Ancient history

Georgy Zhukov


Born in a peasant family in Strelkovka, province of Kaluga, region southwest of Moscow. He was first an apprentice furrier in Moscow.

First World War

Engaged as a volunteer in 1914. In 1915, he was enlisted as a soldier in the Novgorod Dragoon Regiment, decorated with the Cross of Saint George twice, he was promoted to the rank of non-commissioned officer for his bravery in combat. In 1917, the officers of the Tsar's army named him lieutenant.[1]

The ascent

He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union after the October Revolution, where his modest background became an asset. After recovering from typhus, he fought in the civil war, against Denikin and Wrangel, receiving the Order of the Red Banner for having suppressed a peasant revolt.

Noted for his meticulousness, his discipline and his rigor, he quickly obtained promotion:in 1923 he commanded a cavalry regiment, and in 1930, a brigade. In 1931, he graduated from the military academy in Frunze.

A fervent supporter of new ways of fighting with tanks, he survived Stalin's Great Leadership Purge of the army in the 1930s, perhaps because he left the dangerous environment of Moscow, first as an observer during the Spanish Civil War, then for the command of the first Mongolian Soviet army corps.

When the Japanese army of Guandong (from the name of the peninsula where it was based) caused a series of serious incidents on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria from 1938 to 1940, in a kind of undeclared war where the Japanese want to test the will of the Soviets to defend their territory, with 80,000 men, 180 tanks and 450 planes for the invading army, General Joukov finds himself in charge of leading the counter-offensive.

After his request of August 15, 1939, he received substantial reinforcements, made up of seasoned troops during operations against the Siberian natives at the beginning of the decade. They are also abundantly equipped with modern equipment, transported by the vital Trans-Siberian railway. He can provoke the decisive battle of KHalhin Gol, on August 20, during which he leads a conventional frontal attack by his infantry and the Mongol troops, keeping two tank brigades in reserve, equipped with fast tanks of the Char BT-5 type. Once the enemy is well anchored, he has his fast troops execute an envelopment by both wings. Supported by motorized artillery and infantry, the two mobile battle groups surrounded the Japanese 6th Army and captured Japanese supply depots. In a few days the Japanese troops were forced to flee, abandoning many prisoners and most of their equipment. This battle is considered by the Russians as a revenge for the debacle of 1905 and Zhukov is rewarded with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He then took part in the Winter War against Finland.

World War II

Zhukov was promoted to the rank of general in 1940, he was briefly head of the Stavka, the General Headquarters of the Soviet army, before a disagreement with Stalin caused him to be replaced in June by Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov, himself yielding place for Alexander Vasilyevsky in November.

He was first sent to the aid of Voroshilov who organized the defense of Leningrad, which was being surrounded by German and Finnish troops. But in October 1941, he was recalled to replace Semyon Tymoshenko, at the head of the central front and to lead the defense of Moscow, when the Germans were only 30 km from the city. He organized the repatriation of troops from the Far East, following the assurance of Japanese non-intervention. This logistical work - considered by some to be his greatest achievement - allows him to create a strategic reserve made up of elite troops. He launched the counter-attack at the beginning of December, thus avoiding the fall of the city which seemed inevitable.

In 1942, he was made the Commander-in-Chief's delegate and sent to the Southern Front to save Stalingrad, overseeing the capture of Paulus' German Sixth Army in 1943 at the cost of one million casualties. He imposed an iron discipline. In January 1943, he organized the supply of Leningrad through the German blockade. He yields to General Vatoutine the command during the Battle of Kursk.

After the failure of Marshal Voroshilov, he broke the siege of Leningrad in January 1944, then he led the Soviet Bagration offensive of 1944, which liberated almost all of Belarus.

He took part in the final assault on Germany in 1945, capturing Berlin in April, at the head of the first front in Byelorussia. It was he who received Germany's surrender for the Soviet Union.

Post-war

He becomes the first governor of the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany. However, too popular in Stalin's eyes, he was demoted in 1946 to command the Odessa Military District.

Georgui Zhukov in Odessa

In 1946 the city of Odessa had to face an unprecedented wave of organized crime. This is due in particular to an organization nicknamed “The Black Cat” (черный кот). Military equipment (warehouses, trains, ...) and personnel being the target of these criminals, Joukov militarizes the police fight. He mounts an operation codenamed "Masakarada" (masacarade) where Red Army commandos, men and women, disguised as civilians are scattered across the city to shoot down members of the underworld. He organizes raids among this underworld and has prisoners executed without trial in the quarries surrounding the city. In a few months, crime fell by 74% in the Odessa district, as mentioned in a report addressed to Stalin. The civil authorities of the city, some of which are in cahoots with the local underworld, [ref. necessary] consider his methods "dictatorial" and appeal to Nikita Khrushchev for Zhukov to be transferred. The series "Lykvidatsiya" (Liquidation) of the Russian television "Kanal Rossiya" broadcast in December 2007 tells in a romantic way the action of Zhukov in Odessa.

After Stalin's death in 1953, he became a delegate of the Minister of Defense and then a minister. At the end of June 1953, he participated with Khrushchev in the ousting of Beria. He supported Nikita Khrushchev in 1957, and in June of that year he was made a full member of the Central Committee. Precisely four months later he was relieved of his ministry and removed from the central committee by Khrushchev.

It was only after his departure in 1964 that he appeared in public again. Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin bring Joukov back into the favor of senior Soviet officials, but without any real power. Until his death in 1974, he was considered an important figure among the Soviet population. He is cremated with military honours. In 1995, for the celebration of its 100th anniversary, the Russian Federation created the Zhukov Order and the Zhukov Medal.


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