Georgy Zhukov: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:37, 9 May 2006

Revision as of 18:45, 9 May 2006

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==World War II==

[[Image:Korin Zhukov.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Georgy Zhukov by [[Pavel Korin]], 1945]]

According to his book of memoirs (written after the death of Stalin and during the peak of [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s Anti-Stalin campaign), Zhukov was fearless in his direct criticisms of Stalin and other commanders after the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion of the Soviet Union]] in June [[1941]] (see [[Great Patriotic War]]). Zhukov, according to his own memoirs, alone among Soviet commanders, attempted to convince Stalin that the Kiev region could not be held and would suffer a double envelopement by the Germans. Stalin, who berated Zhukov and dismissed his advice, refused to evacuate the troops in the area. As a result, half a million troops became prisoners when the Germans took Kiev. SeptemberZhukov 13stopped tothe OctoberGerman 6,advance 1941in ZhukovLeningrad's southern spentoutskirts in Leningradthe as Commanderautumn of Leningrad Front[[1941]]. {{ref|Overy}} {{ref|Montefiore}}

In October [[1941]], when the Germans closed in on Moscow, Zhukov replaced [[Semyon Timoshenko]] in command of the central front and was assigned to direct the defense of [[Moscow]] (see [[Battle of Moscow]]). He also directed the transfer of troops from the [[Russian Far East|Far East]], where a large part of Soviet ground forces had been stationed on the day of Hitler's invasion. A successful Soviet counter-offensive in December [[1941]] drove the Germans back, out of reach of the Soviet capital. Zhukov's feat of logistics is considered by some to be his greatest achievement.

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By now Zhukov was firmly back in favour and Stalin valued him precisely for his outspokenness. Stalin's (eventual) willingness to submit to criticism and listen to his generals was a key element in Russia's victory; Hitler, on the other hand, usually dismissed any general who disagreed with him.

In [[1942]] Zhukov was made Deputy Commander-in-Chief and sent to the south-western front to be in charge of the defense of [[Stalingrad]]. Under the overall command of Vasilievsky, he oversaw the encirclement and capture of the German Sixth Army in [[1943]] at the cost of perhaps a million dead (see [[Battle of Stalingrad]]). During the Stalingrad operation Zhukov spent most of the time in the fruitless attacks in the directions of [[Rzhev]], [[Sychevka]] and [[Vyazma]], known as ''"[[Battles of Rzhev|Rzhev meat grinder]]"'' ("Ржевская мясорубка"). Some historians now question the casualtycasaulty figures allegedly suffered by the Soviets at Rzhev as being inaccurately high. There is also some new evidence which show the Rzhev operation was a diversion in order to prevent the Germans from successfully breaking the encirclement of Stalingrad.

In January [[1943]] he orchestrated the first breakthrough of the German blockade of Leningrad. He was a [[STAVKA]] coordinator at the [[Battle of Kursk]] in July [[1943]], and, according to the memoirs, playing a central role in the planning of the Soviet defensive battle and the hugely successful offensive operations that followed it. Kursk represented the first major defeat of the Germans in summer campaigning weather and has a good claim to be a battle at least as decisive as Stalingrad. Commander of Central Front [[Konstantin Rokossovsky]], however, says that planning and decisions for the Battle of Kursk were made without Zhukov, that Zhukov only arrived to the Central Front just before the battle, did not make any decisions and left soon after beginning of the battle, and that Zhukov exagerates his role in the Battle of Kursk (Source: Военно-исторический журнал, 1992 N3 p.31).

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==Postwar career==

[[Image:ZhukovStalinMaus.jpg|thumb|225px|left|Zhukov and Stalin on the [[Tribune (architecture)|tribune]] of [[Lenin's Mausoleum]]]]

Immediately following the war Zhukov was the supreme Military Commander of the [[Allied Occupation Zones in Germany|Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany]], and became its Military Governor on June 10,1945. A war hero and a leader hugely popular with the military, Zhukov constituted a most serious potential threat to Stalin's dictatorship. As a result, on [[April 10]], [[1946]] he was replaced by [[Vasily Danilovich Sokolovsky]]. In [[1947]] he was sent to command the [[Odessa]] military district, far away from Moscow and lacking strategic significance and attendant massive troops deployment. After Stalin's death, however, Zhukov was returned to favour and became Deputy Defense Minister ([[1953]]), then Defense Minister ([[1955]]).

In 1946 seven rail carriages with the furniture which Zhukov was bringing to Russia from Germany were arrested. In 1948 searches were made in Zhukov's appartments in Moscow and in house at Moscow where many goods looted in Germany were taken [http://militera.lib.ru/research/sokolov2/10.html].

After Stalin's death Zhukov was returned to favour and became Deputy Defense Minister ([[1953]]), then Defense Minister ([[1955]]).

In 1953 Zhukov supported the post-Stalin Communist Party leadership in arresting (and eventually executing) [[Lavrenty Beria]], who at that time was First Deputy Prime Minister and head of the [[MVD]].

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Zhukov, as Soviet defence minister, was responsible for the invasion of [[Hungary]] following the [[1956 Hungarian Revolution|revolution in October, 1956]]. Along with the majority of members of the Praesidium, he urged [[Nikita Khrushchev]] to send troops in support of the Hungarian authorities, and to secure the border with [[Austria]]. However, Zhukov and most of the Praesidium were not eager to see a full-scale intervention in Hungary and Zhukov even recommended the withdrawal of Soviet troops when it seemed that they might have to take extreme measures to suppress the revolution. The mood on the Praesidium changed again when Hungary's new Prime Minister, [[Imre Nagy]], began to talk about Hungarian withdrawal from the [[Warsaw Pact]], and Russia pressed ahead ruthlessly to defeat the revolutionaries and install [[János Kádár]] in Nagy's place.

In [[1957]] Zhukov supported Khrushchev against his conservative enemies, the so-called "[[Anti-Party Group]]" led by [[Vyacheslav Molotov]]. Zhukov's speech to the [[plenum]] of the [[Central Committee]] of the Communist Party was the most powerful, directly denouncing the opponentsneo-Stalinists for their complicity in Stalin's crimes, though it also carried the threat of force: the very crime he was accusing the others of.

In June that year he was made a full member of the [[Presidium]] of the Central Committee. He had, however, significant political disagreements with Khrushchev in matters of army policy. Khruschev scaled down the conventional forces and the navy, while developing the strategic nuclear forces as a primary deterrent force, hence freeing up the manpower and the resources for the civilian economy.

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Zhukov's proponents often explain his brutality by the incredible pressure he was under. While pride was certainly a factor in many of Zhukov's decisions, he may well not have been as careless with the lives of his men had he not also been led by fear. Throughout the war Zhukov was put under more scrutiny than any other Soviet commander. The orders of his first major appointment, the defense of Moscow in 1941, were printed in all newspapers accompanied by a large portait of Zhukov - something unprecedented until then. Stalin was making himself very clear. This was the man who'd be held responsible for the outcome. The precarious position occupied by Zhukov is easy to appreciate even for a modern reader. Zhukov's subsequent high-profile appointments left him equally little room for failure. Winning at all costs was not optional.

ManyZhukov was certainly a brilliant strategist, and many of his battles are examples of some of the most lopsided victories of the second world war, ending with complete annihilation of his opponent. Evidence exists that Zhukov did more to prepare himself and his troops for battle than most other Soviet commanders, thus giving them more of an edge in a fight. However once the battle began, Zhukov's focus was on nothing but victory. As such, he was a typical Soviet commander. His brutality, while more publicized than most, was not at all uncommon. And many Russian historians continue to claim to this day that the outcome is all that matters.

In the popular belief and legends of the front-line soldiers, however, Zhukov is a fatherly figure who cares about his rank and file. He knows the day in and day out hardships of his troops, deeply loves Russia and all the Ivans that rose to its defense. In one anecdote, he dresses as a simple soldier and tries to get a hitch-hike to the front line from passing cars. Officers who did not stop their cars are later reprimanded for their lack of care toward the average Ivan.

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== Awards ==

Zhukov was a recipient of numerous awards. In particular, he was four times [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]; besides him, only [[Leonid Brezhnev]] was a four-time hero. Zhukov was one of three double recipients of the [[Order of Victory]]. He was also awarded the Polish [[Virtuti Militari]] with the Grand Cross and Star and the Chief Commander grade of the American [[Legion of Merit]], and was created a [[Order of the Bath|Knight Grand Cross of the Military Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath]]. The presentation of such foreign awards, and the generally warm reception Zhukov earned amongst the Western Powers contributed in part to Stalin's later distrust and jealousy of him.

==Memories==

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{{Commons|Георгий Константинович Жуков}}

*[http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/zhukov1/index.html ''Воспоминания и размышления''] The Memoirs of Georgy Zhukov {{ru(in icon}}Russian)

*[http://www.ordenshop.ru/photjuk.html Zhukov's Awards] {{ru(also icon}}in Russian)

*[http://www.suvorov.com/books/ten-pobedy/ ''Shadow of Victory''] and [http://www.suvorov.com/books/slova-obratno/ ''Take Words Back''] (both in Russian), books by [[Viktor Suvorov]], highly critical of Zhukov {{ru icon}}

*[http://militera.lib.ru/research/sokolov2/index.html Boris Sokolov. Unknown Zhukov (Соколов Борис Вадимович. Неизвестный Жуков: портрет без ретуши в зеркале эпохи)] {{ru icon}}

==Additional reading==

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==Reference==

* Pavel N. Bobylev, ''Otechesvennaya istoriya'', no. 1, 2000, pp. 41-64

==Footnotes==

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# {{note|Overy}} ''Russia's War'': A History of the Soviet Effort: 1941-1945 ISBN 0140271694 by Richard Overy Page 91

# {{note|Montefiore}} ''The Court of the Red Tsar'' by Simon Sebag Montefiore

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