Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (Russian: Гео́ргий Константи́нович Жуќ ов)

(1 December 1896 – 18 June 1974)

Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union.

He also served as Chief of the General Staff, Minister of Defence, and was a member of the Presidium of the Communist Party.

During the Second World War, Zhukov oversaw some of the Red Army's most decisive victories.

Born to a poor peasant family from central Russia, Zhukov was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army and fought in the First World War.

He served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.

Gradually rising through the ranks, by 1939 Zhukov was given command of an army group and won a decisive battle over Japanese forces at
Khalkhin Gol, for which he won the first of his four Hero of the Soviet Union awards.

In February 1941, Zhukov was appointed as chief of the Red Army's General Staff.

Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Zhukov lost his position as chief of the general staff.

Subsequently, he organized the defense of Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad.

He participated in planning several major offensives, including the Battle of Kursk and Operation Bagration.

In 1945, Zhukov commanded the 1st Belorussian Front; he took part in the Vistula–Oder Offensive and the Battle of Berlin, which resulted in the
defeat of Nazi Germany, and the end of the war in Europe.

In recognition of Zhukov's role in the war, he was chosen to accept the German Instrument of Surrender and inspect the Moscow Victory Parade
of 1945.

After the war, Zhukov's success and popularity caused Joseph Stalin to see him as a potential threat.

Stalin stripped him of his positions and relegated him to military commands of little strategic significance.

After Stalin's death in 1953, Zhukov supported Nikita Khrushchev's bid for Soviet leadership. In 1955, he was appointed as Defence Minister and
made a member of the Presidium.

In 1957 Zhukov lost favour again and was forced to retire.

He never returned to a position of influence and died in 1974.

 Early life and career

Zhukov was born into a poverty-stricken peasant family in Strelkovka, Maloyaroslavsky, Kaluga Governorate in western Russia.

His father Konstantin, who had been orphaned at age two and then adopted by Anuska Zhukova, was a cobbler.

His mother Ustin'ya was a peasant laborer.

Zhukov was said to resemble his mother, and he believed he inherited his physical strength from her;

Ustin'ya was reportedly able to accomplish demanding tasks such as carrying 200-pound sacks of grain over long distances.

In an era when most members of Russia's poor and working classes completed only two years of schooling, Zhukov completed the three year
primary education course at his hometown school.

He was then apprenticed to his mother's brother Mikhail as a furrier in Moscow.

While working for his uncle, Zhukov supplemented his education by reading with his cousin Alexander on a wide range of topics, including the
Russian language, German language, science, geography, and mathematics.

In addition, he enrolled in a night school, where he completed courses as the work in his uncle's shop permitted.

He completed his apprenticeship in 1914 and established his own business, which included three young employees under his leadership.
 World War I

In 1915, Zhukov was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army, where he served in the 10th Dragoon Novgorod Regiment, and was wounded in
action against the Germans at Kharkiv.

During World War I, Zhukov was awarded the Cross of St. George twice, and promoted to the rank of non-commissioned officer for his bravery.

He joined the Bolshevik Party after the 1917 October Revolution; in party circles his background of poverty became a significant asset.

After recovering from a serious case of typhus, he fought in the Russian Civil War, serving in the Second Cavalry Brigade, commanded by Semyon
Timoshenko, which was later absorbed into the 1st Cavalry Army, led by Semyon Budyonny.

He completed a cavalry training course for officers in 1920 and received his commission as an officer.

He received the Order of the Red Banner for his part in subduing the Tambov Rebellion in 1921.
 Interwar period

Zhukov quickly advanced through the ranks as the commander of a cavalry troop and squadron, and deputy commander of a cavalry regiment.

At the end of May 1923, he was appointed commander of the 39th Cavalry Regiment.

In 1924, he entered the Higher School of Cavalry, from which he graduated the next year, returning afterward to command the same regiment.

He attended the Frunze Military Academy beginning in 1929, and graduated in 1930.

In May 1930, Zhukov became commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade of the 7th Cavalry Division.

In February 1931, he was appointed as the Assistant Inspector of Cavalry for the Red Army.

In May 1933, Zhukov was appointed commander of the 4th Cavalry Division.

His career was accelerated by the Great Purge, when thousands of officers were arrested and shot, but those associated with the First Cavalry
Army were protected.

In 1937, Zhukov became commander of first the 3rd Cavalry Corps, and later the 6th Cavalry Corps.

In 1938, he became deputy cavalry commander of the Belorussian Military District.

 Khalkhin Gol

In 1938, Zhukov was directed to command the First Soviet Mongolian Army Group, and saw action against Japan's Kwantung Army on the border
between the Mongolian People's Republic and the Japanese-controlled state of Manchukuo.

The Soviet–Japanese Border Wars lasted from 1938 to 1939.

The conflict rapidly escalated into a full-scale war, with the Japanese pushing forward with around 80,000 troops, 180 tanks and 450 aircraft.

These events led to the strategically decisive battle of Khalkhin Gol.

Zhukov requested major reinforcements, and on 20 August 1939, his Soviet offensive commenced.

After a massive artillery barrage, nearly 500 BT-5 and BT-7 tanks advanced, supported by over 500 fighters and bombers.

This was the Soviet Air Force's first fighter-bomber operation.

The offensive first appeared to be a typical conventional frontal attack.

However, two tank brigades were initially held back were then ordered to advance, supported by motorized artillery, infantry, and other tanks.

This daring and successful manoeuvre encircled the Japanese 6th Army and captured the enemy's vulnerable rear supply areas.

By 31 August, the Japanese had been cleared from the disputed border, leaving the Soviets clearly victorious.

This campaign had significance beyond the immediate tactical and local outcome.

Zhukov demonstrated and tested the techniques later used against the Germans in the Eastern Front of the Second World War.

His innovations included the deployment of underwater bridges, and improving the cohesion and battle-effectiveness of inexperienced units by
adding a few experienced, battle-hardened troops to bolster morale and overall training.

Evaluation of the problems inherent in the performance of the BT tanks led to the replacement of their fire-prone petrol (gasoline) engines with
diesel ones.

This battle provided valuable knowledge that was essential to the Soviet success in development of the T-34 medium tank used in WWII.

After this campaign, veterans were transferred to untested units, to better spread the benefits of their battle experience.

For his victory, Zhukov was declared a Hero of the Soviet Union.

However, the campaign—and especially Zhukov's pioneering use of tanks—remained little known outside the Soviet Union.

Zhukov considered Khalkhin Gol to be invaluable preparation for conducting operations during the Second World War.

In May 1940, Zhukov became an army general, making him one of the eight high ranking Red Army officers.
 Pre-war military exercises

In the fall of 1940, Zhukov started preparing plans for the military exercise concerning the defence of the Western border of the Soviet Union.

In his memoirs, Zhukov reports that in this exercise, he commanded the Western or Blue forces—the supposed invasion troops;

And his opponent was Colonel General Dmitry Pavlov, the commander of the Eastern or Red forces –the supposed Soviet troops.

Zhukov describes the exercise as being similar to events that later took place during the German invasion.

Russian historian Bobylev noted that the details of the exercises were reported differently by the various participants who published memoirs.

He said that there were two exercises:

 From 2 to 6 January 1941, for the North-West direction.

 From 8 to 11 January, for the South-West direction.

During the first, Western forces attacked Eastern forces on 15 July, but the Eastern forces counterattacked and reached the original border.

At the time, the Eastern forces had a numerical advantage:

 51 infantry division against 41.

 8,811 tanks against 3,512.

Bobylev describes how by the end of the exercise, the Eastern forces did not manage to surround and destroy the Western forces.

In their turn, the Western forces threatened to surround the Eastern forces.

The second game was won by the Easterners, meaning that both games were won by the side commanded by Zhukov.

On 1 February 1941, Zhukov became chief of the Red Army's General Staff.

He was also elected a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union In February 1941, and was
appointed a Deputy People's Commissar for Defence in March.
 Soviet offensive controversy

From 2 February 1941, as the chief of the general staff, and Deputy Minister of Defense, Zhukov was said to take part in drawing up the
"Strategic plan for deployment of the forces of the Soviet Union in the event of war with Germany and its allies."

The plan was completed no later than 15 May 1941, according to a document found in the Soviet archives after they were declassified in the 90s.

Soviet forces would occupy the Vistula Border and continue to Katowice or even Berlin—should the German armies retreat—or the Baltic coast,
should German forces not retreat and be forced to protect Poland and East Prussia.

The attacking Soviets were supposed to reach Siedlce, Deblin, and capture Warsaw before going toward the southwest and imposing final defeat
at Lublin.

Historians do not have the original documents that could verify the existence of such a plan, and there is no evidence that Stalin accepted it.

In a transcript of an interview on 26 May 1965, Zhukov said that Stalin did not approve the plan.

But Zhukov did not clarify whether execution was attempted. As of 1999, no other approved plan for a Soviet attack had been found.

On 10 June 1941, Zhukov sent a message to the Military Council of the Kiev Special Military District, after someone, most likely the commander of
the Kiev district, Mikhail Kirponos, had ordered troops on the border to occupy forward positions.

Zhukov ordered: "Such action could provoke the Germans into armed confrontation fraught with all sorts of consequences. Revoke this order
immediately and report who, specifically, gave such an unauthorised order."

On 11 June, he sent a telegram saying that his immediate superior, Timoshenko, had ordered that they were to report back by 16 June
confirming that the troops had been withdrawn from their forward positions.
 Eastern Front of World War II

On 22 June 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, an invasion of the Soviet Union. Zhukov responded by signing the "Directive of
Peoples' Commissariat of Defence No.3" which ordered an all-out counteroffensive by Red Army forces.

Despite numerical superiority, this manoeuvre failed and the disorganized Red Army units were destroyed by the Wehrmacht.

Zhukov claimed that he was forced to sign the document by Joseph Stalin. This document was supposedly written by Aleksandr Vasilevsky.

When Stalin arrived unannounced at command headquarters, demanding to know why he wasn’t being told what was happening at the front,
Zhukov courageously told him: "Comrade Stalin, our duty is first of all to help the front commanders and only then to inform you."

But when he had to admit that they lost contact with the front commanders in Belarus, Stalin lost his temper and called him "useless".

On 29 July, Zhukov was removed from his post of chief of the general staff, and was instead appointed the commander of the Reserve Front,
where he oversaw the Yelnya Offensive, delivering the Red Army's first victory over the Germans.

On 10 September, Zhukov was made the commander of the Leningrad Front, where he oversaw the defence of the city.

On 6 October, Zhukov was appointed the representative of Stavka for the Reserve and Western Fronts.

On 10 October, those fronts were merged into the Western Front under Zhukov's command.

This front then participated in the Battle of Moscow and several Battles of Rzhev.

In August 1942, Zhukov was made deputy commander in chief and sent to the southwestern front to take charge of the defence of Stalingrad.

In November, Zhukov was sent to coordinate the Western and the Kalinin Front during Operation Mars.

In January 1943, him and Voroshilov coordinated the actions of the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts and the Baltic Fleet in Operation Iskra.

On January 18, Zhukov was promoted to Marshal. He was considered the main architect of the Soviet victory together with Vasilevsky.

During Operation Bagration, Zhukov coordinated the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts, later the 1st Ukrainian Front as well.

On 16 November, he became commander of the 1st Belorussian Front which took part in the Vistula–Oder Offensive and the battle of Berlin.

More than 20 million Soviet soldiers and civilians died as a result of the war.

Zhukov was chosen to personally accept the German Instrument of Surrender in Berlin.
 Post-war service

Soviet occupation zone

After the German capitulation, Zhukov became the first commander of the Soviet occupation zone.

On 10 June 1945, he returned to Moscow to prepare for the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945.

On 24 June, Stalin appointed him commander in chief of the parade. After the ceremony, Zhukov went to Berlin to resume his command.

In May 1945, Zhukov signed three resolutions to improve living standards in the Soviet occupation zone:

 11 May: resolution 063 – provision of food

 12 May: resolution 064 – restoration of the public services sector
 13 May: resolution 080 – provision of milk supplies for children

He issued strict orders that his subordinates were to "hate Nazism but respect the German people," and to make all efforts to restore and
maintain a stable living standard for the German population.
 Inter-allied diplomacy

From 16 July to 2 August, Zhukov participated in the Potsdam Conference with the fellow representatives of the Allied governments.

As one of the four commanders of the Allied occupational forces, Zhukov established good relationships with his new colleagues;

 General Dwight D. Eisenhower

 Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery
 Marshal Jean de Lattre

The four frequently exchanged views about matters such as sentencing, trials, judgment of war criminals, relationships between the Allied states,
and how to defeat the Japanese and rebuild Germany.

Eisenhower developed a good relationship with Zhukov and it proved beneficial in resolving differences in post-war occupational issues.

Zhukov and Eisenhower went on to tour the Soviet Union together in the immediate aftermath of the victory over Germany.

During this tour Eisenhower introduced Zhukov to Coca-Cola.

As Coca-Cola was regarded in the SU as a symbol of American imperialism, Zhukov was reluctant to be photographed consuming such a product.

Zhukov asked if the beverage could be made clear to resemble vodka.

A European subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Export Corporation delivered an initial 50 cases of White Coke to Marshal Zhukov.
 Decline of career

Zhukov was not only the supreme military commander of the Soviet occupation zone, but became its military governor on 10 June 1945.

A war hero, hugely popular with the military, Zhukov was viewed by Stalin as a potential threat to his leadership.

He replaced Zhukov with Vasily Sokolovsky on 10 April 1946.

After an unpleasant session of the main military council—in which Zhukov was bitterly attacked and accused of political unreliability and hostility
to the Party Central Committee—he was stripped of his position as commander in chief of the Soviet Army.

He was assigned command of the Odessa Military District, far from Moscow and lacking in strategic significance and troops.

He suffered a heart attack in January 1948, spending a month in hospital.

In February he was given another secondary posting, this time command of the Urals Military District.

Tsouras described the move from Odessa to the Urals as a relegation from a "second-rate" to a "fifth-rate" assignment.

Throughout this time, security chief Lavrentiy Beria was apparently trying to topple Zhukov.

Two of Zhukov's subordinates, Marshal of Aviation Alexander Novikov and Lieutenant-General Konstantin Telegin, were arrested and tortured in
Lefortovo Prison at the end of 1945. Novikov was forced by Beria into a "confession" which implicated Zhukov in a conspiracy.

In a conference, all generals except GRU director Filipp Golikov defended Zhukov against accusation of exaggeration of Germany's strength.

During this time, Zhukov was accused of Bonapartism.

In 1946, seven rail carriages with furniture that Zhukov was taking to the Soviet Union from Germany were impounded.

In 1948, his apartments and house in Moscow were searched and many valuables looted from Germany were found.

In his investigation Beria concluded that Zhukov had in his possession 17 golden rings, three gemstones, the faces of 15 golden necklaces, more
than four kilometers of cloth, 323 pieces of fur, 44 carpets taken from German palaces, 55 paintings and 20 guns.

When learning of Zhukov's "misfortunes" Eisenhower expressed his sympathy for his "comrade-in-arms."

In February 1953, Stalin relieved Zhukov of his post as Commander of the Urals Military District, recalling Zhukov to Moscow.

It was thought Zhukov's expertise was needed in the Korean War; however, Zhukov received no orders from Stalin after arriving in Moscow.

On 5 March 1953, at 09:50, Stalin died of a stroke. Following Stalin's passing, Zhukov's life entered a new phase.
 Relationship with Stalin

During the war, Zhukov was one of only a few people who understood Stalin's personality.

As the chief of staff and deputy supreme commander, Zhukov had hundreds of meetings with Stalin, both private and during Stavka conferences.

Zhukov understood Stalin's personality and methods well. According to Zhukov, Stalin was a bold and secretive person, but he was also skeptical.

His outstanding knowledge of Stalin's personality allowed him to deal with Stalin's outbursts in a way other Soviet generals could not.

While Zhukov viewed his relationship with Stalin as one of a subordinate–senior, Stalin was in awe and possibly jealous of Zhukov.

Both were military commanders, but Stalin's experience was limited to a previous generation of non-mechanized warfare.

By contrast, Zhukov was highly influential in the development of highly mechanized armies.

Nonetheless, Zhukov was less competent than Stalin as a politician, highlighted by Zhukov's many failures in politics.

Many people around Stalin—including Beria, Yezhov, and Mekhlis—felt obliged to flatter Stalin to remain on his good side.

Zhukov remained obstinate and argumentative, and did not hesitate to publicly contradict Stalin to the point of risking his career and life.

Their heated argument about whether to abandon Kiev due to the Germans' rapid advance was typical of Zhukov's approach.

Zhukov's ability to remain skeptical and unwavering at giving into pressure did garner him the respect of Stalin.
 After Stalin

Arresting Beria

After Stalin's death, Zhukov returned bacame Deputy Defence Minister in 1953. He then had an opportunity to avenge himself on Beria.

With Stalin's sudden death, the Soviet Union fell into a leadership crisis. Georgy Malenkov temporarily became First Secretary.

Malenkov and his allies attempted to purge Stalin's influence; however, Malenkov himself did not have the courage to do this alone.

Lavrentiy Beria remained dangerous. The politicians sought reinforcement from the powerful and prestigious military men.

In this matter, Nikita Khrushchev chose Zhukov because the two had forged a good relationship.

And during WWII, Zhukov had twice saved Khrushchev from false accusations.

On 26 June, a special meeting of the Soviet Politburo was held by Malenkov.

Zhukov had ordered General Kirill Moskalenko to secretly prepare a special force and permitted the use two of his and Bulganin's special cars
(which had black glass) to safely infiltrate the Kremlin. He also ordered him to replace the MVD with the guard of the Moscow Military District.

In this meeting, Khrushchev, Malenkov and their allies denounced "the imperialist element Beria" for his "anti-Party", "anti-socialist" activities,
and "acting as a spy of England," together with many other crimes.

Finally, Khrushchev suggested expelling Beria from the Communist Party and bringing him before a military court.

Immediately, the prepared special force rushed in.

Zhukov was a member of the military tribunal during the Beria trial, which was headed by Marshal Ivan Konev.

On 18 December, the Military Court sentenced Beria to death.

 Minister of Defence

When Nikolai Bulganin became premier in 1955, he appointed Zhukov as Defence Minister. Zhukov participated in many political activities.

He successfully opposed the re-establishment of the Commissar system, because the Party and political leaders were not professional military,
and thus the highest power should fall to the army commanders.

Until 1955, Zhukov had both sent and received letters from Eisenhower. Both leaders agreed that the two superpowers should coexist peacefully.

Zhukov followed orders from then-Prime Minister Malenkov and Communist Party leader Khrushchev during the invasion of Hungary.

Along with the majority of members of the Presidium, he urged Khrushchev to send troops to support the Hungarian authorities and secure the
Austrian border. Zhukov and most of the Presidium were not, however, eager to see a full-scale intervention in Hungary.

Zhukov recommended the withdrawal of Soviet troops when it seemed they might have to take extreme measures to suppress the revolution.

The mood in the Presidium changed when Hungary's new Prime Minister, Imre Nagy, began to talk about withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact.

That led the Soviets to attack the revolutionaries and to replace Nagy with János Kádár.

When the UK, France, and Israel invaded Egypt during the Suez crisis, Zhukov expressed support for Egypt's right of self-defence.

In October 1957, Zhukov visited Yugoslavia and Albania, attempting to repair the Tito–Stalin split of 1948.
 Fall from power

On his 60th birthday, Zhukov received his fourth Hero of the Soviet Union title – making him the first person to receive the honor four times.

Aside from Zhukov, only Leonid Brezhnev was a four-time recipient (the latter's were self-awarded).

He became the highest-ranking military professional who was also a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

He further became a symbol of national strength. Zhukov's prestige was even higher than the police and security agencies of the USSR.

Going even further than Khrushchev, Zhukov demanded that the political agencies in the Red Army report to him before the Party.

He demanded an official condemnation of Stalin's crimes during the Great Purge.

He supported the political vindication for Mikhail Tukhachevsky, Grigoriy Shtern, Vasily Blyukher, Alexander Yegorov and many others.

His opponents accused him of being a Reformist and Bonapartist. Such hostility proved to be the key factor that led to his later downfall.

The relationship between Zhukov and Khrushchev reached its peak during the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956.

After becoming the First Secretary of the Party, Khrushchev moved against Stalin's legacy and criticised his personality cult in a speech,

"On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences"

To complete such startling acts, Khrushchev needed the approval of the military, headed by Minister of Defense Zhukov.

At the session of Central Committee of CPSU, Zhukov supported Khrushchev against the "Anti-Party Group", that had a majority in the Presidium
and voted to replace Khrushchev as First Secretary with Bulganin.

At that plenum, Zhukov stated: "The Army is against this resolution and not even a tank will leave its position without my order!"

In the same session the "Anti-Party Group" was condemned and Zhukov was made a member of Presidium.

His second fall was more sudden and public even than his first. On 4 October 1957, he left on an official visit to Yugoslavia, and Albania.

He returned to Moscow on 26 October, straight to a meeting of the Praesidium, during which he was removed from that body.

On 2 November, the Central Committee convened to hear Zhukov being accused of 'non-party behaviour'.

He was expelled from the Central Committee and sent into forced retirement. This happened behind his back, while he was on a trip to Albania.

The same issue of the Krasnaya Zvezda that announced Zhukov's return also reported that he had been relieved of his duties.
 Retirement

After being forced out of the government, Zhukov stayed away from politics.

Many people—including former subordinates—frequently paid him visits, joined him on hunting excursions, and waxed nostalgic.

After Khrushchev was deposed, Brezhnev restored Zhukov to favour in a move to use Zhukov's popularity to strengthen his political position.

Zhukov's name was put in the public eye yet again when Brezhnev lionised Zhukov in a speech commemorating the Great Patriotic War.

On 9 May 1965, Zhukov was given the honour of reviewing the parade of military forces in Red Square.

Zhukov had begun writing his memoirs, Memories and Recollections, in 1958.

He now worked intensively on them, which together with steadily deteriorating health, served to worsen his heart disease.

In December 1967, Zhukov had a serious stroke. He was hospitalised until June 1968, and continued to receive medical and rehabilitative
treatment at home under the care of his second wife, Galina Semyonova, a former officer in the Medical Corps.

The stroke left him paralysed on his left side, his speech became slurred and he could only walk with assistance.

His memoirs were published in 1969 and became a best-seller.

Within several months of the date of publication of his memoirs, Zhukov had received more than 10,000 letters from readers that offered
comments, expressed gratitude, gave advice, or lavished praise.
 Death

On 18 June 1974, Zhukov died after another stroke.

Contrary to Zhukov's last will for an Orthodox Christian burial, and despite the requests of the family to the country's top leadership, his body
was cremated and his ashes were buried at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis alongside fellow generals and marshals of the Soviet Union.

In 1995, an equestrian statue of Zhukov was put in front of the State Historical Museum.
 Legacy

The first monument to Georgy Zhukov was erected in Mongolia, in memory of the Battle of Khalkin Gol.

(After the fall of the Soviet Union, this monument was one of the few that did not suffer anti-Soviet backlash in former Communist states)

A statue of Zhukov on horseback as he appeared at the 1945 victory parade on Manezhnaya Square at the entrance of the Kremlin in Moscow.

Another statue of Zhukov in Moscow is located on Prospekt Marshala Zhukova.

A statue of Zhukov is located in the town of Irbit, in the Sverdlovsk Oblast.

Other statues of Zhukov are found in Omsk, Irkutsk and Yekaterinburg.

A minor planet, 2132 Zhukov, discovered in 1975, by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh, is named in his honor.

In 1996, Russia adopted the Order of Zhukov and the Zhukov Medal to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birthday.

Joseph Brodsky's poem On the Death of Zhukov ("Na smert' Zhukova") is regarded as one of the best poems on the war written by an author of
the post-war generation.

Zhukov received many positive comments, mostly from his Army companions, the modern Russian Army, and from his Allied contemporaries.

Eisenhower stated that because of Zhukov's achievements fighting Nazis, the UN owed him much more than any other military leader.

Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky commented that Zhukov is one of the most outstanding military commanders of the Soviet military forces.

John Gunther, who met Zhukov many times after the war, said that Zhukov was more friendly and honest than any of the other Soviet leaders.

Albert Axell in his work "Marshal Zhukov, the one who beat Hitler" claimed Zhukov is a military genius like Alexander the Great and Napoleon.

Axell also commented that Zhukov is a loyal communist and a patriot.

 Decorations :)

Zhukov was the recipient of many decorations. Most notably he was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union four times.

Zhukov was one of only three recipients to receive the Order of Victory twice. He was also awarded high honors from many other countries.

A partial (incomplete) listing is presented below:

Imperial Russia

1. Cross of St. George, 3rd class

2. Cross of St. George, 4th class

Soviet Union

3. 4x Hero of the Soviet Union (29 August 1940; 29 July 1944; 1 June 1945, 1 December 1956)
4. 2x Order of Victory (Serial No. 1, 10 April 1944 and Serial No. 5, 30 March 1945)
5. 6x Order of Lenin (16 August 1936; 29 August 1939; 21 February 1945; 1 December 1956; 1 December 1966; 1 December 1971)
6. Order of the October Revolution (22 February 1968)
7. 3x Order of the Red Banner (31 August 1922; 3 November 1944; 20 June 1949)
8. 2x Order of Suvorov, 1st class (Serial No. 1, 28 January 1943 and Serial No. 39, 28 July 1943)
9. Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad"
10. Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad"
11. Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus"
12. Medal "For the Defence of Moscow"
13. Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw"
14. Medal "For the Capture of Berlin"
15. Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
16. Medal "For the Victory over Japan"
17. Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
18. Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"
19. Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
20. Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
21. Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
22. Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
23. Medal "In Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad"
24. Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"
25. Honorary weapon – sword inscribed with golden national emblem of the Soviet Union

Foreign

26. Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic (Mongolian People's Republic, 1969)
27. 3x Order of Sukhbaatar (Mongolian People's Republic, 1968, 1969, 1971)
28. 2x Order of the Red Banner (Mongolian People's Republic, 1939, 1942)
29. Medal "30 Years of the Victory in Khalkhin-Gol" (Mongolian People's Republic)
30. Medal "50 Years of the Mongolian People's Revolution" (Mongolian People's Republic)
31. Medal "For Victory over Japan" (Mongolian People's Republic)
32. Medal "50 Years of the Mongolian People's Army" (Mongolian People's Republic)
33. Order of the White Lion, 1st class (Czechoslovakia)
34. Military Order of the White Lion, 1st class (Czechoslovakia)
35. War Cross 1939–1945 (Czechoslovakia)
36. Virtuti Militari, 1st class (Poland)
37. Order of Polonia Restituta, 1st class (Poland)
38. Order of Polonia Restituta, 3rd class (Poland)
39. Cross of Grunwald, 1st class (Poland)
40. Medal "For Warsaw 1939-1945" (Poland)
41. Medal "For Oder, Neisse and the Baltic" (Poland)
42. Medal "25 Years of the Bulgarian People's Army" (Bulgaria)
43. Medal "90th Anniversary of the Birth of Georgi Dimitrov" (Bulgaria)
44. Garibaldi Partisan Star (Italy, 1956)
45. Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Egypt, 1956)
46. Grand Officer of the Legion d'Honneur (France, 1945)
47. Croix de guerre (France, 1945)
48. Honorary Knight-Commander, Order of the Bath, (military division) (UK, 1945)
49. Chief Commander, Legion of Merit (USA, 1946)
50. Order of Freedom (Yugoslavia, 1956)
51. 2x Medal of Sino-Soviet Friendship (China, 1953 and 1956)