Authors: Geoffrey Roberts
MAP 1:
   The Battle of Khalkhin-Gol, August 20â31, 1939
MAP 2:
   The Soviet-Finnish War, 1939â1940
MAP 3:
   The First War Game, January 2â6, 1941
MAP 4:
   The Second War Game, January 8â11, 1941
MAP 5:
   The Soviet Plan for an Offensive War Against Germany, May 1941
MAP 6:
   Operation Barbarossa, JuneâDecember 1941
MAP 7:
   The Border Battles, June 22âJuly 9, 1941
DIAGRAM 1:
   The Structure of Soviet Military and Political Decision-Making During the Great Patriotic War
MAP 8:
   The Yel'nya Offensive, AugustâSeptember 1941
MAP 9:
   The German Advance to Leningrad, JuneâSeptember 1941
MAP 10:
   The Battle for Leningrad, September 1941
MAP 11:
   The Battle for Moscow, OctoberâDecember 1941
MAP 12:
   Zhukov's Moscow Counteroffensive, December 1941
MAP 13:
   Operation Marsâthe Third Rzhev-Viazma Operation, NovemberâDecember 1942
MAP 14:
   The German Advance in the South, Summer 1942
MAP 15:
   The Battle for Stalingrad, SeptemberâNovember 1942
MAP 16:
   Operation Uranus, November 1942
MAP 17:
   Operations Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus
MAP 18:
   Zhukov's Plan for Operation Polar Star
MAP 19:
   Operation Citadel, July 1943
MAP 20:
   The Soviet Counteroffenasives at Kursk, JulyâAugust 1943
MAP 21:
   The Battle for the Ukraine, 1943â1944
MAP 22:
   The Plan for Operation Bagration, June 1944
MAP 23:
   The Soviet Advance on Warsaw, Summer 1944
MAP 24:
   The Vistula-Oder Operation, JanuaryâFebruary 1945
MAP 25:
   The Berlin Operation, April 1945
MAP 26:
   Allied Occupation Zones in Germany
| 1896 | Â | December 1: Birth of Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov in Strelkovka, Kaluga Province, Russia |
| 1903 | Â | Begins elementary school |
| 1908 | Â | Migrates to Moscow to work as a furrier |
| 1914 | Â | August: Outbreak of World War One |
| 1915 | Â | August: Conscripted into the tsar's army and assigned to the cavalry |
| 1916 | Â | October: Wounded in action and decorated for bravery |
| 1917 | Â | March: Tsar Nicholas II abdicates following military mutiny in Petrograd |
| Â | Â | November: Bolsheviks overthrow the Provisional Government and seize power |
| 1918 | Â | October 1: Joins the Red Army |
| 1919 | Â | March: Becomes a candidate member of the Communist Party October: Wounded in action in the Russian Civil War |
| 1920 | Â | Marries Alexandra Dievna |
| Â | Â | March: Enrolls in Red Commanders Cavalry Course at Ryazan |
| Â | Â | May: Becomes a full member of the Communist Party October: Promoted to platoon and then squadron commander |
| 1921 | Â | Death of Zhukov's father |
| Â | Â | March: Decorated for bravery |
| 1922 | Â | June: Appointed squadron commander in the 38th Cavalry Regiment |
| 1923 | Â | March: Promoted to assistant commander of the 40th Cavalry Regiment |
| Â | Â | July: Appointed commander of the 39th Buzuluk Cavalry Regiment |
| 1924 | Â | October: Attends Higher Cavalry School in Leningrad |
| 1928 | Â | Birth of daughter Era |
| 1929 | Â | Birth of daughter Margarita |
| Â | Â | Attends Frunze Military Academy in Moscow |
| 1930 | Â | May: Promoted to command of 2nd Cavalry Brigade of the 7th Samara Division |
| 1931 | Â | February: Appointed assistant inspector of the cavalry |
| Â | Â | September: Japan invades Manchuria |
| 1933 | Â | January: Hitler comes to power in Germany |
| Â | Â | March: Appointed commander of the 4th (Voroshilov) Cavalry Division |
| 1935 | Â | Awarded the Order of Lenin |
| 1937 | Â | Birth of daughter Ella |
| Â | Â | May: Arrest and execution of Marshal Tukhachevsky and start of military purges |
| Â | Â | July: Japan invades China |
| Â | Â | July: Appointed commander of the 3rd Cavalry Corps in Belorussia |
| 1938 | Â | March: Transferred to the command of the 6th Cossack Corps |
| Â | Â | June: Appointed deputy commander of the Belorussian Military District |
| 1939 | Â | May: Posted to the Mongolian-Manchurian border |
| Â | Â | June: Appointed commander of the 57th Special Corps at Khalkhin-Gol |
| Â | Â | July: 57th Corps reorganized into 1st Army Group with Zhukov in command |
| Â | Â | August 20: Launch of attack on Japanese forces at Khalkhin-Gol |
| Â | Â | August 23: Signature of Nazi-Soviet Pact |
| Â | Â | August 30: Made a Hero of the Soviet Union for his victory at Khalkhin-Gol |
| Â | Â | September 1: German invasion of Poland |
| Â | Â | September 17: Soviet invasion of eastern Poland |
| Â | Â | December: Soviet invasion of Finland |
| 1940 | Â | March: Soviet-Finnish peace treaty |
| Â | Â | May: Appointed commander of the Kiev Special Military District |
| Â | Â | May: Restoration of the titles of general and admiral in the Soviet armed forces |
| Â | Â | June 2: First meeting with Stalin |
| Â | Â | June 5: Promoted to general of the army |
| Â | Â | June 22: France surrenders |
| Â | Â | June 28: Leads Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and North Bukovina |
| Â | Â | December 18: Hitler issues his directive on Operation Barbarossa |
| Â | Â | December 25: Delivers report, “The Character of Contemporary Offensive Operations” |
| 1941 | Â | January: Takes part in General Staff war games |
| Â | Â | January 14: Appointed chief of the General Staff |
| Â | Â | February: Elected alternate member of the Central Committee at the 18th Party conference |
| Â | Â | May 15: Draft of Soviet plan for a preemptive strike against Germany |
| Â | Â | June 22: German invasion of the Soviet Union |
| Â | Â | June 30: Fall of Minsk |
| Â | Â | July 10: Establishment of Stavka, campaign headquarters of the Supreme Command |
| Â | Â | July 29: Removed as chief of the General Staff and appointed to command of Reserve Front |
| Â | Â | August 8: Stalin becomes supreme commander of the Armed Forces |
| Â | Â | August: Leads counteroffensive at Yel'nya |
| Â | Â | September: Fall of Kiev and blockade of Leningrad |
| Â | Â | September 11: Appointed commander of the Leningrad Front |
| Â | Â | October 11: Appointed commander of the Western Front |
| Â | Â | December 5: Beginning of Moscow counteroffensive |
| 1942 | Â | January: Launch of first Rzhev-Viazma operation |
| Â | Â | June: Germans launch southern offensive toward Baku and Stalingrad |
| Â | Â | July: Second Rzhev-Viazma operation |
| Â | Â | July 17: Beginning of the battle for Stalingrad |
| Â | Â | July 28: Stalin issues Order No. 227 âNi Shagu Nazad! (Not a Step Back!) |
| Â | Â | August 26: Appointed Stalin's deputy supreme commander |
| Â | Â | November: Third Rzhev-Viazma operation (Operation Mars) |
| Â | Â | November 19: Operation UranusâRed Army counteroffensive at Stalingrad |
| 1943 | Â | January: Supervises operations to end the German blockade of Leningrad |
| Â | Â | January 18: Promoted to marshal of the Soviet Union |
| Â | Â | February: Final surrender of Germans at Stalingrad |
| Â | Â | July: Battle of Kursk |
| Â | Â | November: Liberation of Kiev |
| 1944 | Â | Death of Zhukov's mother |
| Â | Â | June: Operation Bagration; D-Day landings in France |
| Â | Â | August: Warsaw uprising |
| Â | Â | September: Supervises Soviet invasion of Bulgaria |
| Â | Â | November 12: Appointed commander of 1st Belorussian Front |
| 1945 | Â | January: Launch of Vistula-Oder operation; capture of Warsaw |
| Â | Â | February 18: Stavka halts 1st Belorussian's advance on Berlin |
| Â | Â | April 16: Launch of attack on Berlin |
| Â | Â | April 25: Soviet and American forces meet on the Elbe |
| Â | Â | April 30: Hitler commits suicide |
| Â | Â | May: Red Army captures Berlin and Zhukov accepts German surrender |
| Â | Â | May 30: Appointed commander of Soviet occupation forces in Germany |
| Â | Â | June 24: Zhukov leads Victory Parade in Red Square |
| Â | Â | JulyâAugust: Attends Potsdam conference |
| 1946 | Â | February: Elected to the Supreme Soviet |
| Â | Â | March 22: Appointed commander-in-chief of Soviet ground forces |
| Â | Â | June: Dismissed as commander-in-chief of Soviet ground forces and posted to Odessa |
| 1947 | Â | February: Expelled from membership of the party Central Committee |
| 1948 | Â | January: Censured for extracting war booty from Germany |
| Â | Â | February: Transferred to the command of the Urals Military District |
| 1950 | Â | Reelected to the Supreme Soviet |
| Â | Â | Meets Galina Semonova in Sverdlovsk |
| 1952 | Â | October: Attends 19th Party Congress and is elected to Central Committee |
| 1953 | Â | March: Returns to Moscow and appointed deputy defense minister |
| Â | Â | March: Stalin dies |
| Â | Â | June: Arrests Beria |
| 1954 | Â | Death of Zhukov's sister, Maria |
| Â | Â | September: Oversees nuclear test and exercise at Totskoe |