Battle of Smolensk (1941)

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The Battle of Smolensk (1941) was a major early Eastern Front engagement in World War II, where Soviet forces mounted a significant defensive and counteroffensive effort that slowed the German advance toward Moscow.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf battle
military engagement
alsoKnownAs Battle of Smolensk (1941)
surface form: "Smolensk pocket (1941)"
belligerent Red Army
Wehrmacht
characterizedBy Soviet counteroffensives
encirclement battles
heavy casualties on both sides
combatant Germany
USSR NERFINISHED
commander Fedor von Bock NERFINISHED
Georgy Zhukov
Heinz Guderian
Hermann Hoth NERFINISHED
Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Timoshenko
conflictIn World War II
conflictType land battle
countryInvolved Nazi Germany
Soviet Union
effect bought time for Soviet defenses before Battle of Moscow
slowed German advance on Moscow
endDate 1941-09-10
followedBy Battle of Moscow
front Eastern Front
historicalSignificance contributed to delay that prevented Germans from capturing Moscow before winter 1941–1942
involvedUnit Army Group Centre
surface form: "German Army Group Centre"

Soviet Central Front
Red Army Reserve Front
surface form: "Soviet Reserve Front"

Western Front (Red Army)
surface form: "Soviet Western Front"
location Russian SFSR NERFINISHED
Smolensk
Soviet Union
notableFor first major Soviet defensive success in slowing German blitzkrieg on Eastern Front
large-scale encirclement of Soviet forces
operation German Army Group Centre offensive
partOf Eastern Front
surface form: "Eastern Front (World War II)"

Operation Barbarossa
precededBy initial phase of Operation Barbarossa
primaryAxisOfAdvance Moscow
result German operational victory
Soviet strategic success in delaying German advance
startDate 1941-07-10
strategicObjective German advance toward Moscow
theatre European theatre of World War II
timePeriod August 1941
July 1941
September 1941

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Battle of Smolensk (1941) alsoKnownAs Battle of Smolensk (1941)
this entity surface form: "Smolensk pocket (1941)"
9th Army engagedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Axis forces on the Eastern Front engagedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Soviet Western Front (Red Army formation) engagedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
subject surface form: "Soviet Western Front"
3rd Panzer Army engagement Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Army Group North notableBattle Battle of Smolensk (1941)
this entity surface form: "Battle of Smolensk (supporting northern flank)"
Unternehmen Barbarossa notableBattle Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Walther von Reichenau participantIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
2nd Panzer Army participatedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Andrey Yeremenko participatedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Bryansk pocket precededBy Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Vyazma pocket precededBy Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Army Group Centre tookPartIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)

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