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Alternative Title: Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov Georgy Zhukov, in full Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, (born December 1 [November 19, Old Style], 1896, province, Russia—died June 18, 1974, Moscow), of the, the most important Soviet military commander during. Having been conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army during, Zhukov joined the in 1918, served as a cavalry commander during the, and afterward studied military science at the Frunze Military Academy (graduated 1931) as well as in Germany. He rose steadily through the ranks, and as head of Soviet forces in the Manchurian border region he directed a successful counteroffensive against Japanese forces there in 1939. During the, which the Soviet Union fought against Finland at the outset of World War II, Zhukov served as chief of staff of the Soviet army. He was then transferred to command the military district and in January 1941 was appointed chief of staff of the Red Army. After the Germans invaded the Soviet Union (June 1941), he organized the defense of Leningrad (St.

Petersburg) and was then appointed commander in chief of the western front. He directed the defense of (autumn 1941) as well as the massive counteroffensive (December 1941) that drove the Germans’ Army Group Centre back from central. In 1942 Zhukov was named deputy commissar of defense and first deputy commander in chief of Soviet armed forces. He became the chief member of personal supreme headquarters and figured prominently in the planning or execution of almost every major engagement in the war. He oversaw the defense of (late 1942) and planned and directed the counteroffensive that encircled the Germans’ Sixth Army in that city (January 1943). He was named a marshal of the Soviet Union soon afterward. Zhukov was heavily involved in the (July 1943) and directed the Soviet sweep across Ukraine in the winter and spring of 1944.

He commanded the Soviet offensive through Belorussia (summer-autumn 1944), which resulted in the collapse of the Germans’ Army Group Centre and of German occupation of and Czechoslovakia. In April 1945 he personally commanded the final assault on and then remained in Germany as commander of the Soviet occupation force. On May 8, 1945, he represented the Soviet Union at Germany’s formal surrender. He then served as the Soviet representative on the Allied Control Commission for Germany. Upon Zhukov’s return to Moscow in 1946, however, his extraordinary popularity apparently caused him to be regarded as a potential threat by Stalin, who assigned him to a series of relatively obscure regional commands. Only after Stalin died (March 1953) did the new political leaders, wishing to secure the support of the army, appoint Zhukov a deputy minister of defense (1953).

He subsequently supported against the chairman of the Council of Ministers, Georgy Malenkov, who favoured a reduction in military expenditures. When Khrushchev forced Malenkov to resign and replaced him with Nikolay Bulganin (February 1955), Zhukov succeeded Bulganin as minister of defense; at that time he was also elected an alternate member of the Presidium. Zhukov then undertook programs to improve the professional of the armed forces.

Because this effort involved a reduction in the role of the party’s political advisers and, consequently, in the party’s control of the army, his policies brought him into conflict with Khrushchev. Nevertheless, when a majority of the Presidium (called the “anti-party” group) tried to oust Khrushchev, Zhukov provided the airplanes that transported members of the from distant regions of the country to Moscow, thus shifting the political balance in Khrushchev’s favour (June 1957). As a consequence, Zhukov was promoted to full membership in the Presidium (July 1957). But Khrushchev could not tolerate the marshal’s persistent efforts to make the army more autonomous; as a result, on October 26, 1957, Zhukov was formally dismissed as minister of defense and a week later was removed from his party posts. Remaining in relative obscurity until Khrushchev fell from power (October 1964), Zhukov was later awarded the (1966) and allowed to publish his autobiography in 1969. This article was most recently revised and updated by, Senior Editor.