Seeds of Victory: Satisfying the Needs of the Red Army and the Soviet State during the Formation of the Kursk Salient, February–May 1943

This article describes the interactions between Kursk Oblast’s civilian leadership and the Soviet military during the latter’s winter 1943 operations. In this period, the Red Army incorporated the liberated people into its rear services area while returning civilian leaders reestablished Soviet power. Operating at cross-purposes at times, both sides still found enough common cause to prepare the Red Army for its first summertime victory in the war. By examining the working relationship of the Red Army and the civilians situated so close to the enemy, this article offers new insights into an often overlooked region of the “home front” in studies of World War II.