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.

All labels observed (4)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf battle
military engagement
alsoKnownAs Smolensk pocket (1941)
belligerent Red Army
Wehrmacht
characterizedBy Soviet counteroffensives
encirclement battles
heavy casualties on both sides
combatant Germany
USSR
linked to: Soviet Union
commander Fedor von Bock
Georgy Zhukov
Heinz Guderian
Hermann Hoth
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 German Army Group Centre
linked to: Army Group Centre

Soviet Central Front
Soviet Reserve Front
Soviet Western Front
location Russian SFSR
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 (World War II)
linked to: Eastern Front

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

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (28)

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

Andrey Yeremenko participatedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Army Group Centre tookPartIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Army Group North notableBattle Battle of Smolensk (supporting northern flank)
linked to: Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Unternehmen Barbarossa notableBattle Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Axis forces on the Eastern Front engagedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Walther von Reichenau participantIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Battle of Smolensk (1941) alsoKnownAs Smolensk pocket (1941)
linked to: Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Vyazma pocket precededBy Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Bryansk pocket precededBy Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Soviet Western Front engagedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
3rd Panzer Army engagement Battle of Smolensk (1941)
2nd Panzer Army participatedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
9th Army engagedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
43rd Army participatedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Battle of Białystok–Minsk followedBy Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Smolensk wasSiteOf Battle of Smolensk (1941)
LVI Panzer Corps engagement Battle of Smolensk (1941)
1941 defensive operations of the Red Army includes Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Western Front (Red Army) engagedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Operation Barbarossa southern sector majorBattle Battle of Smolensk (peripheral southern involvement)
linked to: Battle of Smolensk (1941)
German Army Group Centre offensive includedOperation Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Battle of Vyazma precededBy Battle of Smolensk (1941)
Soviet 3rd Army participatedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
German 2nd Panzer Group operation Battle of Smolensk (1941)
German 2nd Army participatedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
16th Army participatedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
30th Army participatedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)
29th Army participatedIn Battle of Smolensk (1941)