Why was Zhukov pushed out by Stalin?

[Stage]

Can someone tell me why a military genius like Zhukov was basicly kicked aside by Stalin after the war?

[Andrey]

Can someone tell me why a military genius like Zhukov was basicly kicked aside by Stalin after the war?

Because he became too might and Stalin decided that he became real rival to Stalin.

[Stage]

Did Zhukov have any political ambitions? He might have made a good political Leader.

[Andrey]

Did Zhukov have any political ambitions? He might have made a good political Leader.

I don't know.

I know that he was "not soft", I personally spoke with one old man who was personal interpreter of Rokossovskiy in 1944-45. It was short unexpected meeting and I asked his about Rokossovskiy and Zhukov. He spoke with love about Rokossovskiy and said about Zhukov: "He is страшный (terrible) man".

May be Zhukov was excellent as strateg but if to speak about his human's performances . . .

[amvas]

Zhukov was kicked out by Khrushchev, but not by Stalin. Zhukov, helped Khrushchev to take power and to neutralize Beria (NKVD minister). Khrushchev was afraid of Zhukov's influence and that's why he kicked him out... (Later the same was made in application to Kuznetsov (Navy minister)

[Andrey]

Zhukov was kicked out by Khrushchev, but not by Stalin. Zhukov, helped Khrushchev to take power and to neutralize Beria (NKVD minister). Khrushchev was afraid of Zhukov's influence and that's why he kicked him out... (Later the same was made in application to Kuznetsov (Navy minister)

Stalin also did it. Stalin appointed Zhukov on post of commander of Odessa (or Ural?) Military District practically directly after end of war, it was too low post for person of Zhukov's scale.

And Kuznetsov, as I remember, was also in disfavour in Stalin's time after WWII. As I remember Stalin appointed his on post of commander of Pacific Ocean Fleet, it also was too low post for person of Kuznetsov's scale.

[hogdriver]

Did Zhukov have any political ambitions? He might have made a good political Leader.

From his "Greatest Battles" book (still available), Zhukov explicitly stated that he did not have any desire for a political career. The farthest he was willing to go into politics was interacting with political officers at various levels. Zhukov saw himself as a military leader and apparently could not conceive of his doing any other duties.

[Red1945]

It is said that Zhukov said that any RKKA's tank could'n move without his order to the officers who were against Khrushchev in 1957.Though Khrushchev wasn't pushed out at that time,he was afraid that Zhukov would push out him. So he decided to push out Zhukov .

[MonsterZero]

Stalin wanted to destroy Zhukov for reasons of his popularity, aggressiveness, courage and his potential as Stalin's rival.

They had clashed a number of times at various military conferences during the war, but back then getting rid of Zhukov was not an option-he had to win the war first.

Soon after the end of the war Stalin told Beria, the feared and hated security chief to begin amassing "evidence" against Zhukov. I understand the only thing that saved Zhukov from arrest and execution was the solidarity of his junior officers who rallied behind the revered marshall and refused to implicate him in the imaginary plot. However, for many years Zhukov lived in terrible fear of imminent arrest which culimnated in a serious heart attack.

Zhukov had his revenge against Beria though. It was he who led a group of army officers bursting through the doors of the Soviet Central Commitee with pistols drawn to arrest Beria in front of the entire Soviet government. This is was Khruschev's famous coup d'etat that purged the closest circle of Stalin's henchmen and put the Soviet Union on a path leading to an entirely new political, military and economic direction.

[John Bark]

interesting....

very interesting

[dannybou]

Does Zhukov have children, grand-children that are still alive and well today?

[owen36]

Aha

Another question would be, why wasn't he disposed of like some of his fellow officers where?

Zhukov had to go because he had survived long enough and he wasn't needed anymore.
With the exception of Beria, nobody in a high and exalted position survived for more than a decade.
Each 5 years there was a round of purges.

[Trigger Happy]

Another question would be, why wasn't he disposed of like some of his fellow officers where?

Zhukov had to go because he had survived long enough and he wasn't needed anymore.
With the exception of Beria, nobody in a high and exalted position survived for more than a decade.
Each 5 years there was a round of purges.

popularity.

Joukov was even more popular than Stalin at the end of the war

[hogdriver]

Another question would be, why wasn't he disposed of like some of his fellow officers where?

Zhukov had to go because he had survived long enough and he wasn't needed anymore.
With the exception of Beria, nobody in a high and exalted position survived for more than a decade.
Each 5 years there was a round of purges.

By the time Zhukov was "purged", they age of Stalinist purges was over, and purging generally entailed only disappearance from public life. Beria was one of the last victims of Stalin's reign of terror , being executed later in 1953. Their was a new round of terror underway when Stalin died (the "Doctors Plot"), but it was quietly ended shortly after Stalin's death. Khrushchev, ever the pragmatist, built his power base, eventually planning his expose of Stalinist excesses at the 20th Party Congress in 1956.