As the clock struck 3:00 PM on the night of June 22nd, 1941,
the sleeping Red Army stationed on the USSR's Western Front was jolted awake by
the sounds of German artillery pummelling the Soviet-held Polish city of Białystok.
This marked the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union and the
largest invasion in history. The first battle of the operation was the Battle of Białystok–Minsk,
which would go down in history as one of the most one-sided battles of the
war as well as one of the Soviet Union’s most crushing defeats. In this video,
we are going to look at this battle in-depth to see why things went so wrong for the Soviets.
On June 21st, 1941, at around 9 PM, a German communist deserter crossed the Soviet border
to warn the Soviets of the incoming German attack at 4 AM the next morning.
The deserter was seized and interrogated, and news of his intel even reached Stalin,
but he disregarded it, believing it to be disinformation.
Still, the Red Army on the Western Front received a message from its
commanders at 1 AM on June 22nd, ordering them to “bring all forces
to combat readiness" but "avoid provocative actions of any kind.”
Unfortunately, communication was slow, and it took up to two hours for the commanders’ message
to reach the units stationed on the Soviet Western Front. And by then, it was too late.
Germany began its invasion with an air raid, attacking Soviet-held cities in
Poland and a major Soviet artillery barrage on the front. By doing so,
the Germans crippled the Soviets before they had a chance to respond.
The Battle of Białystok–Minsk was now underway, and the objective of Germany's
ground forces set up along the border was simple: capture Minsk. Situated less than
100 kilometers from the Soviet Western Front, Minsk was home to a strategic railway junction.
If the Germans seized it, they would gain control of rail communications with Moscow,
as well as an excellent defensive position. Really, the Germans didn’t
have a choice. For Operation Barbarossa to be successful, they needed to capture Minsk
as early as possible. Fortunately for them, they were well-prepared, unlike the Soviets.
The first German unit to cross the border was Panzer Group 3 in the north,
which crossed the Neman River and drove past the Soviets with relative ease.
Panzer Group 2 did the same but from the south, then crossed over the Bug
River and penetrated 60 kilometers into Soviet territory in just a day.
Panzer Groups 2 and 3 were now flanking the Soviet Armies from the north and south,
making it difficult for them to escape. To close the noose, the 4th and 9th Germany
Infantry Armies penetrated the border from the west and attacked Soviets in Białystok.
By June 23rd, the Soviets were almost surrounded and had no choice but to try a counter-attack.
Stalin had ordered his forces to launch general counterattacks to
prevent encirclement the previous day, but the Red Army was caught so off-guard that,
without proper organization, there was little they could do.
Before the German invasion, the Soviet Army had established a doctrine of avoiding
a war of attrition by aggressively counterattacking any invading force,
but this wasn't instilled in the Soviet ranks. The first unit to attempt a more
organized counterattack after the initial failures were the , but it quickly failed.
The next day, Soviet Commander General of the Western Front Dmitry Pavlov began
implementing a new strategy. It was incredibly important for him to get
things right because Pavlov was in hot water with his superiors.
He had received notice from Moscow on June 21st of an imminent German invasion. He
got this message while watching a comedy show in Kyiv and chose to finish watching
the show before taking action, which was a grave mistake in the eyes of the Soviets.
Because of this, General Pavlov’s life was very much on the line if his new strategy failed.
He decided the best course of action would be to launch a counterattack to the east, where the
Soviets had more space and could prevent complete encirclement. And while this did slow German
advancement and allow some Red Army units to flee the area for Minsk, it was largely a failure.
Still, General Pavlov tried to get his men past the German formations. But having lost so much of
their ground transport in the initial air raid, Soviet soldiers had to escape on foot, and few
made it through. No matter where General Pavlov tried to send his men, the Germans were ready,
and they pushed back hard, forcing Pavlov's troops to withdraw each time to avoid total encirclement.
The Germans had the advantage with superior planning and now a strong,
near-complete encirclement working in their favor, and ultimately, the Soviets took heavy losses.
The Soviet counterattacks had little effect on the German movements,
and they kept pushing forward, reaching Minsk.
And on June 26th, the Panzer Groups reached the city. But the battle didn't end there.
On June 28th, back on the Western Front, the 4th and 9th Germany Infantry Armies split in
Białystok, completely encircling the Soviet 10th Army and the 3rd,
4th, and 13th Armies, respectively. The 2nd and 3rd Panzer Groups met just east
of Minsk and advanced another 321 kilometers into the Soviet Union,
making it a third of the way to Moscow in just the first week of the invasion.
The Soviet Armies didn't let up, however. The 20th Mechanized Corps attempted another counterattack
from inside the encirclement, and the 4th Airborne Corps tried to breach the enemy formations,
but they, too, were quickly stamped out. On June 30th, the Germans finally closed
the last remaining gaps in their encirclement, completely surrounding 20 of the Soviet divisions.
Now the Germans went on a rampage, capturing or killing almost everyone.
Very few Soviets managed to escape. All in all, after just 17 days into the invasion,
the Soviets had lost the majority of their forces and equipment on the Western Front. The Germans
also took their share of losses, but nothing quite to the devastating scale of the Soviets.
The Battle of Białystok–Minsk was a massive win for the Germans, but it wasn't perfect.
The infantry took longer than expected to liquidate the Soviet armies after completing
the encirclement, which delayed them from joining the Panzer groups to continue their advancement.
This gave the Soviet commanders in the city time to retreat east, regroup,
and change their strategy -- something that contributed in no small part to the
ultimate failure of Operation Barbarossa following the German defeat at Stalingrad.
Unfortunately, General Pavlov would not be around to see the Red Army's ultimate victory. After his
failed counter-attack, he was relieved of duty and arrested for, quote, “betray[ing] the interests
of the Motherland, violat[ing] the oath of office and damag[ing] the combat power of the Red Army.”
He was executed on July 22nd, 1941,
along with several other commanders who fought on the Western Front.
There would be some redemption for poor Pavlov, however, in 1956, it was determined that Soviet
defeat in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk did not rest on Pavlov's shoulders but rather
on the Soviet Army, which, as a whole, was woefully underprepared for the German attack.
Pavlov, while some 15 years dead, was pardoned.
Even though the battle was a tough defeat for the Soviets,
they went on to stamp out the German invasion and invaded Germany in turn.
So what do you think? Do you think the Soviets ever had a chance of winning
the Battle of Białystok–Minsk? What could they have done differently? Do
you believe General Pavlov's execution was just? Please let us know in the comments.