The Battle of Smolensk in 1941 in Soviet and Modern Historiography

Abstract

The article analyzes the state of historiography of the Battle of Smolensk in 1941. Although this issue has already been studied in Soviet historiography, a number of new studies have been published over the past two decades, and the active use of previously closed archival documents, both Soviet and German, has begun. Photographic materials have become an important source of studying the battle. The author paid special attention to the analysis of the works of recent years. It was revealed that in modern historiography several approaches to the assessment of the Battle of Smolensk have been portrayed. This is an exaggeration of the successes of the German troops, and, consequently, emphasizing the shortcomings and blunders of the Soviet command, and even distorting individual episodes of events. This is especially true for works of a popular nature, and especially affecting the younger generation. At the same time, there were works whose authors strive to maintain objectivity while assessing events. A special issue in modern historiography is the question of the price that the Soviet people paid in order at least to suspend the offensive of German troops in the most important – Moscow strategic direction.