Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov
born Dec. 1, 1896, Kaluga province, Russia—died June 18, 1974, Moscow, USSR

Soviet army commander in World War II. He joined the Red Army in the Russian Civil War and rose to become head of Soviet forces in Manchuria (1938–39). In World War II he was chief of staff of the Red Army and organized the defense of Leningrad and Moscow (1941). He directed the offensive that broke the siege in the Battle of Stalingrad (1943) and was named a marshal of the Soviet Union. After helping win the Battle of Kursk, he directed the Soviet offensive through Belorussia (now Belarus) and commanded the final assault on Berlin (1945). After the war Zhukov’s great popularity caused him to be regarded as a potential threat by Joseph Stalin, who assigned him to obscure regional commands. After Stalin’s death he was appointed minister of defense (1955) and attempted to make the army more autonomous, but opposition from Nikita Khrushchev caused his dismissal in 1957. He remained in relative obscurity until Khrushchev fell from power in 1964, and he was subsequently awarded the Order of Lenin (1966)