Editing Georgy Zhukov (section)

== Post-war service ==

=== Soviet occupation zone ===
[[File:Allies at the Brandenburg Gate, 1945.jpg|thumb|From left to right: [[Vasily Sokolovsky|Sokolovsky]], Zhukov, [[Bernard Montgomery|Montgomery]] and [[Konstantin Rokossovsky|Rokossovsky]] at the [[Brandenburg Gate]]]]
After the German capitulation, Zhukov became the first commander of the [[Soviet occupation zone in Germany]]. On 10 June 1945, he returned to Moscow to prepare for the [[1945 Moscow Victory Parade]]. On 24 June, Stalin appointed him commander in chief of the parade. After the ceremony, on the night of 24 June, Zhukov went to Berlin to resume his command.{{sfn|Shtemenko|1989|pp=566–569}}

In May 1945, Zhukov signed three resolutions to improve living standards in the Soviet occupation zone:
* 11 May: resolution 063 – provision of food
* 12 May: resolution 064 – restoration of the public services sector
* 13 May: resolution 080 – provision of milk supplies for children

Zhukov requested the Soviet government to transport urgently to Berlin 96,000&nbsp;tons of grain, 60,000&nbsp;tons of potatoes, 50,000&nbsp;cattle, and thousands of tons of other foodstuffs, such as sugar and animal fat. He issued strict orders that his subordinates were to "hate Nazism but respect the German people,"<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tibbetts|first=Jann|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lsHLDAAAQBAJ&q=georgy+zhukov+%22hate+Nazism+but+respect+the+German+people,&pg=PT382|title=50 Great Military Leaders of All Time|date=2016|publisher=Vij Books India |isbn=978-93-85505-66-9|language=en}}</ref> and to make all possible efforts to restore and maintain a stable living standard for the German population.<ref>Grigori Deborin (1958). [http://publ.lib.ru/ARCHIVES/D/DEBORIN_Grigoriy_Abramovich/_Deborin_G.A..html Вторая мировая война. Военно-политический очерк], Moscow: Voenizdat, pp.&nbsp;340–343.</ref>

=== Inter-allied diplomacy ===
[[File:Montgomery receives Order of Victory HD-SN-99-02756.JPG|thumb|Zhukov sharing a toast with Eisenhower, Montgomery and other Allied officials, June 1945]]
From 16 July to 2 August, Zhukov participated in the [[Potsdam Conference]] with the fellow representatives of the Allied governments. As one of the four commanders of the Allied occupational forces, Zhukov established good relationships with his new colleagues, General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], Field Marshal [[Bernard Montgomery]], and Marshal [[Jean de Lattre]], and the four frequently exchanged views about such matters as the sentencing, trials, and judgments of war criminals, geopolitical relationships between the Allied states, and how to defeat Japan and rebuild Germany.

Eisenhower developed a good relationship with Zhukov and it proved beneficial in resolving differences in post-war occupational issues.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clark |first=Douglas E. |title=Eisenhower in Command at Columbia |publisher=Lexington Books |location=Lanham, MD |year=2013 |pages=33 |isbn=978-0-7391-7836-2}}</ref> Eisenhower's successor, General [[Lucius D. Clay]], also praised the Zhukov–Eisenhower friendship, and commented: "The Soviet–America relationship should have developed well if Eisenhower and Zhukov had continued to work together."{{sfn|Axell|2003|p=356}} Zhukov and Eisenhower went on to tour the Soviet Union together in the immediate aftermath of the victory over Germany.{{sfn|Chaney|1996|pp=346–347}} During this tour Eisenhower introduced Zhukov to [[Coca-Cola]]. As Coca-Cola was regarded in the [[Soviet Union]] as a symbol of [[American imperialism]],<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/15/business/viewpoints-a-brief-history-of-coca-colonization.html|title=Viewpoints; A Brief History of Coca-Colonization|author=[[Mark Pendergrast]]|date=15 August 1993|access-date=12 September 2012}}</ref> Zhukov was apparently reluctant to be photographed or reported as consuming such a product. Zhukov asked if the beverage could be made colourless to resemble vodka. A European subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Export Corporation delivered an initial 50 cases of [[White Coke]] to Marshal Zhukov.

=== Decline of career ===
[[File:Маршал Советского Союза Г.К. Жуков на первомайском параде в Свердловске.jpg|thumb|Zhukov at a post-war victory parade in Sverdlovsk, between 1948–1950]]
Zhukov was not only the supreme military commander of the [[Soviet occupation zone in Germany]], but became its military governor on 10 June 1945. He was replaced with [[Vasily Sokolovsky]] on 10 April 1946. After an unpleasant session of the main military council—in which Zhukov was accused of egoism, disrespect to his peers, and of political unreliability and hostility to the Party Central Committee—he was stripped of his position as commander in chief of the [[Soviet Army]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Boterbloem|first=Kees|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nda8n7s8o3oC&pg=PA477|title=Life and Times of Andrei Zhdanov, 1896–1948|date=2004-03-01|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP|isbn=978-0-7735-7173-0|pages=477|language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Spahr|1993|pp=200–205}}

He was assigned command of the [[Odessa Military District]], far from Moscow and lacking in strategic significance and troops. He arrived there on 13 June 1946. Zhukov suffered a heart attack in January 1948, spending a month in the hospital. In February 1948, he was given another secondary posting, this time command of the [[Urals Military District]]. [[Peter G. Tsouras]] described the move from Odessa to the Urals as a relegation from a "second-rate" to a "fifth-rate" assignment.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Peter G. Tsouras|Tsouras, P.G.]]|title=''Changing Orders: The evolution of the World's Armies, 1945 to the Present''|url=https://archive.org/details/changingordersev00tsou|url-access=registration|publisher= Facts on File|date=1994|isbn= 0-8160-3122-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/changingordersev00tsou/page/43 43–44]}}</ref>

Throughout this time, security chief [[Lavrentiy Beria]] was supposedly trying to topple Zhukov. Two of Zhukov's subordinates, Marshal of Aviation [[Alexander Novikov]] and Lieutenant-General [[Konstantin Telegin]], were arrested and tortured in [[Lefortovo Prison]] at the end of 1945. After Stalin's death it was claimed that Novikov was allegedly forced by Beria into a "confession" which implicated Zhukov in a conspiracy.<ref>Kornukov, A. M. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JAP/is_6_9/ai_72703615] (Chief Marshal of Aviation AA. Novikov – His 100th Birthday) Warheroes.ru. Retrieved on 8 July 2019.</ref> In reality, Novikov may have been encouraged to point the finger at Zhukov because he saw Zhukov's membership at the investigation commission of the [[Aviators Affair]]—a purge of the [[Soviet aircraft]] industry following accusations that, during the war, the fighter planes had been of poor quality—in which Novikov was implicated, as instrumental to his downfall.<ref name=":0" /> Regardless, in a conference, all generals except [[GRU (G.U.)|GRU]] director [[Filipp Golikov]] defended Zhukov against accusation of misspending. During this time, Zhukov was accused of unauthorized looting of goods confiscated by the Germans, and of [[Bonapartism#Marxism|Bonapartism]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>I. S. Konev (1991) [http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1612 Записки командующего фронтом] (Diary of the Front Commander). Voenizdat. Moscow. pp. 594–599. Warheroes.ru. Retrieved on 12 July 2013.</ref>

In 1946, seven rail carriages with furniture that Zhukov was taking to the Soviet Union from Germany were impounded. In 1948, his apartments and house in Moscow were searched and many valuables looted from Germany were found.<ref>[[Boris Vadimovich Sokolov]] (2000) ''Неизвестный Жуков: портрет без ретуши в зеркале эпохи''. (Unknown Zhukov), Minsk, Rodiola-plyus, {{ISBN|985-448-036-4}}.</ref> In his investigation Beria concluded that Zhukov had in his possession 17&nbsp;golden rings, three gemstones, the faces of 15&nbsp;golden necklaces, more than {{convert|4|km|spell=in|sp=us}} of cloth, 323&nbsp;pieces of fur, 44&nbsp;carpets taken from German palaces, 55&nbsp;paintings and 20&nbsp;guns."<ref name="u119">{{cite web |title=Жуков Георгий Константинович |url=http://hrono.ru/biograf/bio_zh/zhukov_gk.php |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=ХРОНОС. ВСЕМИРНАЯ ИСТОРИЯ В ИНТЕРНЕТЕ |language=ru}}</ref> Zhukov admitted in a memorandum to Zhdanov:<blockquote> "I felt very guilty. I shouldn't have collected those useless junks and put them into some warehouse, assuming nobody needs them any more. I swear as a Bolshevik that I would avoid such errors and follies thereafter. Surely I still and will wholeheartedly serve the Motherland, the Party, and the Great Comrade Stalin."<ref>Военные архивы России. – М., 1993, p.&nbsp;244.</ref></blockquote>

When learning of Zhukov's "misfortunes"—and despite not understanding all the problems—Eisenhower expressed his sympathy for his "comrade-in-arms."<ref>''The New York Times'', 29 July 1955.</ref> In February 1953, Stalin relieved Zhukov of his post as Commander of the Urals Military District, recalling Zhukov to Moscow. It was thought Zhukov's expertise was needed in the [[Korean War]]; however, in practice, Zhukov received no orders from Stalin after arriving in Moscow. On 5 March 1953, at 09:50, Stalin died of a stroke. Following Stalin's passing, Zhukov's life entered a new phase.{{sfn|Axell|2003|p=356}}

=== Relationship with Stalin ===
[[File:Парад Победы на Красной площади 24 июня 1945 г. (23).jpg|thumb|Zhukov with Stalin and [[Semyon Budyonny]] during the Soviet Victory Parade of 1945]]
During the war, Zhukov was one of only a few people who understood Stalin's personality. As the chief of staff and deputy supreme commander, Zhukov had hundreds of meetings with Stalin, both private and during [[Stavka]] conferences. Consequently, Zhukov understood Stalin's personality and methods well. According to Zhukov, Stalin was a bold and secretive person, but he was also hot-tempered and skeptical. Zhukov was able to gauge Stalin's mood: for example, when Stalin drew deeply on his tobacco pipe, it was a sign of a good mood. Conversely, if Stalin failed to light his pipe once it was out of tobacco, it was a sign of imminent rage.<ref>G. K. Zhukov. ''Reminiscences and Reflections''. vol.&nbsp;2, pp.&nbsp;139, 150.</ref> His outstanding knowledge of Stalin's personality was an asset that allowed him to deal with Stalin's outbursts in a way other Soviet generals could not.{{sfn|Axell|2003|p=280}}

Both Zhukov and Stalin were hot-tempered, and both made concessions necessary to sustain their relationship. While Zhukov viewed his relationship with Stalin as one of a subordinate–senior, Stalin was in awe and possibly jealous of Zhukov. Both were military commanders, but Stalin's experience was limited to a previous generation of non-mechanized warfare. By contrast, Zhukov was highly influential in the development of contemporary combined operations of highly mechanized armies. The differences in their outlooks were the cause of many tempestuous disagreements between the two of them at Stavka meetings. Nonetheless, Zhukov was less competent than Stalin as a politician, highlighted by Zhukov's many failures in politics. Stalin's unwillingness to value Zhukov beyond the marshal's military talents was one of the reasons why Zhukov was recalled from Berlin.{{sfn|Chaney|1996}}

Significant to their relationship as well was Zhukov's bluntness towards his superior. Stalin was dismissive of the fawning of many of his entourage and openly criticized it.{{sfn|Shtemenko|1989|p=587}} Many people around Stalin—including Beria, Yezhov, and Mekhlis—felt obliged to flatter Stalin to remain on his good side.{{sfn|Vasilevsky|1973|p=62}} Zhukov remained obstinate and argumentative, and did not hesitate to publicly contradict Stalin to the point of risking his career and life. Their heated argument about whether to abandon Kiev due to the Germans' rapid advance in summer of 1941 was typical of Zhukov's approach.<ref>A. I. Sethi. ''Marshal Zhukov: The Great Strategician''. New Delhi: 1988, p. 187.</ref> Zhukov's ability to remain skeptical and unwavering at giving in to pressure did garner him the respect of Stalin.