Second Battle of Kharkov

The Second Battle of Kharkov, so named by Wilhelm Keitel, was an Axis counter-offensive in the region around Kharkov (now Kharkiv) against the Red Army Izium bridgehead offensive conducted 12–28 May 1942, on the Eastern Front during World War II. Its objective was to eliminate the Izium bridgehead over Seversky Donets or the "Barvenkovo bulge" (Russian: Барвенковский выступ) which was one of the Soviet offensive's staging areas. After a winter counter-offensive that drove German troops away from Moscow and also depleted the Red Army's reserves, the Kharkov offensive was a new Soviet attempt to expand upon their strategic initiative, although it failed to secure a significant element of surprise.

On 12 May 1942, Soviet forces under the command of Marshal Semyon Timoshenko launched an offensive against the German 6th Army from a salient established during the winter counter-offensive. After initial promising signs, the offensive was stopped by German counterattacks. Critical errors by several staff officers and by Joseph Stalin, who failed to accurately estimate the 6th Army's potential and overestimated their own newly trained forces, led to a German pincer attack which cut off advancing Soviet troops from the rest of the front. The operation caused almost 300,000 Soviet casualties compared to just 20,000 for the Germans and their allies.

Battle of Kharkov

The Battle of Kharkov was any one of four World War II battles in and near the city of Kharkov. In usage the term is sometimes indistinct, perhaps meaning the collection of all fighting at Kharkov including and in between the four named battles, or perhaps meaning just one of the battles without specifying which. For example, soldiers have received awards "for their action in the Battle of Kharkov".

The four named battles are:

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабоче-крестьянская Красная армия; РККА, or Raboche-krest'yanskaya Krasnaya armiya: RKKA, frequently shortened in Russian to Красная aрмия; KA, in English: Red Army) was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and after 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established immediately after the 1917 October Revolution (Red October or Bolshevik Revolution). The Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations (especially the various groups collectively known as the White Army) of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. Beginning in February 1946, the Red Army, along with the Soviet Navy, embodied the main component of the Soviet Armed Forces; taking the official name of "Soviet Army" (Russian: Советская Армия (СА)/Sovetskaya Armija), until its dissolution in December 1991.

The Red Army is credited as being the decisive land force in the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War II. During operations on the Eastern Front, it fought 75%–80% of the German land forces (Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS) deployed in the war.

Panzer corps

A panzer corps (German: Panzerkorps) was a military formation type in the German Wehrmacht during World War II. The name was introduced in 1941, when the motorised corps (Armeekorps (mot) or AK(mot)) were renamed to panzer corps. Panzer corps were created throughout the war, and existed in all service arms of the Wehrmacht except the Navy. Those renamed from ordinary motorised corps retained their numbering.

Purpose

Panzer corps underwent transformation as the war went on. Initially they were the main strike force of the Wehrmacht, and consisted of motorised infantry divisions (ID (mot)) and panzer divisions. Later in the war it was possible to find panzer corps that consisted solely of infantry divisions.

During the initial period of the war the panzer corps predecessor, the motorised corps, were grouped into various panzer groups (Panzergruppen). Panzer groups were named (i.e. not designated with numbers) during the campaigns in Poland, France, and Greece, they were not used at all in Norway and Denmark in 1940, and numbered 1-4 during the first half year of the war against the Soviet Union. In the last case, a panzer group normally consisted of two or three motorized corps. They were the operational movement element of Army Group North, Army Group Centre and Army Group South. The motorized corps served as the tactical command element in the command structure, with the individual divisions serving as tactical combat elements.

Kharkiv

Kharkiv (Ukrainian: Харків, pronounced [ˈxɑrkiu̯]), or Kharkov (Russian: Ха́рьков; IPA: [ˈxarʲkəf]), is the second-largest city of Ukraine. Located in the north-east of the country, it is the largest city of the Slobozhanshchyna historical region. The city has a population of about 1.5 million people.

The city was founded in 1654 and after a humble beginning as a small fortress grew out to a major centre of Ukrainian culture within the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine occupied by Soviet troops in December 1917. It functioned as the first capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic until January 1935, after which the capital relocated to Kiev. Kharkiv is the administrative centre of Kharkiv Oblast and of the surrounding Kharkiv district.

Kharkiv operates as a major cultural, scientific, educational, transport and industrial centre of Ukraine, with 60 scientific institutes, 30 establishments of higher education, 6 museums, 7 theatres and 80 libraries. Its industry specialises primarily in machinery and in electronics. There are hundreds of industrial companies in the city, including globally important giants like the Morozov Design Bureau and the Malyshev Tank Factory (leaders in world tank production from the 1930s to the 1980s); Khartron (aerospace and nuclear electronics); and the Turboatom turbines producer.