the last battles of the Second World War in Europe. Many soldiers died in widespread house-to-house fighting where Soviet soldiers faced desperate German resistance. On"
"Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945, and was a major part of the Naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade. It was at its height from mid-1940 through to the end of 1943. The Battle of the Atlantic pitted U-boats and other warships of the ""Kriegsmarine"" (Navy) and aircraft of the ""Luftwaffe"" (Air Force) against the"
"three months of Germany's defeat. From November 1943, during the seven-week Battle of Changde, the Chinese forced Japan to fight a costly war of attrition, while awaiting Allied relief. In January 1944, the Allies launched a series of attacks in Italy against the line at Monte Cassino and tried to outflank it with landings at Anzio. On 27 January 1944, Soviet troops launched a major offensive that expelled German forces from the Leningrad region, thereby ending the longest and most lethal siege in history. The following Soviet offensive was halted on the pre-war Estonian border by the German Army Group"
"Poland, the Winter War, the occupation of the Baltic states and Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany broke the non-aggression treaty and invaded the Soviet Union with the largest and most powerful invasion force in human history, opening the largest theater of World War II. Although the German army had considerable early success, their attack was halted in the Battle of Moscow. Subsequently, the Germans were dealt major defeats first at the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–43, and then in the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. Another"
"Battle of Tali-Ihantala The Battle of Tali-Ihantala (June 25 to July 9, 1944) was part of the Finnish-Soviet Continuation War (1941–1944), which occurred during World War II. The battle was fought between Finnish forces—using war materiel provided by Germany—and Soviet forces. To date, it is the largest battle in the history of the Nordic countries. The battle marked a point in the Soviet offensive when the Finnish forces first prevented the Soviets from making any significant gains. Earlier at Siiranmäki and Perkjärvi the Finns had halted advancing Soviet forces. The Finnish forces achieved a defensive victory against overwhelming odds. After"
"were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defenses of the Siegfried Line. With about 610,000 men committed and some 89,000 casualties, including 19,000 killed, the Battle of the Bulge was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II. The Colmar Pocket (French: Poche de Colmar; German: Brückenkopf Elsaß) was the area held in central Alsace, France by the German Nineteenth Army from November 1944 – February 1945, against the U.S. 6th Army Group during World War II. It was formed when 6th AG liberated southern and northern Alsace"
"been made as a personal pledge of President Ryti. Finland then could ask the Soviet Union for peace. Battle of Tali-Ihantala The Battle of Tali-Ihantala (June 25 to July 9, 1944) was part of the Finnish-Soviet Continuation War (1941–1944), which occurred during World War II. The battle was fought between Finnish forces—using war materiel provided by Germany—and Soviet forces. To date, it is the largest battle in the history of the Nordic countries. The battle marked a point in the Soviet offensive when the Finnish forces first prevented the Soviets from making any significant gains. Earlier at Siiranmäki and Perkjärvi"
"Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf (Filipino: ""Labanan sa Golpo ng Leyte"") is generally considered to have been the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history. It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar and Luzon, from 23–26 October 1944, between combined American and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy. On 20 October, United States troops invaded the island of Leyte as part of a strategy aimed at isolating Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia, and in"
"February 8, 1943. In July 1943, the Germans launched Operation Citadel in an attempt to recapture Kursk. During the resulting Battle of Kursk, the village of Prokhorovka near Kursk became the center of a major armoured engagement – the Battle of Prokhorovka – between Soviet and German forces, which is widely considered to have been one of the largest tank battles in history. Operation Citadel was the last major German offensive against the Soviet Union. Rebuilding efforts in the city began in February 1944. The cultural life recovered as well: on 19 February the cinema reopened and on February 27"
"and Axis forces attacked the city, and in 1942 it became the site of one of the pivotal battles of the war. The Battle of Stalingrad had perhaps the greatest casualty figures of any single battle in the history of warfare (estimates are between 1,250,000 and 1,798,619). The battle became a titanic struggle between Hitler and Stalin as both saw it of great propaganda value, each keenly aware of the namesake of the city, and each poured hundreds of thousands of men into the battle. The battle began on August 23, 1942, and on the same day, the city suffered"
"Battle of Kiev (1941) The First Battle of Kiev was the German name for the operation that resulted in a very large encirclement of Soviet troops in the vicinity of Kiev during World War II. This encirclement is considered the largest encirclement in the history of warfare (by number of troops). The operation ran from 7 August to 26 September 1941 as part of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. In Soviet military history, it is referred to as the Kiev Strategic Defensive Operation, with somewhat different dating of 7 July – 26 September 1941. Much of"
"most courageous feats in military history. The film then covers the Nazi conquests in the Balkans, described as a preliminary to close off possible Allied counter-invasion routes, before the war against Russia was launched on June 22, 1941. The narration describes the German ""keil und kessel"" tactics for offensive warfare, and the Soviet ""defense in depth"" used to counter this. The scorched earth Soviet tactics, the room-to-room urban warfare in Soviet cities, and the guerilla warfare behind enemy lines are also used to underline the Soviet resolve for victory against the Germans. The Siege of Leningrad and the Battle of"
"autumn of 1942 was the single most powerful air formation in the world. Some 1,000 tons of bombs were dropped in 48 hours, more than in London at the height of the Blitz. Stalin refused to evacuate civilian population from the city, so when bombing began 400,000 civilians were trapped within city boundaries. The exact number of civilians killed during the course of the battle is unknown but was most likely very high. Around 40,000 were moved to Germany as slave workers, some fled the city during battle and a small number were evacuated by the Soviets. In February 1943"
"with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. [[File:Ww2 allied axis 1942 jun.png|center|thumb|700x700px|World War II at the height of Axis expansion (black) fighting against the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] (blue) and [[Communist International|Comintern]] (red). It is important to note that the [[Empire of Japan]] was not at war with the [[Soviet Union]] despite being part of the [[Tripartite Pact]].]] [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-012-0037-23A, Polen, Straßenkampf, Infanterie.jpg|left|thumb|The German [[Invasion of Poland]] in 1939 is the official start of [[World War II|WWII]]]] The Second World War was a global military conflict that took place in 1939–1945. It was the largest and deadliest war in"
"It is generally accepted as being the most lethal conflict in human history, with over 30 million dead as a result. It involved more land combat than all other World War II theatres combined. On the very night of the invasion Soviet troops received a directive undersigned by Marshal Timoshenko and General of the Army Georgi Zhukov that commanded: ""do not answer to any provocations"" and ""do not undertake any actions without specific orders"". The early weeks of the invasion were devastating for the Soviet Army. Enormous numbers of Soviet troops were encircled in pockets and fell into Nazi German"
"bears the name of nemesis, Joseph Stalin, in his sights, Hitler sent Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus to crush the city of Stalingrad. What he did not expect was the ferocious resistance offered by Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov. What was supposed to be a battle lasting only a few weeks dragged to become one of the bloodiest battles in history. Original Airdate: 3/09/2009 Germany and Russia clashed in 1943 near the Soviet city of Kursk, as control of the Eastern Front lay open. The Germans were led by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, an aristocratic master tactician. Across the battlefield was"
"Battle of Hürtgen Forest The Battle of Hürtgen Forest () was a series of fierce battles fought from 19 September to 16 December 1944 between American and German forces on the Western Front during World War II in the Hürtgen Forest, a area about east of the Belgian–German border. It was the longest battle on German ground during World War II, and is the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought. The U.S. commanders' initial goal was to pin down German forces in the area to keep them from reinforcing the front lines farther north in the Battle"
"Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the entire war, described as ""Stalingrad on the Yangtze"". Since the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 followed by the Japanese attack of Shanghai in 1932, there had been ongoing armed conflicts between China and Japan without an official declaration of war. These"
"Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history. On 16 December 1944, Germany made a last attempt on the Western Front by using most of its remaining reserves to launch a massive counter-offensive in the Ardennes and along the French–German border to split the Western Allies, encircle large portions of Western Allied troops and capture their primary supply port at Antwerp to prompt a political settlement. By January, the offensive had been repulsed with no strategic objectives fulfilled. In Italy, the Western Allies remained stalemated at the German defensive line. In mid-January 1945, the Soviets and Poles attacked in"
"to the American public. Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf (Filipino: ""Labanan sa Golpo ng Leyte"") is generally considered to have been the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history. It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar and Luzon, from 23–26 October 1944, between combined American and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy. On 20 October, United States troops invaded the island of Leyte as part of a strategy aimed at isolating Japan from the countries it had occupied in"
"November 1941 where the Germans suffered defeat, and the Battle of Stalingrad, which has been described as the most ferocious battle to date. Following the conclusion of the Battle of the Caucasus, the North Caucasian Front and the headquarters of the 56th Army were disbanded in accordance with a Supreme Command directive of the 20 November 1943. The Independent Coastal Army was formed, for the second time, on their base. Immediately following the war, to demobilize the force, on 9 July 1945 the territory was split into three military districts: Donskoy, Stavropol, and the Kuban. The Donskoy Military District was"
"Battle of the Bzura The Battle of the Bzura (or the Battle of Kutno) was the largest battle of the 1939 German invasion of Poland, fought between 9 and 19 September 1939, between Polish and German forces. It began as a Polish counter-offensive, but the Germans outflanked the Polish forces and took all of western Poland. The Battle of the Bzura took place to the west of Warsaw, near the Bzura River. A Polish breakout attack gained initial success but eventually faltered after a concentrated German counterattack. It has been described as ""the major Polish counterattack of the campaign"" and"
"is reported to have been the largest in the West during the war: at 05:00 on 8 February 1945, 1,400 British and Canadian guns of all calibres opened fire at once in support of the British XXX Corps, consisting for the opening of the battle of four British divisions and the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division attacking east from Nijmegen into Germany. Included in the preliminary bombardment, which ended at 09:30, were 16 medium regiments (13 Royal Artillery and three Royal Canadian Artillery. This was followed at 10:00 by the 2½-hour barrage in support of XXX Corps infantry attacking into Germany."
"Field Marshal, because no German of that rank had surrendered before. Heavy losses affected both sides in the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the most costly battles in history. About 1.5 million people perished in this battle, including 100,000 civilians in the city. After Stalingrad, the initiative had passed from Germany but had not yet been seized by the Soviets. A desperate counterattack in the spring of 1943 by forces of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein temporarily halted the Soviet advance. The Battle of Kursk was the last major offensive by the German Army on the eastern front. The Soviets"
"the biggest and bloodiest land battle of World War II, the Battle of Monte Cassino, where an estimated third of a million lives were lost through the first five months of 1944. He was also one of the soldiers who reached the demolished abbey, having been directly involved in the final, and decisive assault on German forces ensconced in the Benedictine Monastery. In August 1944, he landed with allied forces on the beaches around Saint-Tropez, France, as part of Operation Dragoon which launched a 25-mile front onto the German invasion forces in Provence. He survived through another year of battle,"