Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov

The Early Years

Georgi Zhukov was born in December 1896 in the village of Strelkovka in the Kaluga province, where he grew up and recieved his education. At the outbreak of WWI, he enlisted as a private in a reconnaissance Company of a cavalry Regiment, serving on the Southwestern Front. Whilst there he took part in many patrols behind enemy lines and received his first St George cross for bravery following his capture of a German officer. He received a second award after being wounded by a mine and this was followed by a period of convalescence.
In 1918, he joined the Red Guards, serving with the 1st Moscow Cavalry Division. He quickly rose through the ranks and by the following year was a Squadron commander. In 1919 he was wounded for a second time and received the Order of the Red Banner. In 1923 he was promoted and given command of a Regiment in the 7th Samara Cavalry Division. This was followed by his attendance of the Higher Cavalry School at Leningrad in 1924. It was here that he first came into contact with other prominent young commanders, such as Rokassovsky, Yeremenko and Bagramyan. He devoted himself entirely to studying and Rokassovsky later wrote 'If you looked into his room you would find him crawling over a map on the floor, even then, for him, the cause and his sense of duty were above everything'.
In early 1930 he returned to the 7th Samara Cavalry Division, where his then commanding officer, Rokassovsky characterized him thus, 'He is strong willed and decisive, he has a broad range of practical command experience and initiative and knows how to apply it in practice. He enjoys military life and is constantly improving himself.' In a similar vein, the then Cavalry Inspector Budenny, wrote of Zhukov, 'He shows strong authoritarian signs as an officer and is extremely demanding of himself and his subordinates.'
In 1933, he was given command of the 4th Cavalry Division with the task of improving its effectiveness and training. As a result of his efforts, the Division became one of the finest in the Army and for this achievement, he was awarded the Order of Lenin. In 1937 he was given command of the 3rd Cavalry Corps. It was during this period that he learned a great deal from figures such as Yegorov and Uborovich. He also managed to avoid the worst of Stalin's purges and in 1938 he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Bialystok Military District. In 1939 he was sent to Khalkin-Gol, on the border of Mongolia and Manchuria, where he deployed Russian and Mongolian troops of the 57th Special Corps to defend the east bank of the Khalkin Gol River. In August, he crossed the river to attack the Japanese forces with three infantry Divisions, massed artillery, a tank Brigade and the support of the Red Air Force. Despite heavy casualties, Zhukov's force surrounded two complete Japanese Divisions while the other forces were scattered. The Japanese attempted to break out of the encirclement, but failed. When the surrounded forces refused to surrender, Zhukov wiped them out with artillery and air attacks. For his achievements during this operation he received the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
In May 1940 he was recalled to Moscow, where Stalin personally appointed him Commander of the Kiev Special Military District. He was promoted to General for the appointment, a huge achievement from his humble beginnings as a private. During this appointment he took part in war games, playing the part of an invading enemy force along the Russian border. His force surrounded the friendly forces and annihilated them, a frightening prelude to what would happen the following year. In January 1941, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff. He worked extremely hard in the role, in an attempt to reorganize Russian armoured units, devising a plan for the strategic deployment of forces in preparation for an invasion and a plan for the mobilization of industry for war production.

War Begins

On June 22nd 1941, Zhukov was sent to the Southwestern Front to control the situation there. However as the overall situation rapidly deteriorated, he was quickly recalled to Moscow on the 26th to coordinate the action across all the Fronts. On the 29th, he reported to Stalin and proposed that Kiev be abandoned and that the forces of the Central and Southwestern Front's withdraw to new defensive positions behind the River Dnepr. In his memoirs, Zhukov recalls, 'having read my report, Stalin summoned me. He cursed me in crude terms for suggesting we leave Kiev'. I replied. 'If you think the Chief of the General Staff talks nonsense, then I request you relieve me of my post and send me to the front'. After a pause for reflection, Stalin despatched Zhukov to Yelnya, to deal with the German bridgehead there, which was threatening Moscow. On the 30th of July, Zhukov was given command of the Reserve Front. He also commanded the operation against the Yelnya salient, employing a pincer movement with the aim of encircling the enemy bridgehead there. The operation was not a complete success due to the lack of manpower and material available to carry it out.
In September, Zhukov was sent to Leningrad, to halt the German advance towards the city and organize its defence. He planned a deep, echeloned defence of the city and immediately set about its preparation. His resolution and calmness, created an atmosphere of belief that the city would be held. One officer, General Khozin, commented afterwards, 'I never saw an occasion, even in the most difficult situations, that there seemed to be no way out, when Zhukov lost his head for even a second, or did not find a sound solution'. Despite his organisational and inspirational qualities, Zhukov also had a harsh character. In September, as commander of the Leningrad Front, he signed operational order number 0064 which stated that, 'all commanders, political officers and rank and file who leave the line of defence without prior written instruction of the Front or Military council, are to be shot on sight!'
At the beginning of October, Zhukov was recalled to Moscow and reported to Stalin. Stalin informed him of the desperate situation that had developed with the Western and Reserve Fronts in the Vyazma area. On his arrival at the Front, Zhukov confirmed the situation and urged Stalin to make available all possible reinforcements for deployment along the Mozhaisk Defence line. Stalin also ordered the arrest of the Front commander, General Koniev, but Zhukov persuaded him not to follow this course of action and the conversation ended with a threat from Stalin, 'If you surrender Moscow, both your heads will roll!' Zhukov again employed all his skill and energy to carrying out the task in hand. By late October, the forces of the Western Front had succeeded in temporarily halting the German advance towards the capital. His skill and strength of character had again averted disaster. During a meeting with Stalin in November, another officer, General Belov noticed just how much of an aura Zhukov created. 'During the meeting I was amazed by Zhukov's behaviour. He spoke in an authoritative tone and the impression was created, that the senior commander here was Zhukov. Stalin seemed to accept this as normal.'
In late November, Zhukov drafted the plan for the Russian winter counter offensive and Stalin approved it. The offensive opened on the 6th of December, and Zhukov worked tirelessly to oversee its implementation, travelling up and down the front hardly sleeping and only stopping occasionally to eat. In mid December the huge mental and physical strain eventually took its toll and one night a member of his staff recalled, 'we just couldn't wake him at the agreed hour. First one hour passed, then two, but we could not rouse him. Then we received a phone call from Stalin. General Sokolovsky reported that we could not wake Zhukov up.' Stalin replied, 'don't wake him then, let him sleep.' The counter offensive lasted until the end of February 1942 and was both a huge military and political success. It also brought Zhukov great recognition and for his efforts, in August 1942, he was appointed Deputy Supreme Commander in Chief and First Deputy Defence Commissar.
This post involved him in strategic and campaign planning and he spent most of his time visiting the various Fronts, where he assisted the Front commanders in carrying out their operational plans. In August 1942, he arrived at the Stalingrad Front and organized the counter attacks on the northern sector to reduce pressure on the forces fighting inside the city. In September, in coordination with General Vasilevsky, he began to draft the plans for the relief of the city, which would be effected by an offensive operation to encircle the German forces threatening Stalingrad. In conjunction with this operation, Zhukov was ordered to prepare a diversionary operation on the Kalinin and Western Fronts, operation Mars, against the German bridgeheads in the Rzhev-Ghzatsk-Vyazma area.
The plan for Operation Mars bore all the characteristics of a Zhukov-style offensive operation. To maximize pressure on the Germans, his forces would attack simultaneously in all sectors. By launching his main attacks against the base of the Rzhev salient from both east and west, Zhukov sought to envelop German forces in the salient with frontal assaults, without having to conduct a complex manoeuvre with his mobile forces across the difficult terrain and in the harsh weather conditions. To achieve quick success in his attack sectors, Zhukov ordered his Front commanders to mass their forces and commit all of their armour early in the battle. By doing so, he hoped that the armoured spearheads could sever vital German communications routes, the key road and rail lines along the flanks of the Rzhev salient. The operation began on the 25th of November and quickly faltered. The offensive was conducted against fortified positions, in swampy-forested terrain and in unfavourable weather conditions, which nullified the Russian artillery support and grounded all air support. The Russian forces suffered horrific casualties as the skilful German tactical defence by relatively small combat groups, which managed to exploit terrain and man-made obstacles to bottle up attacking mobile forces before they reached key objectives in the German operational rear area. The operation was a failure and little mention is made of it, either in Zhukov's memoirs or in other Russian literature.

The Tide Turns

Despite this failure, Zhukov's part in the operation was played down and in January 1943, he was made a Marshal of the Soviet Union and decorated with the newly created Order of Suverov. From January to March he coordinated the breaking of the Leningrad blockade. In April he analysed the development of the strategic position on the eastern front, predicting that the Germans would launch an offensive against the Kursk salient in the summer. He proposed to Stalin and the STAVKA that Russian forces there prepare a deeply echeloned defence, supported by a large reserve, with which to meet and then wear down the German attack. Only once this had been achieved did he propose that Russian forces go over to the offensive across all fronts. The German offensive ran aground on the Russian defences and Russian forces went over to the offensive, liberating the eastern Ukraine and reaching the Dnepr River.
In March 1944, Zhukov took command of the 1st Ukrainian Front after its commander, General Vatutin, was killed and carried out the Proskurov-Chernovitsy operation, which culminated in an advance of over 200 miles to reach the Carpathian Mountains. In April, Zhukov met with Stalin in Moscow to discuss the summer campaign plan and was awarded the Order of Victory. During the summer, he and Vasilevsky coordinated operation Bagration, the Russian offensive to recapture Belorussia and effect the destruction of German Army Group Centre.
After the operation was concluded, Zhukov again returned to Moscow to meet with Stalin. Stalin informed him that no special coordination of the operation towards Berlin was required and offered him the opportunity to take command of 1st Belorussian Front, the Front that would be tasked with capturing the German capital. Zhukov took up the post on the 16th of November and also assumed the position of Deputy Supreme Commander in Chief.
The advance towards Berlin commenced on the 12th of January with the Vistula-Oder operation. The operation closed on the 2nd of February, with Russian forces gaining bridgeheads on the Oder River, just over 50 miles from Berlin.
Zhukov broke out of the bridgeheads on the Oder at Kustrin on the 15th of April. His attack against the German 9th Army on the Seelow heights went disastrously. The attack, which began in darkness, made little progress against the German positions. Stalin used the reports of good progress by Koniev's 1st Ukranian Front to goad Zhukov into trying to batter his way through. He employed his armoured reserve on the first day in an attempt to break the German defences and suffered heavy losses of both men and armour. After two days of heavy fighting, Zhukov finally broke through the German defences and a race between him and Koniev to reach Berlin ensued. Zhukov was forced to encircle the German capital from the north and this phase of the operation was completed on the 22nd of April. Following a short pause to reorganize, the assault on Berlin proper began two days later on the 24th. Following several days of vicious street fighting the centre of the city was reached on the 2nd of May.
On the 5th of May Zhukov inspected the Imperial Chancellery, spinning the great globe in Hitler's study and the next day visited the Reichstag, and like many other Russian soldiers, carved his name on one of the columns. On the 9th of May he was present to accept the German surrender and afterwards attended a reception to celebrate the victory, which ended with singing and dancing. 'I couldn't resist' remarked Zhukov afterwards, 'I danced a la russe, as I used to when I was a lad'. On the 12th of June, Zhukov received his third title, Hero of the Soviet Union. However, perhaps one of the greatest events in Zhukov's life took place on the 24th of June 1945, when he lead the victory parade in Moscow. Zhukov rode out of the Spassky Gate of the Kremlin, mounted on a white Stallion, and received the salute from Rokassovsky. In July he was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, an honour that he received from Montgomery in Berlin and in August he received his second Order of Victory.

Betrayal and Disgrace

Following the end of the war he became Commander in Chief of the Soviet zone of occupation, a post that he held until March 1946, when he became Commander in Chief Land Forces and Deputy Defence Minister. However, Stalin had become wary of the popularity Zhukov had gained from his wartime exploits and he decided to discredit him. A number of high ranking officers were arrested and forced to make false accusations against Zhukov. These accusations were used as a basis for Zhukov's downfall and in June he was accused of improper behaviour, of having spoken against the government and of having exaggerated his part in the war in interviews with foreign newspapers. As a result, Zhukov was removed from his post and demoted to commanding the Odessa Military District. Of the event Zhukov later commented, 'glory is a two edged sword and can sometimes give you a painful blow. After that blow, I did everything to remain myself, I saw my inner salvation in this'. In December 1947, he was summoned back to Moscow, this time to face charges fabricated by Beria, Deputy Prime Minister and head of national security. However during the journey, Zhukov suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized. This evidently saved him and Stalin's conscience promted him to spare Zhukov, telling Beria, 'No, I won't let you arrest Zhukov'. In February 1948, following a spell of convalescence, he was appointed commander of the Ural Military District.
In March 1953, shortly after Stalin's death, he was appointed Deputy Defence Minister and ironically oversaw the task of arresting Beria, who was tried and later executed. Zhukov now enjoyed a return to favour and in February 1955 he was appointed Defence Minister. The following year, on his 60th birthday he was awarded his fourth honour of Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1957, Zhukov gave his support to Khrushchev during an attempt to overthrow the Premier and during a heated debate in the Central Plenum he told Khrushchev's opposers 'Molotov and his supporters want to bring back the Stalinist style of leadership. We cannot stand for that! If you continue to oppose the Party line, I will be compelled to turn to the army and the people'. This speech swung the debate and the threat to Khrushchev subsided. However, the popularity and influence that Zhukov enjoyed worried Khrushchev, as it had Stalin. Zhukov was subsequently accused of Bonapartism and was forced into early retirement. He was held in disgrace until 1965, when for the first time since being ostracized he appeared at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses for the annual victory celebrations. He was greeted by a storm of applause and chants of 'Hurrah for Zhukov'. During his retirement he wrote his memoirs entitled 'Memoirs and Reflections'. Zhukov died on the 18th of June 1974 and his ashes were buried in the Kremlin wall. At the time of his death, his old comrade Marshal Vasilevsky said of him, 'He was born for the military life and for large-scale warfare. One can only admire a man who so closely identified his own life with that of the people. The life and work of such a man are worthy of emulation. Progressive mankind will never forget the glorious name of Zhukov'.