WARRIORS

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about !!

Marshal Georgy Zhukov

 

In January 1941, with Nazi forces just miles away from Moscow, Marshal Georgy Zhukov was given command of the Russian armies. This would prove to be an inspired appointment. Less than 4 years later, Zhukov – considered by many to have been the most brilliant commander of World War Two – would be planning his own assault on the German capital after pushing Hitler’s forces out of his homeland and beyond.

Here are 5 facts about the Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who oversaw some of the Red Army’s most decisive victories.

1. He was born into a peasant family

Though the blood-soaked rule of Stalin epitomises everything that went wrong with the Russian Revolution, it undoubtedly allowed men like Zhukov to have a chance in life. Born into a peasant family crushed by desperate poverty in 1896, under the Tsarist regime a man like Zhukov would have been prevented from becoming an officer by his background.

Like many young Russian men of his time, the teenage Georgy left the cripplingly hard and dull life of a peasant in order to find a new life in the city in Moscow – and like the overwhelming majority of such men, the reality of city life would not quite live up to his dreams.

He was employed as an apprentice maker of fur clothes for richer Russians, until the outbreak of World War One.

2. World War One changed his fortunes

In 1915 Georgy Zhukov was conscripted into a cavalry regiment.

The Eastern Front was less characterised by static trench warfare than the west, and the 19 year old private was able to prove himself a superb soldier in Tsar Nicholas’ army. He won the Cross of St George not once but twice for extraordinary bravery on the battlefield, and was promoted to become a non-commissioned officer.

3. Zhukov’s life was transformed by the doctrines of Bolshevism

Zhukov’s youth, poor background and exemplary military record made him a poster boy for the new Red Army. In February 1917, Zhukov took part in the revolution which toppled the Tsar’s regime.

After fighting with distinction in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1921 he was awarded with the prestigious Order of the Red Banner and given command of his own cavalry regiment at the age of just 27. Swift promotions followed as Zhukov became a full general and then a Corps Commander.

4. His skill as a brilliant military leader was first highlighted at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol

By 1938, the still relatively youthful Marshal was overseeing the Mongolian front to the east, and here he would meet with his first major test.

The aggressively imperialist Japanese had conquered the Chinese province of Manchuria, and created the Japanese-controlled puppet state of Manchukuo. This meant they were now able to threaten the Soviet Union directly.

Japanese probing into Russian border defences escalated into a full-scale war from 1938-1939, and Zhukov requested major reinforcements to keep the Japanese at bay. Here he first proved his credentials as a superb commander, using tanks aircraft and infantry together and boldly, and thus establishing some of the characteristic tactical moves that would serve him so well when fighting the Germans.

5. He indirectly helped perfect the famous T-34 Russian tank

While overseeing the Mongolian front to the east, Zhukov personally oversaw many innovations such as the replacement of gasoline engines in tanks with the more reliable diesel engine. Such developments helped perfect the T-34 Russian tank – considered by many historians to have been the most outstanding all-purpose tank of the war

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking