Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, (December 1 [O.S. November 19] 1896 â" June 18, 1974) was a Soviet military commander who, in the course of World War II, led the Red Army to liberate the Soviet Union from the Axis Powers' occupation, to advance through much of Eastern Europe, and to conquer Germany's capital, Berlin. Zhukov remained a popular figure in the Soviet Union until his death in 1974 although by his own admission he was much better dealing with military matters than with politics. He was buried with full military honors.
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It is a fact that under equal conditions, large-scale battles and whole wars are won by troops which have a strong will for victory, clear goals before them, high moral standards, and devotion to the banner under which they go into battle.
The nature of encounter operations required of the commanders limitless initiative and constant readiness to take the responsibility for military actions.
If we come to a minefield, our infantry attacks exactly as it were not there.
[to General Eisenhower, 1945]
Nazis did not expect Soviet resistance to be so strong. The deeper they moved into this countryâs territory, the more fierce it became. When Hitlerâs 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, Hitlerâs best troops perished here. Nazis believed the Red Army was not capable of defending Moscow, but their schemes failed.
Generalissimo Stalin directed every move... made every decision... He is the greatest and wisest military genius who ever lived...
We will do all we can to insure peace... but if war is imposed upon us we will be together shoulder to shoulder as in the last war to strive for the happiness of mankind.
If they [the Germans] attack, we will defend. If they do not attack until winter comes, then we will and will tear them to shreds!
And now German generals find it hard to explain away their retreat.
There are things in Russia which are not as they seem.
The mere existence of atomic weapons implies the possibility of their use.
There's no smoke without fire.
If you feel that the Chief of the General Staff talks only rubbish, my place is not here. Better to give me a command at the front where I can be of better use!
[to Joseph Stalin]
The longer the battle lasts the more force we'll have to use!
Winning depended to a large extent on the determination of the troops and the officers. The certainty that we were going to win kept up everyone's spirits, from privates to generals.
If the nation only knew their hands dripped with innocent blood, it would have met them not with applause but with stones.
Here they found real war, but they were not ready for it. They were used to easy victories. This deprived them of flexibility on the one hand, of tenacity on the other. For them, war was merely maneuvers. They have neither cavalry nor skiers, their tanks cannot pass over the snow.
About Zhukov
Zhukov was the only person who feared no one. He was not afraid of Stalin.
Marshal Timoshenko
Zhukov's right arm, which once was enlisted in a just cause, will battle no more. Sleep! Russian history holds, as is fitting, Space for the exploits of those who, though bold, marching triumphant through foreign cities, trembled in terror when they came home.
Joseph Brodsky
[poem written in memory of Zhukov in 1974]
Zhukov was the most successful commander of World War II, who fell from grace under Khrushchev, but never lost his place in the pantheon of Soviet heroes.
