Smolensk (redirected from Smalensk)

Smolensk (smōlĕnsk`, smô–, Rus. sməlyĕnsk`), city (1989 pop. 341,000), capital of Smolensk region, W European Russia, a port on the Dnieper River. It is an important rail junction, a distribution point for the region's agricultural products, and a commercial, cultural, and educational center. Smolensk is the head of navigation on the Dnieper. The city, a major linen producer, has one of Russia's largest flax-processing mills. Other industries include metalworking, machine building, flour milling, food processing, and the manufacture of textiles.

One of Russia's oldest cities, Smolensk derived its name from the resin [Rus., smola] extracted from the surrounding pine trees. The city was already a commercial center in the late 9th cent., when it was the capital of the Krivichi tribe and a fortress and settlement for traders and artisans. It then fell under Kiev's rule. Its control of the key portages between the Dnieper and Western Dvina rivers gave Smolensk its early strategic importance. It also lay astride the trade route from the Baltic to Constantinople; Smolensk was connected with the Black Sea by the Dnieper and with the Hanseatic cities of the Baltic Sea and with Moscow and Novgorod by some of the most important medieval trade links. The city declined in the 11th cent. but revived in the 12th cent. to become the capital of an independent Belarusian principality. Smolensk was sacked by the Mongols in 1238–40.

The westward expansion of the grand duchy of Moscow made Smolensk a target of prolonged struggle between Moscow and Poland-Lithuania. It was captured by the Lithuanians in 1408, taken by the Russians in 1514, occupied by the Poles in 1611, and reconquered in 1654 by the Russians, to whom it passed by the Treaty of Andrusov (1667). Its location on the main route from Moscow to Warsaw made Smolensk a target for Napoleon I, who seized the city in Aug., 1812, after a brief but heroic resistance. Having burned Moscow, Napoleon retreated in November to Smolensk but was forced by the Russians under General Kutuzov to continue his retreat.

The city, scene of some of World War II's heaviest fighting, was captured by the Germans in 1941 and retaken by Soviet troops in 1943. Virtually razed, Smolensk was rebuilt with its original pattern largely preserved. Historic buildings now restored include the famous kremlin and town walls (1596–1602), the Uspensky Cathedral (1677–79), several 12th-century churches, and monuments to Kutuzov and to the composer M. I. Glinka.

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Smolensk

City (pop., 2006 est.: 317,915), western Russia. One of the oldest and most historic of Russian cities, it was a key stronghold on the Dnieper River by the 9th century and became a commercial centre on the trade route between the Baltic Sea and the Byzantine Empire. Sacked by the Tatars c. 1240, it subsequently fell to Lithuania. Sieges led to its capture by Moscow in 1340 and recapture by Lithuania in 1408. It was fought over several times, then was finally taken by Russia in 1654. It was burned during Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. The scene of heavy fighting in World War II, it was occupied by the Germans from 1941 to 1943. It is a light-industry and educational centre.

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Smolensk

a city in W Russia, on the Dnieper River: a major commercial centre in medieval times; scene of severe fighting (1941 and 1943) in World War II. Pop.: 323 000 (2005 est.)