Battle of Kursk of Sicily had begun, Adolf Hitler was forced to have troops training in France diverted to meet the Allied threat in the Mediterranean, rather than use them as a strategic reserve for the Eastern Front. Hitler canceled the offensive at Kursk after only a week, in part to divert forces to Italy. Germany's extensive losses of men and tanks ensured that the victorious Soviet Red Army enjoyed the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war. The Germans hoped to weaken the Soviet offensive potential for the summer of 1943 by cutting off the forces that they anticipated would be
Kursk a new fortress was built, in 1616 it was garrisoned by over 1,300 soldiers. At the beginning of the 17th century Kursk was repeatedly attacked by Polish-Lithuania (in 1612, 1616, 1617, 1634), the Crimean Tatars, and the Nogai horde, but Kursk fortress was never taken. Residents of Oryol and other southern Russian cities were resettled in Kursk (by 1678 2,800 had been resettled). The city developed due to its advantageous geographical position on the shortest route from Moscow to the Crimea and from Kiev to the Crimea. It was raided frequently by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Crimean Khanate until the