What should of the Germans done in 1943 instead of kursk??

Question

although Stalingrad was a stinging defeat to the Germans, they still had a fighting chance against the soviets but it was less likely than the previous summer. instead of the Germans attacking at kursk could they attack Moscow one last time? or even the previous year attack Moscow instead of Stalingrad? why did int they? was a defensive strategy more better at this stage of the war?

Answer 1

Germany wanted the oil fields in the Ukraine. The best invasion route was through Turkey and avoided much of the Soviet Unions military strength and burnt earth policies. However, Hitler always needed some legality to invade. With Poland he staged a mock Polish attack)

In theory, he could have invaded Turkey, seized the oilfields and gone on the defensive.

Answer 2

Moscow was not a military important target (as Dan pointed out, important in other ways).  Stalingrad was a roadblock on the way to the badly needed oil fields of the Caucasus region.

Answer 3

Realistically, it didn't matter what the Germans did following Stalingrad, because of a few reasons.

First, Stalingrad, although a large city, was by no means the most important city in the USSR. A push to Moscow would have made more sense. Actually, waiting until after the winter following the failed invasion of Greece by the Italians would have been the best, but Hitler was unable to accept that. (He was a megalomaniac after all.) Moscow would have broken the Soviets, (maybe) wreaked havoc with their internal political infrastructure, and could have potentially had the people lose faith.

Secondly, the Germans should have made their first priority the oil fields in Romania. By as early as 1942, the Germans had begun to reach their attrition point. (The Battle of the Bulge 2 years later was an attempt to snatch and grab American oil.) Oil was going to be key for any German offensive, and especially if they intended on taking over the vast area that was the Soviet Union.

Finally, atrophy was catching up with the Germans. Many historians have said that the United States never beat a person in a war, we just out produced them. With America's entrance into the war in 1942, the Axis powers were essentially doomed. The United State could just turn their overwhelming production capabilities to war, and could in essence win. (Case in point, the city of Pittsburgh produced more steel in 1944 than any other country involved in the war. And that was just one American city.)

Germany realized, only belatedly, that making a quick strike army is one thing, making a occupation army is another. They had simply covered too much ground, spread themselves too thin, and had begun to drain their resources faster than they could acquire new ones.

Answer 4

They still needed to get to the Caucusus for oil