Battle of Smolensk (1941)

Battle of Smolensk (1941) First Battle of Smolensk
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
The Eastern front at the time of the Battle of Smolensk.
Date 6 July – 5 August 1941 Location Smolensk region, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union 54°46′58″N 32°02′43″E / 54.78278°N 32.04528°E / 54.78278; 32.04528Coordinates: 54°46′58″N 32°02′43″E / 54.78278°N 32.04528°E / 54.78278; 32.04528 Result German victory
Belligerents
Nazi Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Fedor von Bock Heinz Guderian Hermann Hoth	Semyon Timoshenko Fyodor Isodorovich Kuznetsov Andrei Yeremenko
Strength
430,000 men 1,000–1780 tanks 1,500 aircraft	581,600 men 1,545 tanks
Casualties and losses
Destroyed: 214 tanks	Total: 759,947 killed: 186,144 wounded: 273,803 captured: 300,000 destroyed: 1,348–3,273 tanks and SPGs, 903 aircraft

The First Battle of Smolensk was a battle during the opening stage of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, in World War II. It took place around the city of Smolensk between 10 July and 10 September 1941, about 400 km (250 mi) west of Moscow. The Wehrmacht had advanced 500 km (310 mi) into the USSR in the 18 days after the invasion on 22 June 1941. During the battle the German army encountered unexpected resistance, leading to a severe delay in their advance on Moscow.

Three Soviet armies (the 16th, 19th and the 20th army) were encircled and destroyed just to the south of Smolensk, though significant numbers from the 19th and 20th armies managed to escape the pocket. Some historians have asserted that the losses of men and materiel incurred by the Wehrmacht during this drawn-out battle and the two-month delay in the march towards Moscow, led to the defeat of the Wehrmacht by the Red Army in the Battle of Moscow of December 1941.

On 22 June 1941, the Axis nations invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. At first, the campaign met with spectacular success, as the surprised Soviet troops were not able to offer coordinated resistance. After three weeks of fighting, the Germans had reached the Dvina and Dnieper rivers and planned for a resumption of the offensive. The main attack aimed at Moscow, was carried out by Army Group Centre (Fedor von Bock). Its next target on the way to the Soviet capital was the town of Smolensk. The German plan called for the 2nd Panzer Group (later 2nd Panzer Army) to cross the Dnieper, closing on Smolensk from the south, while the 3rd Panzer Group (later 3rd Panzer Army) was to encircle the town from the north.

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