Georgy Zhukov
Marshal Georgy Zhukov was the Soviet Union's greatest commander of the Second World War and arguably of the twentieth century. A cavalryman who mastered mechanised warfare, he had already demonstrated his talent at Khalkhin Gol (1939), where he destroyed a Japanese force in the first large-scale tank battle. In the crisis of 1941, he organised the defence of Moscow; in 1942-43 he planned Operation Uranus — the encirclement of Stalingrad — and in 1943 directed the Soviet counter-offensive at Kursk. By 1944-45 he commanded the greatest concentration of military force in history, leading the Vistula-Oder Offensive across Poland and the assault on Berlin. He was the Soviet officer who accepted Germany's unconditional surrender in Berlin on 8 May 1945. After the war, Stalin — jealous of his fame — demoted him; he was rehabilitated after Stalin's death and died in 1974, the most decorated officer in Soviet history.
- Lived: 1896 CE – 1974 CE
- Nationality: Russian
- Roles: marshal, commander
