Discovery Channel - The Russian Front 1941-1945 (1998) Part 3 From Stalingrad to Kursk

The Russian Front chronicles the war between the Soviet Union and Germany that began on June 22, 1941, when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, and ended with a Soviet assault on Berlin in April 1945. More combatants were killed on the Eastern Front than in all other theaters of World War II combined. The war on the Russian Front was a bitter, deadly struggle, triumphant for the Nazis at first, but eventually proving to be their downfall. Among the military campaigns examined is the brutal battle for Stalingrad in 1942, in which the Red Army lost more than 1 million men in defense of the city, and the engagement at Kursk in July 1943 involving 1 million men and 2,700 tanks. Relive campaign by campaign and battle by battle the bloody war between Nazi Germany and the Red Army of the Soviet Union. Featuring rare archive footage from the front, this fascinating series retells a story of barbarism, heroism, self-sacrifice, patriotism, despair, and triumph. An epic history of war and warfare, it is also the story of ordinary soldiers on both sides who found themselves fighting to the death in an unimaginably harsh and brutal war. Professor John Erickson, the award-winning author of “Road to Stalingrad” and “Road to Berlin” reassesses the titanic struggle between Hitler and Stalin on the Eastern Front. Series features rare archive footage from both Russian and German sources, informative graphics and maps, and incisive commentary and analysis by Professor John Erickson.

Part 3 From Stalingrad to Kursk

On July 12, 1943, one of the greatest clashes of armor in military history takes place as the German offensive against the Russian fortification at Kursk, a Russian railway and industrial center, is stopped in a devastating battle, marking the turning point in the Eastern front in the Russians' favor. Between the two assailants, 6,000 tanks were deployed. On July 12, 900 Russian tanks clashed with 900 German at Prokhorovka—the Battle of Kursk's most serious engagement. When it was all over, 300 German tanks, and even more Russian ones, were strewn over the battlefield. But the Russians had stopped the German advance dead in its tracks. The advantage had passed to the East. The Germans' stay in Soviet territory was coming to an end.

This episode covers the dramatic events from the horrors of Stalingrad to the momentous events at the Battle of Kursk, Hitler's last chance to seize the initiative in the East.

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