Georgy Konstantinovich
Zhukov
1896-1974
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was an outstanding Soviet military commander and statesman. He was a commander of the Great Patriotic War, Marshal of the Soviet Union (18.01.1943), four times Hero of the Soviet Union (1939, 1944, 1945, 1956). He was the Knight of two Orders of Victory. He was Russian. He was a peasant worker. He was born on November 19 (December 1), 1896 in the village of Strelkovka, the Maloyaroslavets county (uyezd), the Kaluga governorate, the Russian Empire (now it is the Kaluga region, Russian Federation). He was a participant in the First World War, he was awarded two St. George crosses. Before the revolution, he was a junior non-commissioned officer. He started to serve in the Red Army since 1918. He became a member of the VKP (b) since 1919. He was a squadron commander during the Civil War. He fought with the Whites on the Eastern, Western and Southern fronts. He participated in the suppression of the Antonov uprising. He completed command courses in 1930. In 1939, under his leadership, the operation was developed and carried out to encircle and defeat a group of Japanese troops that invaded the territory of the Mongolian People’s Republic. He was the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army before the Great Patriotic War. From June 29, 1941 he was a member of the Supreme Command Headquarters. Since August 1942 he was the 1st Deputy People’s Commissar of Defence of the USSR and Deputy Supreme Commander. In 1941 he was the Commander of the Reserve Front (30.07.1941 – 12.09.1941), which carried out the first offensive operation to defeat the Nazi troops in the Yelnya area, the Leningrad Front (13.09.1941 – 10.10.1941), the Western Front (13.10.1941 – 26.08.1942). He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Western direction troops (01.02.1942 – 05.05.1942). In 1942-1943, he coordinated the actions of the fronts near Stalingrad, during the breakthrough of the Leningrad blockade, in the battles near Kursk and the Battle of the Dnieper. He was the Commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front (02.03.1944 – 24.05.1944). He coordinated the actions of the 2nd and 1st Belorussian fronts in the strategic offensive operation «Bagration» in the summer. At the final stage of the war, he led the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front (16.11.1944 – 10.06.1945), that participated in the largest Vistula–Oder operation and the capture of Berlin. On behalf of the Supreme High Command, on May 8, 1945, in Karlshorst, on the outskirts of Berlin, Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov accepted the surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany. For his outstanding contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany he was twice awarded the highest military order of the country – the Order of Victory. He hosted the triumphal Victory Parade in Moscow on June 24, 1945. In the post-war years (until 1953) he commanded the troops of a number of military districts. In 1953-1955 he was the 1st Deputy Minister of Defence. He was the Minister of Defence of the USSR (February 1955 – October 1957).
Address: Moscow, Manezhnaya Square (near the building of the Historical Museum)
