Zhukov - our Suvorov
I. V. Stalin
In the time of the struggle of the Russian people with the new disasters Zhukov is raised as an icon, personifying the spirit of the Russian people, who can push the leader-savior in extreme conditions. Zhukov is the embodiment of Russian honor and valor, Russian sovereignty and the Russian spirit. No one can erase or tarnish the image of this man on a white horse, who has done so much to elevate his country to shining heights.
American Brigadier General William Spar
I. V. Stalin
In the time of the struggle of the Russian people with the new disasters Zhukov is raised as an icon, personifying the spirit of the Russian people, who can push the leader-savior in extreme conditions. Zhukov is the embodiment of Russian honor and valor, Russian sovereignty and the Russian spirit. No one can erase or tarnish the image of this man on a white horse, who has done so much to elevate his country to shining heights.
American Brigadier General William Spar
40 years ago, 18 June 1974, died a great commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, four times Hero of the USSR Georgy Zhukov. Zhukov went a long and difficult way from the cavalry non-commissioned officer of the 10 Novgorod regiment to the Deputy Supreme Commander during the Great Patriotic War.
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was born (19 November) 1 December 1896 of the year in the village of Strelkovka of the Kaluga province. His father was the shoemaker master Konstantin Zhukov. After the 1905 events, he was expelled from Moscow for participating in demonstrations. From that time until his death in 1921, Konstantin Zhukov lived in the village, doing shoemaking and peasant work. Georgy's mother, Ustinya Artemyeva, was born and grew up in the neighboring village of Black Dirt in a poor peasant family. The family was poor. Parents worked very hard, but received little. Life was hard. George was accustomed to persistent and hard work from an early age.
In 1903, George Zhukov entered the parochial school. After completing three classes of school, George began his career as a student in a furrier workshop in Moscow. He worked in the workshop of his uncle, the brother of mother Mikhail Piliykhin. He was able, with hard work, to save money and open his own business. The twelve-year-old boy had a hard time - they got up for work at six in the morning, and went to bed at eleven in the evening (in the village they got up early in the morning, but they also went to bed early). For the slightest offense beaten (then it was the usual order). Home for leave released only in the fourth year of study.
At the same time, George tried to learn, he used small pieces of free time to read books from the library and work with his master's son. Then the young man entered the evening general education courses, which provided education at the level of the urban school. Successfully passed the exams for the full course of the urban school. In the 1911 year, after three years of training, he moved to the category of senior students and had three boys-students under his command. In 1912 for the first time I was at home, returning as an adult youth. At the end of 1912, the apprenticeship of George completed, he became a young master (apprentice).
In May 1915 of the year, due to heavy losses at the front, an early appeal was made for the youth of 1895's birth. In the summer, an early call was announced for 1896 youth born. George made the decision to go to the front, although the owner offered to otmazatsya capable and honest master. Zhukov called in the city of Maloyaroslavets Kaluga province. George was taken to the cavalry and taken to their destination - to the city of Kaluga. Here George with other recruits was trained in the reserve infantry battalion. In September, 1915, they were sent to Little Russia in the 5-th reserve cavalry regiment. It was located in the town of Balakley, Kharkov province. Service in the cavalry was more interesting than in the infantry, but more difficult. In addition to general classes, they taught equestrian business, possession of cold weapons, had to care for horses.
By spring 1916, George completed the training. He was among the best-trained soldiers selected for study as a non-commissioned officer. Zhukov did not want to continue his studies, but his platoon officer, senior non-commissioned officer of Fools, a very demanding and intelligent man, said: “You will still be a friend at the front, but now you can study military deeper better, it will be useful to you. I am convinced that you will be a good non-commissioned officer. " As a result, Zhukov remained in the training team, which was located in the city of Izum, Kharkiv province.
Having passed the exams, Zhukov became a non-commissioned officer. Evaluating the training team of the Russian imperial army, Zhukov noted that they taught it well, especially with regard to the drill. Each graduate perfectly mastered equestrian affair, weapons and methods of training soldiers. Not for nothing in the future, many non-commissioned officers of the tsarist army will become excellent commanders of the Red Army. However, the weakness of the old school was educational work, the soldiers were made obedient performers, often disciplinary practice reached cruelty. A formal church rites could not give real faith. There was no unity between the soldiers and the officers, they were from different social classes. Only individual officers were knocked out of general practice.
At the end of August 1916, a young non-commissioned officer came to the South-Western Front in the 10 th Novgorod Dragoon Regiment. In October, during the reconnaissance, the head patrol hit a mine. Zhukov received a heavy concussion and was evacuated to Kharkov. This injury caused hearing loss. At the time of the record, George had already had two crosses of St. George for capturing a German officer and a concussion during reconnaissance.
After leaving the hospital, Zhukov felt ill for a long time, so the medical commission sent him to the marching squadron in the village of Laregi. After the February Revolution, George Zhukov was elected chairman of the squadron soldier committee and one of the delegates to the regimental council. In the process of the collapse of the army, when part of the formation began to side with the Ukrainian nationalists, Zhukov’s squadron decided to disband. The soldiers returned home.
The end of 1917, the beginning of 1918, George spent at home. He wanted to join the ranks of the Red Guard, but was seriously ill with typhus. As a result, Zhukov could fulfill his desire only in August of the 1918 year, when he entered the 4 th cavalry regiment of the 1 th Moscow Cavalry Division. During the Civil War, Red Army soldier Georgy Zhukov first fought on the Eastern front against Kolchak's army. In March, 1919 of the year joined the RCP (b). In the summer of 1919, the city of Zhukov participated in battles with the Cossacks near Shipovo Station, in battles for Uralsk, then in battles near Vladimirovka Station and the city of Nikolaevsk.
In September-October 1919, the regiment of Zhukov fought on the Southern Front, participated in the battles at Tsaritsyn, near Bakhtiyrovka and Zaplavny. In a battle between Zaplavniy and Akhtuba, during a hand-to-hand combat with white-limemy units, a grenade splinter was wounded. Fragments wounded left leg and left side. In addition, already in the hospital Zhukov again suffered from typhoid. After a month’s leave, Zhukov went to the military registration and enlistment office to be sent back to the army.
But he had not yet recovered from the illness, and George was sent to Tver to a reserve battalion with subsequent assignment to the courses of the red commanders. Cavalry courses were located in Starozhilovo Ryazan Province. The combat personnel consisted mainly of old military specialists. They taught well, in good faith. Zhukov got the position of foreman cadet 1-th squadron. In the summer, the cadets were transferred to Moscow and included in the 2 of the Moscow Brigade of cadets, which they sent against Wrangel's army. The combined cadet regiment in August 1920 took part in the fight against the landing force Ulagay near Yekaterinodar, then fought against the Fostikoff gangs.
The graduation took place in Armavir and Zhukov arrived in the 14 Cavalry Brigade, he was sent to the 1 th cavalry regiment. Zhukov was appointed platoon commander, and then a squadron. At the end of 1920, the brigade was transferred to Voronezh gubernia to fight the uprising and Kolesnikov's gang. Then the unit took part in the liquidation of the Tambov Uprising (“Antonovshchina”). In the spring of 1921, near the village of Vyazovaya Mail, the brigade engaged in a hard battle with the “Antonovs”. Zhukov's squadron was at the very epicenter of the battlefield and distinguished itself, holding back superior enemy forces for several hours. According to Zhukov, the squadron was saved only by the skillful maneuvering and fire control of several machine guns and one gun, which were in service with the unit. Under Zhukov himself two horses were killed, and the political instructor rescued him twice. Overnight. The first time the horse fell, crushed Zhukov, and the gangster wanted to kill him. But the political officer managed to kill the enemy. The second time, several thugs surrounded Zhukov and tried to take him alive. Overnight with several fighters rescued the commander. The squadron suffered significant losses, but a large gang was crushed. For this feat most commanders and soldiers were awarded government awards. Zhukov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
After the end of the Civil War, Zhukov continued his military education and went from a regiment to a corps commander. In 1923, Zhukov headed the 39 th regiment of the 7 th Samara cavalry division. In 1924, he was sent to the Higher Cavalry School. Since 1926, for several years he has taught military conscription training at the Belarusian University. In 1929, he graduated from the courses of the high command of the Red Army. From 1930, the brigade commander in the 7 of the Samara Cavalry Division (then headed by Rokossovsky). Then Zhukov served in the Belarusian Military District, was an assistant to the inspector of the cavalry of the Red Army, commander of the 4-th cavalry division, 3-th and 6-th cavalces. In 1938, he rose to deputy commander of the Western Special Military District.
Zhukov’s finest hour came in the summer of 1939, when he headed a special rifle corps, then transformed into an army group of the Red Army in Mongolia. In August, Zhukov conducted a successful operation to encircle and defeat the Japanese army on the Khalkhin Gol River. In this case, Zhukov widely used tank parts for encircling and defeating the enemy. This victory was one of the decisive factors that forced the Japanese Empire to abandon plans to attack the Soviet Union. Zhukov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Soon Zhukov received the rank of army general.
In the summer of 1940, the general led the Kiev Special Military District. In January, 1941, George Zhukov took part in two bilateral operational-strategic games on the cards. His success was marked by the fact that Stalin appointed Zhukov head of the General Staff (held this post until July 1941).
During the Great Patriotic War, Zhukov acted as a "crisis manager" of the Red Army. He was sent to the most difficult and dangerous sectors of the front to stabilize the situation or to succeed in a decisive offensive. According to military historian Alexei Isaev ("George Zhukov: The King's Last Argument"), "Zhukov was a kind of" commander of the RGK "(Reserve of the Main Command). His arrival at a sector of the front in crisis or requiring special attention guaranteed the headquarters for the increased effectiveness of the Soviet troops in a dangerous direction. Even during the battles of Mongolia with the Japanese army, Zhukov’s decisive actions prevented the encirclement and defeat of the Soviet troops in Khalkhin Gol and led to a severe defeat of the Japanese troops. In 1941, Zhukov saw the main weak link of the German Blitzkrieg, the gap between armored armored and motorized wedges and the Wehrmacht infantry corps moving behind them, as well as the extended and weak flanks of the enemy. Zhukov understood that it was necessary to launch counter-attacks during this period and along the flanks with all the forces that could be assembled. However, the indecisiveness of the South-Western Front command, which was deprived of Zhukov’s volitional support, led to a catastrophe.
At the same time, we cannot say that Zhukov was a commander who did not suffer a single defeat, like Suvorov. He bears on his shoulders part of the responsibility, as the chief of the General Staff in the pre-war period, for the hardest first stage of the Great Patriotic War. During the war, he often had to rectify the situation to a simple defeat from an almost inevitable catastrophe or return the situation to a delicate balance. Georgy Zhukov was battered by the most powerful opponents and the most difficult sectors of the front.
It happened that Zhukov had to quit successfully started business and leave others to reap the fruits of his efforts, once again heading for other areas. Thus, in November 1942, Zhukov was forced to abandon the implementation of the counter-offensive plan at Stalingrad (Operation Uranus) and be responsible for the operation Mars prepared by Konev and Purkayev (the Second Rzhev-Sychev operation), where he was forced to take responsibility for failures in planning, which he himself would hardly have allowed. 13 July 1943, instead of reaping the benefits of the successfully launched Operation Kutuzov on the Western and Bryansk fronts (Orel strategic offensive operation), Zhukov was forced to go to the Voronezh Front, which was drained by a heavy defensive battle. However, even under these conditions, Zhukov was able to prepare the operation “Commander Rumyantsev” (the Belgorod-Kharkov operation), during which the Soviet troops liberated Belgorod and Kharkov.
Unfortunately, in the USSR it was decided to hush up failures and crises, which was a mistake. As a result, it allowed the enemies of the Russian civilization to create a black myth about the “butcher” Zhukov, who together with Stalin “corpses filled up” the Wehrmacht, and only at the cost of millions of senselessly ruined lives defeated Germany. However, the effectiveness of the political and military leadership of the USSR was proved by the flag over the Reichstag and the creation of the best armed forces in the world. Yes, and the myth about the "filling up the corpses," not withstanding any criticism. Honest researchers have repeatedly shown that the USSR lost more people in the war than Germany did not because of the lack of talent and bloodthirstiness of the Soviet military-political leadership, but because of several objective factors. Among them are the deliberate annihilation of prisoners of war by the Hitlerites, the genocide of the Soviet population in the occupied areas, etc.
Whether the enemies of the Russian people want it or not, Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov is a national hero of the USSR-Russia. He rightfully entered the ranks of the heroes and great commanders of our civilization, and is on a par with Svyatoslav, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov.
No wonder on the 30th anniversary of the Victory in Paris, posters hung with a portrait of George Zhukov and the caption: "The man who won the Second World War." It is clear that this is an exaggeration, but there is a reasonable beginning in this phrase. Zhukov is a commander who broke the victorious Wehrmacht machine and took Berlin. This is an iron soldier who has come a long way from the tsarist non-commissioned officer to the Marshal and Minister of Defense of the USSR. Attempts to overthrow him from the podium Victory is a war against ours historical memory, a blow to our civilization.
Zhukov drank to the bottom and a bitter cup. He experienced envy, distrust, betrayal, and oblivion. Georgy Konstantinovich made a big mistake when he got into politics and supported Khrushchev, first against Beria, and then helped Khrushchev to win the fight with other opponents. That was his mistake. Khrushchev could not stand next to a winning marshal, who could become the head of the opposition. What was a big threat because of the reforms of Khrushchev, aimed at the "optimization" of the armed forces. In addition, Zhukov was one of the few people who forever retained respect for Stalin and defended the Supreme even during the later “de-Stalinization”, urging not to go too far and pay tribute to the great organizational skills of the great leader. In October, 1957, by order of Khrushchev, Zhukov was removed from all party and state posts. And in March 1958 of the year - he was dismissed from the armed forces, to whom Zhukov gave almost his whole life. Only when Brezhnev came to power, the disgrace from Zhukov was partially removed.
K. Vasiliev. Marshal Zhukov