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Battle of Smolensk (1941)

For other battles in Smolensk, see Battle of Smolensk.

Battle of Smolensk (1941)
First Battle of Smolensk
Part of Operation Barbarossa during the Eastern Front of World War II

German and Soviet movements near Smolensk, 10 July – 4 August
Date8–31 July 1941
(German historiography)[1]: 267 
10 July – 10 September 1941
(Soviet historiography)[2][1]: 267 
Location
Smolensk (Russian SFSR) vicinity, Soviet Union
54°46′58″N 32°02′43″E / 54.78278°N 32.04528°E / 54.78278; 32.04528
Result German Victory
Belligerents
 Germany  Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Strength
430,000 men[3][4]
1,000 tanks[3]
1,500 aircraft[3]
6,600 guns and mortars[3]		 Initially on 10 July:
581,600 men[5] or 883,000[6]
1,545 tanks[7][a]
6,000 guns[8]
Total: 1,991,000[9] men
Casualties and losses

~115,500 (KIA, WIA, MIA) (10 July – 10 September)[10]
Other data:
135,659 men (21 July – 10 September):[11]

  • 29,650 killed
  • 100,327 wounded
  • 5,682 missing
214 tanks destroyed[4]

Modern Western estimate:[12]
724,000 KIA and WIA (including 565,000 POW),
274,000 WIA
Total: 998,000
Krivosheev's official soviet data:
759,974 wounded or dead:[5][13]

  • 486,171 irrecoverable losses (KIA, MIA, POW)
  • 273,803 wounded
1,348 tanks and SPGs destroyed[14]
903 aircraft destroyed
3,120 guns destroyed[15]

The first Battle of Smolensk (German: Kesselschlacht bei Smolensk, lit. 'Cauldron-battle at Smolensk'; Russian: Смоленская стратегическая оборонительная операция, romanized: Smolenskaya strategicheskaya oboronitelnaya operatsiya, lit. 'Smolensk strategic defensive operation') was a battle during the second phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, in World War II. It was fought around the city of Smolensk between 10 July and 10 September 1941, about 400 km (250 mi) west of Moscow. The Ostheer had advanced 500 km (310 mi) into the USSR in the 18 days after the invasion on 22 June 1941.

The Soviet 16th, 19th and the 20th armies were encircled and destroyed just to the east of Smolensk, though many of the men from the 19th and 20th armies managed to escape the pocket. While the battle was a stunning operational success for the Germans, the rapid advances into Soviet territory led to supply and logistics crises of increasing severity, as German supply lines were stretched to their limit. Following the Smolensk encirclement, much of Army Group Centre became mired in positional warfare, suffering significant losses in defensive battles throughout the late summer of 1941.[16] These factors seriously depleted the offensive strength of the German divisions, and contributed to the disastrous setbacks later suffered in the Battle of Moscow in December 1941.

  1. ^ a b R. Kirchubel (2016). Atlas of the Eastern Front. Osprey publishing. ISBN 978-1-47280774-8.
  2. ^ Glantz 2010, pp. 88."By Soviet definition, the battle for Smolensk began on 10 July, when Hoth's Third and Guderian's Second Panzer Groups, supported by the Second Air Fleet, commenced their twin thrusts across the Dnepr River."
  3. ^ a b c d Glantz 2010, p. 43.
  4. ^ a b Stolfi 1993, p. 164.
  5. ^ a b Krivosheev 1997, p. 116.
  6. ^ Nigel Askey, Soviet Casualties and Losses During Operation Barbarossa, and from 1942 to 1945, 2022. https://www.operationbarbarossa.net/pdf-file-for-ww2tv-live-steam-presentation-soviet-casualties-and-losses-during-operation-barbarossa-30th-august-1st-sep-2022/
  7. ^ Glantz 2010, pp. 72–73.
  8. ^ Statyuk 2006, pp. 38–39
  9. ^ Nigel Askey, Soviet Casualties and Losses During Operation Barbarossa, and from 1942 to 1945, 2022. https://www.operationbarbarossa.net/pdf-file-for-ww2tv-live-steam-presentation-soviet-casualties-and-losses-during-operation-barbarossa-30th-august-1st-sep-2022/
  10. ^ Glantz 2012, Table 25 and further: "In summary, in terms of personnel losses, these calculations indicate that Army Group Center’s forces, <...> suffered about 115,500 casualties during the period from 10 July through 10 September, compared with the 760,000 losses the Western, Reserve, and Briansk Fronts incurred during the same period.".
  11. ^ "WW2Stats com". Archived from the original on 31 May 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  12. ^ Nigel Askey, Soviet Casualties and Losses During Operation Barbarossa, and from 1942 to 1945, 2022. https://www.operationbarbarossa.net/pdf-file-for-ww2tv-live-steam-presentation-soviet-casualties-and-losses-during-operation-barbarossa-30th-august-1st-sep-2022/
  13. ^ Glantz 2010, p. 576, Appendix F.
  14. ^ Glantz 1995, p. 293.
  15. ^ Krivosheev 1997, p. 260.
  16. ^ Stahel, David (2009). Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East. Cambridge Military Histories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 306–360. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511732379. ISBN 978-0-521-76847-4.

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