The first tanks in the German army appeared at the end of World War I - these were the A7V machines. After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the German armed forces were forbidden to develop armored weapons, but the German side did not honor these restrictions and secretly developed armored weapons. However, after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, this development became fully official, and in 1935 the 1st Armored Division was formed. In the period 1935-1939, further divisions were formed, and their main equipment was the Pz.Kpfw cars: I, II, III and IV. A single armored division at that time was composed of a tank brigade divided into two armored regiments, a motorized infantry brigade and support units, among others: reconnaissance, artillery, anti-aircraft and sappers. It consisted of about 300 tanks in full time. It is also worth adding that the German armored forces (German: Panzerwaffe) were trained and prepared to implement the doctrine of lightning war, and not - as in many armies of the time - to support infantry activities. Therefore, emphasis was put in training "pancerniaków" on the interchangeability of functions, independence in decision-making by officers and non-commissioned officers and the best technical mastery of the tanks owned. All this resulted in great successes of German armored weapons in Poland in 1939, but especially in Western Europe in 1940. Also in the course of the fighting in North Africa - especially in the period 1941-1942 - the German armored forces turned out to be a very difficult opponent. Before the invasion of the USSR, the number of German armored divisions almost doubled, but the number of tanks in these units decreased to about 150-200 vehicles. Also in the course of the fighting on the Eastern Front - especially in 1941-1942 - the German armored forces were superior in training and organization to their Soviet opponent. However, contact with such vehicles as the T-34 or KW-1 forced the introduction of the Pz.Kpfw V and VI tanks to the line in 1942 and 1943. Growing losses on the Eastern Front, as well as lost battles - at Stalingrad or Kursk - made the German Panzerwaffe weaken. Its structure included heavy tank battalions (with 3 tank companies), and in 1943, armored grenadier divisions were established. There was also an increasingly clear advantage of the Soviet side, and from 1944 - the need to simultaneously fight the Soviet troops in the east and the Allies in the west. It is also assumed that it was then (in the years 1944-1945) that the training of the German armored forces was weaker than in the previous period and did not constitute such a significant advantage on the German side than before. The last large-scale operations of the German Panzerwaffe were the offensives in the Ardennes (1944-1945) and in Hungary (1945).
Battle for Kharkiv was played from February 21 to March 18, 1943. It is assumed that about 70,000 soldiers took part in the battle on the German side, while on the Soviet side - about 340,000. soldiers. On the German side was commanded by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, while on the Soviet side - Marshal Filip Golikow. The genesis of the Battle of Kharkiv in 1943 dates back to the German defeat at Stalingrad in February 1943 and the Red Army's move to the west offensive in the area of today's south-west Russia, which was aimed at the German Army Group "South". At the beginning of February 1943, Soviet troops liberated, among others, Kharkiv, Kursk and Belgorod. At the same time, however, despite the successes, the Soviet troops were stretched significantly, their logistics was defective and, above all, they suffered relatively high losses in the course of their offensive operations. In this situation, despite the significant numerical superiority of the enemy, the German troops (especially armored forces - including the 2nd SS Panzer Corps) launched the offensive and in the period from February 21 to 28, 1943, they encircled and destroyed the Red Army troops fighting south of Kharkiv. On March 4, the II Corps entered the city, retaking it from the Soviet hands until March 15, and three days later Belgorod was recaptured. The Battle of Kharkiv stabilized the eastern front until the Battle of the Kursk in July 1943. In the course of the fighting, the Soviets lost about 80,000 people, while the German side - about 11,000 people.