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, Russian SFSR, 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) 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] (Russian: Георгий Константинович Жуков, pronounced [ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf] ^ⓘ; 1 December 1896 – 18 June 1974) was Marshal of the Soviet Union from 1943 to 1957. He also served as Chief of the General Staff, Minister of Defence, and was a member of the Presidium of the Communist Party (later Politburo). During World War II, Zhukov oversaw some of the Red Army's most decisive victories, after which he was appointed the military governor of the Soviet occupation zone in Germany.

Born to a poor peasant family from central Russia, 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. Gradually rising through the ranks, by 1939 Zhukov had been 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 defences 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. In recognition of Zhukov's role in the war, he was chosen to accept the German Instrument of Surrender, and inspect the 1945 Moscow Victory Parade.

After the war, Zhukov's success and popularity caused Joseph 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 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. 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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