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ThePanther–Wotan line (German:Panther-Stellung), also known as theOstwall ("Eastern Wall"), was adefensive line of theWehrmacht on theEastern Front ofWorld War II from 1943 to 1944. The Panther–Wotan line ran from theBaltic Sea atNarva in the north, across the westernSoviet Union, then along theDnieper to theBlack Sea. It was only partially built by the time theRed Army broke through the line in mid-1944.
In 1942, theWehrmacht suffered a number of setbacks on theEastern Front, causing its leadership to consider the establishment ofdefense lines. In early 1943, theGerman General Staff began to petition for the construction offortifications anddefenses-in-depth along theDnieper river.Adolf Hitler rejected the establishment of defense lines proposed byErich von Manstein, mainly for political reasons. Hitler also argued that the mere existence of such a developed defensive line would tempt soldiers to retreat from the actualfront line. In August 1943, after theBattle of Kursk, Hitler finally ordered the construction of the defensive lines; with this command, he demonstrated that he had accepted the fact that theWehrmacht was no longer capable ofoffensive operations in the east.[1] The need arose to both conserve forces in the Eastern Front as well as shift to defensive operations against theRed Army's counteroffensives.
The Panther–Wotan line went in a north-south direction, stretching fromNarva at theBaltic Sea in the north to theDnieper Estuary at theBlack Sea in the south. The line ran along theNarva river, the western shore ofLake Peipus, followed the course of theVelikaya river, and then crossed land toVitebsk,Mogilev,Gomel, andKiev respectively. From Kiev, a large portion of the line ran along the Dnieper to its mouth at theBlack Sea. The line left the banks of the Dnieper only where another majortributary offered similar defensive capabilities. In the south, where the Dnieper curved (westernDnipropetrovsk Oblast) to the west, it was decided to construct the line east of the Dnieper in order to avoid the evacuation or isolation of theCrimea.
On 11 August 1943, when the order was signed for its construction, theWehrmacht held positions sometimes hundreds of kilometers to the east of the proposed defensive line, generally along theDonets River in the south, and along a line roughly fromSmolensk toLeningrad in the north.
On 8 September 1943, construction of the Panther–Wotan line began, utilising tens of thousands of civilian workers to buildbunkers,barbed wire, andanti-tank trenches.
The confidence in the effectiveness of the line was poor inArmy Group North, with its commander, GeneralGeorg von Küchler, refusing to refer to the line by the "Panther Line" name for fear that it would instill false hope by his troops in its strength.[2] Construction had barely started when Manstein'sArmy Group South commenced to fall back on it as part of a general withdrawal ordered on 15 September 1943.[3]
The Red Army immediately attempted to break the line to deny theOKH time to plan a long-term defence. It launched theLower Dnieper strategic offensive operation along a 300 km front. The line was particularly weak in the area just north of the Black Sea where it departed from the Dnieper to cover the approaches to the Crimea. The SovietSouthern Front breached the barely constructed fortified line with relative ease, thereby cutting off the German17th Army on the Crimean Peninsula from its land retreat route. The Red Army casualties were 173,201 unrecoverable and 581,191 sick and wounded (total 754,392).[4]
The fighting afterward involved the gradual establishment of multiple Soviet bridgeheads across the Dnieper. While the crossing operations of the Dnieper were difficult, the Wehrmacht was unable to dislodge the Red Army from its positions once across the river. The bridgeheads and the Soviet forces deployed in them grew. By late December 1943,Kiev had been taken by the Red Army and broke the line along the Dnieper, forcing a Wehrmacht retreat toward the 1939 Polish border.[citation needed]
The only part of the line to remain in Wehrmacht possession after 1943 was the extreme northern section, the Panther line between Lake Peipus and the Baltic Sea at Narva. The small portion of the line was assaulted during theBattle of Narva, with theBaltic States and theGulf of Finland remaining in German hands well into 1944.[citation needed]
The defensive positions along the Dnieper were able to slow but not to stop the Soviet advance. The river was a considerable barrier, but the length of the line made it difficult to defend. The inability of the Germans to roll back the Soviet bridgeheads after they were established meant that the line could not be held.[citation needed]