1943 was the year of decisive battles. Stalingrad was lost, and the great retreat from the Caucasus culminated in the Kuban bridgehead, which had to be abandoned in the autumn of 1943. In May 1943, the German and Italian troops in Africa surrendered. Sicily had to be evacuated, and the Allies succeeded in landing on the Italian mainland. The U-boat war in the Atlantic was temporarily halted after horrific losses in May 1943. The last major German offensive in the East - Citadel - did not achieve its intended goal. The Red Army launched a counteroffensive, and the Eastern Front could only be held with great difficulty. In September 1943, the Italian leadership defected from the Axis alliance and switched sides. The Balkans became a hotspot of crisis. Even the Axis partner Japan suffered severe defeats, and a turning point in the war was imminent.