The eastern front at the time of the Battle of Smolensk.

The Battle of Smolensk (July 10-September 10, 1941) refers to the fierce engagement of the Army Group Centre with the Soviet Army at Smolensk during the Great Patriotic War. Download high resolution version (1201x920, 228 KB)German advances on the Eastern Front of World War II during Operation Barbarossa, 1941-06-22 to 1941-09-09. ... Download high resolution version (1201x920, 228 KB)German advances on the Eastern Front of World War II during Operation Barbarossa, 1941-06-22 to 1941-09-09. ... July 10 is the 191st day (192nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 174 days remaining. ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years). ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Army Group Centre (Heeresgruppe Mitte in German) was one of three German army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, code-named Operation Barbarossa. ... This article is about the armed forces of the Soviet Union. ... A view of Smolensk in 1912 Smolensk (Russian: Смоленск;, Belarusian: Смаленск) is a city in western Russia, located on the Dniepr river at 54. ... The Eastern Front of World War II was the theatre of war covering the conflict in eastern Europe. ...

German armoured divisions of Army Group Centre began an offensive on July 10 to encircle Soviet forces in the Smolensk area. The offensive was met by the forces of the Western Front (Timoshenko), Reserve Front (Zhukov), Central Front (Kuznetsov), and Bryansk Front (Yeryomenko). The Western Front was a military subdivision of the Soviet Army, one of the Soviet Army Fronts during the World War II. The term is not to be confused with the general notion of the front in Western direrection. Categories: Russia-related stubs | Soviet fronts ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Semyon Timoshenko Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (Russian: Семён Константинович Тимошенко) (February 6 O.S (February 18 N.S.), 1895-March 31, 1970), Soviet military commander, was the senior professional officer of the Red Army at the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in... Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgi Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (Russian: Гео́ргий Константи́нович Жу́ков) (December 1, 1896 - June 18, 1974), Soviet military commander and politician, considered by many as one of the most successful field commanders of World War II. Prewar career Born into a peasant family in Strelkovka, Kaluga... Fyodor Isodorovich Kuznetsov (Фёдор Исидорович Кузнецов) (1898-1961), Colonel General, was a military commander of the Soviet Union. ... Marshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Yeremenko Andrei Ivanovich Yeremenko (Yeryomenko, Андрей Иванович Ерёменко) (October 14, 1892 - November 19, 1970) Soviet general during World War II, Marshal of the Soviet Union, born in Markovka in the province of Kharkov to a peasant family. ...

Smolensk fell on July 16, but Soviet resistance was strong, and several counter-attacks were conducted, the most noteworthy of these was the Yelnya Offensive, which was the most substantial reverse that the Wehrmacht had suffered up to that date and the first successful planned Soviet offensive operation in the Soviet-German war. July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 168 days remaining. ... The Soviet Armys Yelnya Offensive (August 30, 1941- September 8, 1941) was part of the Battle of Smolensk during the Great Patriotic War. ... Wehrmacht   listen? was the name of the armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. ...

The Soviets even managed to temporarily break the German encirclement and to evacuate troops out of the Smolensk pocket. The bitter fighting had considerably delayed the overall German advance toward Moscow, so that defence lines further East could be strengthened, and thus effectively disrupted a blitzkrieg. Moscow (Russian: Москва́, IPA:   listen?) is the capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva. ... Blitzkrieg relied on close co-operation between infantry and panzers (tanks). ...

According to German military, their losses during the Battle of Smolensk were about 250,000 personnel.

Nearly all of the city of Smolensk was destroyed after the battle. In 1985 it was awarded the title Hero City. Hero City (город-герой or gorod-geroy in Russian) is an honorary title awarded to twelve cities and one city-fortress in the Soviet Union for outstanding heroism during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 to 1945. ...

See also

• Battle of Smolensk (1812)
• Combat Mission (computer game series)