The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in a Soviet victory. The Battle of Kursk is the single largest battle in the history of warfare. It ranks only behind the Battle of Stalingrad several months earlier as the most often-cited turning point in the European theatre of the war. It was one of the costliest battles of the Second World War, the single deadliest armoured battle in history, and the opening day of the battle, 5 July, was the single costliest day in the history of aerial warfare. The battle was also marked by fierce house-to-house fighting and hand-to-hand combat.
The Waffen-SS was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary Schutzstaffel (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. It was disbanded in May 1945.
Jäger is a German military term referring to specific light infantry units.
The Bundeswehr is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part and a civil part, the military part consisting of the German Army, the German Navy, the German Air Force, the Joint Support Service, the Joint Medical Service, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service.
Generalfeldmarschall was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire (Reichsgeneralfeldmarschall); in the Habsburg monarchy, the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, the rank Feldmarschall was used. The rank was the equivalent to Großadmiral in the Kaiserliche Marine and Kriegsmarine, a five-star rank, comparable to OF-10 in today's NATO naval forces.
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr together with the Marine and the Luftwaffe. As of 2024, the German Army had a strength of 63,047 soldiers.
SS-Verfügungstruppe was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the Nazi Party (NSDAP). On 17 August 1938 Adolf Hitler decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the Ordnungspolizei nor the Wehrmacht, but military-trained men at the disposal of the Führer. In time of war, the SS-VT were to be placed at the disposal of the army.
Panzergrenadier, abbreviated as PzG (WWII) or PzGren (modern), meaning "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier", is the German term for the military doctrine of mechanized infantry units in armoured forces who specialize in fighting from and in conjunction with infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) – that is, armoured troop carriers designed to carry a mechanized squad of six to eight soldiers into, during and out of combat while providing direct fire support for those troops.
Unteroffizier is a junior non-commissioned officer rank used by the Bundeswehr. It is also the collective name for all non-commissioned officers in Austria and Germany. It was formerly a rank in the Imperial Russian Army.
In military history, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, the German Empire in World War I.
General is the highest rank of the German Army and German Air Force. As a four-star rank it is the equivalent to the rank of admiral in the German Navy.
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, or simply the Knight's Cross , and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was lower in precedence than the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, the Grand Cross was never awarded at-large to Nazi German military and paramilitary forces. The Grand Cross' sole award was made to Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring in September 1939, making the Knight's Cross the de facto highest award among the decorations of Nazi Germany.
The Feldgendarmerie were a type of military police units of the armies of the Kingdom of Saxony, the German Empire and Nazi Germany until the conclusion of World War II in Europe.
Joachim Otto August Achatius von Kortzfleisch was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. As the commander of the Military District III (Berlin), he played a role in the failure of the attempted coup following the 20 July Plot attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, which was led by Kortzfleisch's own distant cousin, Claus von Stauffenberg.
The Wehrmacht were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe. The designation "Wehrmacht" replaced the previously used term Reichswehr and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted.
The Heer as the German army and part of the Wehrmacht inherited its uniforms and rank structure from the Reichsheer of the Weimar Republic (1921–1935). There were few alterations and adjustments made as the army grew from a limited peacetime defense force of 100,000 men to a war-fighting force of several million men.
Zugführer is a military appointment to a sub-subunit leader, e.g. platoon leader, belonging to the Non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank group or junior officer. A Zugführer leads or commands normally a subunit that is called in German language Zug.
A general of the branch, general of the branch of service or general of the ... is a three or four-star general officer rank in some armies. Several nations divide — or used to divide — their senior general officer ranks by the branch of troops they are qualified to command, or simply as an honorific title.
The ranks of the German Armed Forces,, were set up by the President with the Anordnung des Bundespräsidenten über die Dienstgradbezeichnungen und die Uniform der Soldaten on the basis of section 4, paragraph 3 of the Soldatengesetz. The Bundesbesoldungsordnung regulates the salary scales of all Federal office holders and employees including soldiers. The 'ZdV-64/10 – Abkürzungen in der Bundeswehr' gives the abbreviations and a list of the abbreviations.
Sonderführer, abbreviated Sdf or Sf, was a specialist role introduced in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in 1937 for the mobilization plan of the German armed forces.