In the course of rewriting the history of the Great Patriotic War, Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov became one of the main targets for liberals and revisionist researchers. He is called the "Stalinist butcher", accused of unprofessionalism, tyranny, cruelty and indifference to the lives of soldiers.
The purpose of such works is obvious: by denigrating the Marshal of Victory, who became one of the symbols of our Great Victory (Stalin himself noted: "Zhukov is our Suvorov"), one can shed dirt on our Soviet past with impunity. To preserve and strengthen the unjust order in the world. To smear dirt on genuine heroes and great statesmen and military leaders, and from evil spirits, for example, Bandera and Shukhevych, to make “heroes”.
Stalin's butcher
In Ukraine, A. Levchenko's material was published: "Marshal Zhukov: Stalin's Butcher or Hero?" According to the author, the Soviet commander was remembered more for "his mates and executions of his servicemen on all fronts" than for military victories. Georgy Konstantinovich is responsible for the catastrophic defeats of 1941, when the Red Army was not ready for war. He is responsible for the huge "cauldrons" of the initial period of the war, including Vitebsk, Mogilev, Minsk, Kiev, Vyazma and Bryansk, in which hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers were killed or taken prisoner. It is concluded that the Stalinist marshal, as chief of the General Staff of the Red Army in the summer of 1941 and a member of the Headquarters, "is one of the main culprits in the worst catastrophe in world military history."
In the style usual for modern Ukraine, when the Soviet period is sown with mud and the Nazis and war criminals are praised in every possible way, it is emphasized that Zhukov sent hundreds of thousands of mobilized Ukrainians to death, they then survived the terrible German occupation, liberating their own land at the cost of huge losses. Allegedly, the Soviet marshal ordered "not to spare" the recruits from Ukraine, sent to the four Ukrainian fronts. They were considered "suspicious elements" who lived under the rule of the Nazis. Ostensibly from here such high losses of Ukraine in the Second World War among the republics of the USSR (only in the RSFSR more died). Although the reasons for the high losses of the population of the Ukrainian SSR are quite objective: the front line passed there, the region was under fascist occupation, the Nazis pursued a policy of physical destruction of the Slavs-Russians, “cleaned up” the land for German “supermen”. Some of the bloodiest battles of the Great Patriotic War took place in Ukraine, Hitler tried at all costs to keep the region strategically and economically important for the Third Reich.
Thus, we see another attack on the USSR, the Great Patriotic War and its heroes. Like, the enemy was "filled up with corpses." And the Marshal of Victory was in fact a "Stalinist butcher" who killed hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens and especially Ukrainians.
"Crisis Manager" of the Red Army
In order to understand all the stupidity and falsity of such "works", it is simply necessary to read and analyze historical sources and objective historical research. For example, a military historian, specialist in the history of the Great Patriotic War A. Isaev, "Myths and Truth about Marshal Zhukov", has a very good work on this topic. Alexei Isaev notes that the Stalinist military leader knew how to fight, since 1939 he was the "crisis manager" of the Red Army, "a man who was thrown into the most difficult and dangerous sector of the front." Zhukov "was a kind of" commander of the RGK ", capable of fencing with armies and divisions better than his colleagues."
The headquarters sent Georgy Konstantinovich to a sector of the front that was in crisis or requiring increased attention. This guaranteed the high command increased effectiveness of the actions of the Red Army troops in this sector. At the same time, Zhukov was not an "invincible" commander. Often, out of the coming catastrophe, he had to go to "non-defeat", to establish a fragile balance of forces out of chaos, to pull others out of the crisis. The Soviet commander usually got the most difficult sectors of the front and dangerous opponents. Sometimes, by order of the Headquarters, he had to transfer the work he had begun, and others reaped the fruits of his efforts, to move to new sectors of the front.
Zhukov came from a poor peasant family, never had high patrons, but thanks to his talent and steel will, he became the most outstanding and famous Soviet marshal. During the war, he became Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Minister of Defense, a member of the highest military-political leadership of the USSR, four times Hero of the Soviet Union, holder of two Orders of Victory and many other Soviet and foreign orders and medals. Georgy Konstantinovich did not do anything vile, did not humiliate himself before the top leadership. Forever remained the people's Marshal of Victory.
Zhukov led the largest masses of Soviet troops and inflicted the largest defeats on the Wehrmacht. From the very beginning of the war, he showed the ability to deliver powerful counterattacks in defensive operations. He showed that it is necessary to attack even in the most difficult conditions in order to survive and defeat the terrible enemy tomorrow. He showed himself as a person who knows how to manage large masses of people. As a military leader who knows how to make tough decisions necessary to preserve the common good and preserve the state. His life is an example of the highest exactingness towards himself and others.
True, Zhukov turned out to be a bad politician. After Stalin's death, he got into political games, supported Khrushchev with his authority, first against Beria, then helped Khrushchev defeat his other opponents. It was a big mistake. The state pygmy Khrushchev could not stand next to him such a titan as Zhukov. Also, the marshal could lead the opposition. Khrushchev with might and main "optimized" (destroyed) the Armed Forces of the USSR. Therefore, in 1957 Zhukov fell into disgrace, was dismissed, and was stripped of all government and military posts.
Why Zhukov is hated
Why is it that most of all the mud is poured on Zhukov, and not on other commanders of Stalin? The point is in the personality of Georgy Konstantinovich. He is the symbol of the red empire. A peasant son, an iron soldier who went from a tsarist non-commissioned officer to a grand marshal who defeated the Third Reich. A national hero, a commander who rightfully stands among other great military leaders of Russian civilization, on a par with Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Dmitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov.
American General William Spar noted:
“At the time of the struggle of the Russian people with new disasters, Zhukov is raised as an icon that personifies the spirit of the Russian people who know how to put forward a savior-leader in extreme conditions. Zhukov is the embodiment of Russian honor and valor, Russian sovereignty and Russian spirit. No one can erase or tarnish the image of this man on a white horse who did so much to raise his country to shining heights."
Thus, attempts to overthrow Georgy Zhukov from the Victory pedestal is an informational, ideological war against our history, Russian and Soviet civilization. The blackening of the Marshal of Victory is the blackening of our entire history, the history of the USSR, the history of the Great Patriotic War, the Great Victory.
