Battle Of Kursk Begins In What. By march 1943 hitler was determined, for both political and economic reasons, to hold a front running from the gulf of finland down to the sea of azov, and to inflict a resounding defeat on the russians at kursk,. Fighting on the southern face of the kursk bulge actually began on july 4, 1943.

The battle commenced on july 5, 1943, with the german offensive launching a ferocious assault on the northern and southern flanks of the kursk salient. On july 5, 1943, the largest tank battle in history began near the southern city of kursk.