Georgy Zhukov

Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov
Георгий Жуков
Zhukov in 1944
Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union
In office 9 February 1955 – 26 October 1957
First Secretary	Nikita Khrushchev
Preceded by	Nikolai Bulganin
Succeeded by	Rodion Malinovsky
Additional positions Member of the 20th Presidium of the CPSU In office 27 February 1956 – 29 October 1957 Military Governor of Soviet Occupied Germany In office 9 June 1945 – 21 March 1946 Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Vasily Sokolovsky Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army In office 15 January 1941 – 29 July 1941 Preceded by Kirill Meretskov Succeeded by Boris Shaposhnikov
Personal details
Born	(1896-12-01)1 December 1896 Strelkovka, Russian Empire
Died	18 June 1974(1974-06-18) (aged 77) Moscow, Soviet Union
Resting place	Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow
Political party	CPSU (1917–1957)
Spouses	Alexandra Zuikova ​ ​ (m. 1953; div. 1965)​ Galina Semyonova ​ ​ (m. 1965; died 1973)​
Children	Margarita and 3 others
Awards	Cross of Saint George (2) Hero of the Soviet Union (4) Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic Order of Lenin (6) Order of Victory (2) Order of the October Revolution Order of the Red Banner (3) Order of Suvorov (2)
Signature
Nickname	Marshal of Victory
Military service
Allegiance	Russian Empire Russian SFSR Soviet Union
Branch	Imperial Russian Army Soviet Red Army Soviet Ground Forces
Service years	1915–1957
Rank	Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943–1957)
Commands	Kiev Military District Odessa Military District First Belorussian Front Leningrad Front Soviet Reserve Front Soviet Western Front
Wars	World War I Brusilov Offensive Russian Civil War Spring Offensive Tambov Rebellion World War II Soviet–Japanese border conflict Battle of Khalkhin Gol Great Patriotic War Operation Barbarossa Battle of Brody Yelnya Offensive Battle of Moscow Battle of Stalingrad Operation Uranus Operation Mars Siege of Leningrad Operation Iskra Operation Polar Star Battle of Kursk Operation Bagration Baltic Offensive Vistula–Oder Offensive Battle of Berlin Occupation of Germany Hungarian Revolution

Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov^[a][b] (1 December [O.S. 19 November] 1896 – 18 June 1974) was a Soviet general who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces under leader Joseph Stalin, and oversaw some of the Red Army's most decisive victories. He also served at various points as Chief of the General Staff, Minister of Defence, and a member of the Presidium of the Communist Party (Politburo).

Born to a poor peasant family near Moscow, Zhukov was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army and fought in World War I. He served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, after which he quickly rose through the ranks. In summer 1939, Zhukov commanded a Soviet army group to a decisive victory over Japanese forces at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, for which he won the first of his four Hero of the Soviet Union awards, and in 1940 he commanded the Soviet invasion of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in Romania. In February 1941, Stalin appointed Zhukov as chief of the General Staff of the Red Army.

Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Zhukov lost his post as chief of staff after disagreeing with Stalin over the defense of Kiev. Zhukov, often in collaboration with Aleksandr Vasilevsky, was subsequently involved in the Soviet actions at Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk. He held the title of deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces from August 1942, and was promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in January 1943. He participated in the planning of Operation Bagration in 1944, and in 1945 commanded the 1st Belorussian Front as it led the Vistula–Oder Offensive into Germany, where he oversaw the Soviet victory at the Battle of Berlin. In recognition of Zhukov's key role in the war, he was chosen to accept the German Instrument of Surrender and to inspect the 1945 Moscow Victory Parade. He also served as the first military governor of the Soviet occupation zone in Germany from 1945 to 1946.

After the war, Zhukov's popularity caused Stalin to see him as a potential threat.^[1] 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 leadership, and in 1955, he was appointed 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 top post, and died in 1974. Zhukov is remembered as one of the greatest Russian and Soviet military leaders of all time, along with Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Barclay de Tolly, and Mikhail Kutuzov.^[2]

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