Battle of Prokhorovka Battle of Prokhorovka The Battle of Prokhorovka was fought on 12 July 1943 near Prokhorovka, southeast of Kursk in the Soviet Union, during the Second World War. Taking place on the Eastern Front, the engagement was part of the wider Battle of Kursk, and occurred when the 5th Guards Tank Army of the Soviet Red Army attacked the II SS-Panzer Corps of the German Wehrmacht in one of the largest tank battles in military history. In April 1943, the German leadership began preparing for Operation Citadel, with the objective of enveloping and destroying the Soviet forces in the Kursk salient,
German tanks in World War II to produce and use tanks because of the Treaty of Versailles. But a secret program under the code name "Traktor" was developing armored military vehicles and artillery. The Germans tested the tank in the Soviet Union under the Treaty of Rapallo. "Leichter Traktor" which translates to "Light Tractor" was the cover name for all 4 tanks. In the early years of World War II they were used as training tanks. The first of these German-built tanks was the Panzer I. It was not designed for combat, but rather as a training vehicle to familiarize tank crews with Germany's modern battle