Battle of Smolensk (1941)

The First Battle of Smolensk was the rst major battle

during Operation Barbarossa in World War II that signicantly delayed the advance of Hitlers Wehrmacht in
the USSR. It took place in the region around the city of
Smolensk between 10 July and 10 September 1941, about
400 km west of Moscow. At that point the Wehrmacht
had advanced 500 km into the USSR in the mere 18 days
that had elapsed since the start of the invasion on 22 June
1941.

armies had to conduct a series of counteroensives to

blunt the German oensive. The German high command
was not aware of the Soviet build-up until they encountered them on the battleeld.[7]

Facing the Germans along the Dnieper and Dvina rivers

were stretches of the Stalin Line fortications. The defenders were the 13th Army of the Western Front, and
the 20th Army, 21st Army, and the 22nd Army of the
Soviet Supreme Command (Stavka) Reserve. Another
The Wehrmacht elded Army Group Centre's 2nd Panzer army, the 19th Army, was forming up at Vitebsk, while
Group and the 3rd Panzer Group. The Red Army elded the 16th Army was arriving at Smolensk.[8]
the Western Front, Reserve Front, Central Front, and In Soviet historiography, the Battle of Smolensk (actuBryansk Front.
ally a full campaign) would take place in several phases,
Ultimately, the Soviet 16th, 19th and the 20th Armies divided into distinct operations to halt the German oenwere encircled and destroyed just to the south of sive and the pincers.
Smolensk, though signicant numbers from the 19th and
20th managed to escape the pocket.
Battle of Smolensk (10 July 10 September 1941)
While a signicant temporary success for Hitler, the
losses in terms of men and materiel incurred by the
Smolensk Defensive Operation (10
Wehrmacht during this drawn-out battle were enormous
July 10 August 1941)
andtogether with the 2-month delay in the march toSmolensk Oensive Operation (21
wards Moscowproved decisive for the Wehrmachts
July 7 August 1941)
defeat by the Red Army at the end of the Battle of
Rogechev-Zhlobin Oensive OpMoscow three months later in December 1941.[6][7]
eration (1324 July 1941)
Gomel-Trubchevsk Defensive Operation (24 July 30 August 1941)
1 Background and Planning
Dukhovshina Oensive Operation
(17 August 8 September 1941)
On 22 June 1941, Axis nations invaded the Soviet Union
Yelnia Oensive Operation (30
in Operation Barbarossa. During the opening phase, the
August 8 September 1941)
campaign met with spectacular gains, as the surprised SoRoslavl-Novozybkov
Oensive
viet troops were not able to oer coordinated resistance.
Operation (30 August 12
After 3 weeks of ghting, the Germans had reached the
September 1941)
Dvina and Dnieper Rivers and planned for a resumption
of the oensive eort. The main eort, targeted towards
Moscow, was carried out by Army Group Centre commanded by Fedor von Bock. Its next target on the way 2 The Operation
to the Soviet capital was the town of Smolensk. The
German plan called for the 2nd Panzer Group (later 2nd Prior to the German attack, the Soviets launched their
Panzer Army) to cross the Dnieper, closing on Smolensk counter-oensive. On 6 July, the Soviet 20th Armys 7th
from the south, while the 3rd Panzer Group (later 3rd and 5th Mechanized Corps launched an attack with about
Panzer Army) was to encircle the town from the north.[7] 1,500 tanks near Lepiel. The result was a disaster, as the
After their initial defeats, the Red Army sought to reor- oensive ran directly into the anti-tank defenses of the
two Soviet mechaganise itself and established several measures to ensure a German 7th Panzer Division and the[9][note]
nized
corps
were
virtually
wiped
out.
more determined resistance. A new defensive line was established around Smolensk. Stalin placed Field Marshal On 10 July, the Germans started their own oensive,
Timoshenko in command, and transferred ve armies out when Guderians 2nd Panzer Group launched its surprise
of the strategic reserve to Timoshenkos control. These attack over the Dnieper. His forces literally overran the
1

2 THE OPERATION
counter-oensives of the war.
This objective was 50 km south of the Dnepr river, and
therefore well clear of the objective of liquidating the
armies trapped at Smolensk. Under Fuhrer Directive
33 issued on July 14 the main eort of the Wehrmacht
was being re-oriented away from an immediate attack on
Moscow and south toward a deep encirclement of Kiev in
Ukraine and von Bock was becoming impatient, wanting
Guderian to strike north and link up with Hoths Panzer
Group so resistance in the city could be mopped up.[11]

Battle of Smolensk Diagram

weak 13th Army, which opposed his forces. By 13 July,

Guderian had passed Mogilev, trapping several Soviet divisions there. His spearhead unit, the 29th Mot. Division,
was already 18 km (11 mi) short of Smolensk. Meanwhile, 3rd Panzer Group had also launched its oensive,
with 20th Panzer Division establishing a bridgehead on
the eastern bank of the Dvina river, threatening Vitebsk.
As both German Panzer Groups drove east, three Soviet
Armies the 16th, 19th and 20th faced the prospect of encirclement around Smolensk. From 11 July on, the Soviets tried a series of concerted counterattacks. The Soviet
19th Army and 20th Army struck at Vitebsk, while the
21st and the remnants of the 3rd Army attacked against
the southern ank of 2nd Panzer Group near Bobruisk.[8]

German troops in a town near Mogilev at the Dnieper

In the north, 3rd Panzer Group was moving much more

slowly. The terrain was swampy, rain was still a problem,
and the Soviets were ghting desperately to escape the
trap that was developing. On 18 July, the armored pincers of the two German Panzer Groups came within 16
km (9.9 mi) of closing the gap. However, Timoshenko
put newly promoted Konstantin Rokossovsky, who had
just arrived from the Ukrainian front, in charge of assembling a stopgap force, which stopped the 7th Panzers advance and was continuously reinforced, temporarily stabilizing the situation. The open gap allowed a number of
Soviet units to escape that were then pressed into service,
holding the gap open.

At the same time, several other Soviet armies also attempted to counterattack in the sectors of German Army
Group North and South. This eort was apparently part
of an overall attempt to implement the Soviet prewar general defense plan. However, although the Soviet attacks
managed to slow the Germans down, their results were so
marginal that the Germans barely noticed them as a coorThe Soviets transferred additional troops from newly
dinated large-scale defensive eort. The German oen- formed armies into the region around Smolensk, namely
sive therefore continued.[10]
the 29th, 30th, 28th, and 24th Armies. These newly
Meanwhile, Hoths 3rd Panzer Group drove north and built formations would, immediately upon arrival, start
then east, parallel to Guderians forces, and taking Polotsk a heavy counterattack against the German forces around
and Vitebsk. The 7th Panzer Division and 20th Panzer the Smolensk area from 21 July on. This put a heavy
Division reached the area east of Smolensk at Yartsevo strain on the overextended Panzer forces, which had to
on July 15. At the same time, Guderians 29th Motorized, cover a large area around the perimeter. However, poor
heavily supported by the 17th Panzer Division broke into coordination and logistics on the part of the Soviets alSmolensk and cleared most of the city but for the suburbs, lowed the Germans to successfully defend against these
precipitating a week of heavy house-to-house ghting due oensive eorts, while continuing to close the encirto repeated eorts by Lukins 16th Army to recapture it. clement. The Soviet attacks would last until 30 July, when
Guderian expected that the oensive would continue to- the Germans nally repelled the last of them.[11]
wards Moscow as its main focus, and therefore sent the Finally, on 27 July, the Germans were able to link up and
10th Panzer Division to the Desna River to establish a close the pocket east of Smolensk, trapping large portions
bridgehead on the eastern side of it at Yelnya, and cleared of 16th, 19th, and 20th Armies. However, under the leadthat as well by the 20th.
ership of 20th Army, signicant Soviet troops managed
This advanced bridgehead became the center of the to break out of the pocket in a determined eort a few
Yelnya Oensive, one of the rst successful Soviet days later, assisted by the ongoing Soviet oensive eorts

3
along the Smolensk front line. In the end, about 300,000
men were taken prisoner when the encirclement was subsequently reestablished and the pocket eliminated.[3][5]

After the Operation

The Battle of Smolensk was another severe defeat for the

Soviets in the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa.
However, this Axis victory did not come without strategic
implications. For the rst time, the Soviets tried to implement a determined coordinated counterattack against a
large part of the front, although the counterattack was almost entirely a failure. Nevertheless, the increasing resistance showed that the Soviets were not yet defeated, and
that the Blitzkrieg towards Moscow was not going to be an
easy task. This exacerbated a division between the German high command and political leadership. The leaders
of the General Sta, Franz Halder and Walter von Brauchitsch, and frontline commanders like von Bock, Hoth,
and Guderian counseled against dispersing the German
armored units and to focus directly on Moscow. Hitler
reiterated the lack of importance of Moscow and strategic encirclements, and ordered a concentration on economic targets such as Ukraine, the Donets Basin, and the
Caucasus, and more tactical encirclements to weaken the
Soviets further. As a result, the German oensive eort
became more fragmented, leading to the battles at Kiev
and Uman. Those battles were also German victories,
but also cost them vital time, men, and material on their
approach towards Moscow, allowing the Soviets time to
prepare the defenses of the city.[12][13][14]

See also
Battle of Smolensk (1812)
Battle of Smolensk (1943)

Notes

Prisoners per German data.[3][5] According to Soviet data, Soviet casualties during the Battle of
Smolensk (10 July 10 September) were 759,974
men.[2]
German tank losses for Army Group Centre from
22 June until mid-August were ~214 tanks.[15]
Tank strength of the Soviet counterattack is disputed. Paper strength of the two corps was 1545
tanks, but a large number of tanks probably broke
down before they reached the front, and at the
end possibly only about ~700 tanks attacked the
Germans.[9]

6 References
[1] Glantz (2010), p. 43.
[2] Krivosheev (2001), Chapter V Battle of Smolensk: 10
July 10 September
[3] Glantz (2010), p. 576.
[4] Glantz (1995), p. 293.
[5] Klink (1983), p. 461.
[6] Evans 2008, pp. 198199
[7] Glantz (1995)
[8] Glantz (1995), pp. 5859.
[9] Glantz (2010), pp. 7079;86.
[10] Glantz (1995), p. 59.
[11] Glantz (1995), pp. 6061.
[12] Glantz (1995), p. 62.
[13] Glantz (2010), pp. 576578.
[14] Klink (1983), pp. 460461.
[15] Stol (1993), p. 164.

7 Bibliography
Boog, Horst; Frster, Jrgen; Homann, Joachim;
Klink, Ernst; Mller, Rolf-Dieter; Ueberschr,
Gerd r. (1983). Das Deutsche Reich und der
Zweite Weltkrieg: Der Angri auf die Sowjetunion.
Stuttgart: Militrgeschichtliches Forschungsamt.
ISBN 3-421-06098-3.
Richard J. Evans (2008). 2. The Third Reich At
War. London & New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-014-101548-4.
Glantz, David M. (1995). When Titans Clashed:
How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. Lawrence, KS:
University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0899-0.
Glantz, David M. (2010). Barbarossa Derailed: The
Battle for Smolensk 10 July 10 September 1941.
Solihull, England: Helion & Company. ISBN 1906033-72-2.
Krivosheev, Grigoriy (2001).
(Russia and the USSR in the wars
of the 20th century). Moscow, Russia: Olma Press.
ISBN 5-224-01515-4.
Stol, Russel (1993). Hitlers Panzers East: World
War II Reinterpreted. Oklahoma, USA: University
of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2581-0.

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