Historical personalities in Spectre of Communism p.1
There are things in Russia which are not as they seem. (c) Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (Russian: Гео́ргий Константи́нович Жу́ков; 1 December 1896 – 18 June 1974) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union. Zhukov was considered the USSR’s “Best Commander” or “Marshall of Victory”. He has shown himself as an effective and competent military commander at all stages of WW2, and even before it, in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol.
If we come to a minefield, our infantry attacks exactly as it were not there. (c) Georgy Zhukov to General Eisenhower
Zhukov was later criticized for taking “unnecessary” or “excessive” losses, caused by poor tactics of just attacking German forces ceaselessly without any intricate maneuvers. However, it must be said that such criticism must be taken with a grain of salt. First, there were politics going on after the war, and he often was out of favor, so that could be one source of criticism. Secondly, virtually all Soviet Generals had high losses, so that could be said of the Red Army in general, not personally Zhukov. At least he won his battles. Thirdly, one has to be competent in military headquarters inner work and be aware of the exact situation to judge the soundness of Zhukov’s tactical moves. Nonetheless, Zhukov himself added fuel to the fire by his supposed bravado before Eisenhower, with all this minefields talk.
If you feel that the Chief of the General Staff talks only rubbish, my place is not here. Better to give me a command at the front where I can be of better use! (c) Georgy Zhukov to Stalin
Zhukov was stubborn, direct and even blunt. Although that caused troubles from him throughout the career, that was also the reason why Stalin respected him a lot. Oftentimes he would speak his mind to the Great Stalin himself directly and without hesitation. He was also very bossy and even rude with his inferiors, but that was probably understandable and did not go far from the Army standards of the time.
The mere existence of atomic weapons implies the possibility of their use. (c) Georgy Zhukov
After the war, Zhukov has quickly fallen out of favor. Most likely, Stalin feared his popularity and decided to move him to a totally insignificant posting in Odessa military district. That was a hard blow for Zhukov’s ego and morale. The official pretense was the “Trophy case”, the Zhukov indeed was too eager to get his hands on numerous wartime trophies.
After Stalin’s death, Zhukov helped Khrushchev to get to power and prevented a coup attempt by arresting long-time NKVD head Beria, who is rumored to be behind Stalin’s death. Later on, he prevented another coup and help Khrushchev once again to remain in power, only to be repaid in a similar manner to what the Stalin did: he was ostracized and sentenced to live his retirement in oblivion and under the torrent of unfavorable articles aimed at ruining his prestige. Yet, Zhukov endured and wrote quite extensive and truthful memoirs for heavily censored Soviet literature standards.
After Khrushchev lost his power, Zhukov got his prestige back and his memoirs played a key role and his redemption. They became a best-seller and brought him great fame.
Overall, he was a very dedicated and talented man and his reputation is well-deserved.
