The Battle of Kursk in central Russia unfolded at almost the same time that the allied landing in Sicily, which largely eclipses it in the western popular memory. But it is impossible to compare these operations, whether in terms of scale, the forces and equipment involved, or outcome. While the Sicilian operation allowed for the landing of allied troops in continental Italy, the failure of German Operation Citadel resulted in the complete collapse of the Wehrmacht’s offensive strategy.

Prior to the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan barely registered as a topic of interest for the national press, surfacing in only a handful of annual newspaper stories.