butchflirt: Happy birthday, Georgy Zhukov! (December 1, 1896)One of the highest-ranking members of t
butchflirt: Happy birthday, Georgy Zhukov! (December 1, 1896)One of the highest-ranking members of the Red Army during World War II, Georgy Zhukov served as Chief of the General Staff, Minister of Defense, and Marshal of the Soviet Union at various points throughout an illustrious and decorated military career. Drafted into the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, Zhukov joined the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution and fought for the Red Army in the Russian Civil War. Rising through the ranks, Zhukov received the Hero of the Soviet Union award, the first of four he would earn, at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1939 and was made a General the next year. Zhukov helped to organize the defense of the Soviet Union from the Wehrmacht during World War II, frequently clashing with Stalin on matters of strategy. He helped lead the Red Army to victory in the bloody Siege of Leningrad, and commanded the 1st Belorussian Front during the capture of Berlin. Zhukov personally accepted the instruments of German surrender. The military governor of the Soviet Occupation Zone after the war, Zhukov’s popularity and acclaim made him a potential threat to Stalin, and so he was removed from many of his positions. After Stalin’s death, Zhukov became a political ally of Nikita Khrushchev, and regained a great deal of influence once Khrushchev took power. However, Zhukov ultimately overplayed his hand and by 1957 had once again fallen out of favor and been removed from his posts. He retired from military and political life, and died an old man in 1974.“Nazis did not expect Soviet resistance to be so strong. The deeper they moved into this country’s territory, the more fierce it became. When Hitler’s armies approached Moscow, every man and woman here thought it imperative to resist the enemy. And that resistance grew by the day. The enemy was sustaining heavy losses, one after another. In fact, Hitler’s best troops perished here. Nazis believed the Red Army was not capable of defending Moscow, but their schemes failed.” -- source link