Belgorod occupied Belgorod from 25 October 1941 to 9 February 1943. The Germans re-captured it on 18 March 1943 in the final move of the Third Battle of Kharkov. On 12 July 1943, during the Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in world history took place near Prokhorovka, and Red Army definitively retook the city on 5/6 August 1943. The Belgorod Diorama is one of the World War II monuments commemorating the event. In 1954 the city became the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast. From this time the rapid development of the city as a regional center began. Belgorod is
German tanks in World War II — High Command. In actual tank-on-tank encounters the German armor performed poorly, but as a coherent unit, the combined arms tactic of the Blitzkrieg shocked the Allies. The German Panzer forces at the start of World War II were not especially impressive. Only 4% of the defense budget was spent on armored fighting vehicle (AFV) production. Guderian had planned for two main tanks: the Panzer III, which was in production; and the Panzer IV with a 75 mm gun, which did not have one. The design work for the Panzer IV had begun in 1935 and trials of prototypes were