Allied Commanders of World War Two/Marshal Zhukov, Final

"Georgi Zhukov" Part 4/Final

During the summer of 1942, Hitler planned on capturing the the Soviet oilfields of the Caucasus and on taking the city of Stalingrad on the Volga River; thus cutting off the north/south river route for Soviet supplies. What is termed "the Battle of Stalingrad" was really a series of battles beginning with the German advance to the city and their ensuing attempts to capture the city with Stalin's name.* The Soviet defenders barely held on, but the worn out German forces could not fully capture Stalingrad. With Zhukov in overall command of the region, a massive offensive was planned to destroy the southern flank of the German and Axis front, and in November 1942, the Soviets struck, bringing on another chapter to the Stalingrad battle. Rumanian forces (German allies), on either side of the German forces in the city, were shattered by the Soviet attack, and the German 6th Army, along with some Rumanian units, were surrounded. Now began another phase of the battle; the reduction and final surrender of the German forces in Stalingrad, which took place in early February 1943. Interestingly, when the German forces were surrounded in Stalingrad, Zhukov was transferred north to the Leningrad sector to try organize an attack to relieve the besieged metropolis, which was not successful, although the Soviets did manage to get a quantity of supplies through to the city.

Zhukov went south again, this time to plan a defensive battle against an expected large German offensive around the city of Kursk. Large Soviet defensive works created serious problems for the German attack, and with the invasion of Sicily by the Western Allies, Hitler broke off the offensive in the Kursk area, his forces, especially his armored forces, badly depleted. Then came the Soviet counter thrust, and the Germans never really recovered. Zhukov remained in charge of large Soviet forces headed into Poland and then into Germany itself. In mid April 1945 Soviet forces launched the attack intended to end the war, and Zhukov's forces were given the direct route to the German capitol. Stiff German resistance during the initial part of the Soviet attack brought angry remarks from Josef Stalin, but Zhukov's troops finally broke through and headed for Berlin.

Zhukov served as Commander of the Soviet Zone in occupied Germany after the war, but his popularity made him a target of the paranoid Stalin, who had him sent to remote military posts. Stalin's death in 1953 brought Zhukov into public view again. In poor health from the mid 1960s, Zhukov died in 1974 from a stroke.

* The city was called Tsaritsyn in the days of the Russian Empire, but it was renamed during the early Communist era, after Stalin, in the mid 1920s. In the early 1960s the city was once again renamed, as Volgograd, as Communist leaders distanced themselves from Josef Stalin.

WORD HISTORY:
Man-While there is disagreement on the origins of this word, it likely goes back to the Indo European root "man(u)," which meant "human being, 'man,' in the general sense person." This gave Old Germanic "mann(a)," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "mann," with the same meaning. Later this became "man." One of the questions about this word is why it took on the meaning "male person" in all of the Germanic languages (English has kept both meanings, "human being," and "male human"). English used "wer" for "male person;" thus "werewolf," "man wolf," but gradually "man" overtook "wer" in this meaning during the 1200s. In the male dominated world of those times, perhaps the general idea of "man," the human being, transferred to the dominate sex, male, but it is interesting that this occurred in all of the Germanic languages, which makes me wonder if this was already a secondary meaning going back in time. The verb form "to man," as in "to supply a group of men to some task," as in "man the walls of the fort," developed from the noun during the same period when "man" was overtaking "wer." Common in various forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "Mann" (male person, also husband) and the derived "Mensch" (person) plus "bemannen" ("to man"); Low German has "Mann" and "Minsch;" West Frisian has "man" and "minske;" Dutch has "man" and "mens;" Icelandic has "karlmaður" and "maður;" Danish has "mand" and "menneske;" Norwegian "mann" and "menneske;" Swedish has "man" and "människa."

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Marshal Zhukov, Part Three

"Georgi Zhukov" Part 3

As Chief of the Soviet General Staff Zhukov faced a daunting task, as German, Rumanian, Hungarian, Finnish, Italian and Slovak forces penetrated deep into Soviet territory, encircling large numbers of Soviet troops and inflicting staggering casualties on the Red Army. Zhukov's problems were complicated by the fact that he not only had to combat the Axis invaders, but he also had to contend with Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, who ordered counterattacks with little knowledge of the actual situation at the front, or with little preparation to give the attacks a chance to succeed. After strenuous arguments, Stalin relieved Zhukov at the end of July 1941, giving him command of a "front."* After some success at slowing the German onslaught in his sector, Zhukov was sent northward to keep Leningrad** from falling to the Germans. Defensive measures were implemented, including minefields, to slow the German advance. Generally small counterattacks sapped the strength of the German and Finnish forces and brought the situation to a stalemate. The Germans had to content themselves with besieging the city until they could bolster their forces for an all out attack, but this opportunity never came.

In the fall of 1941, Zhukov was shifted to the defense of Moscow to halt the German advance bearing down on the capitol. Winter weather and stubborn Soviet resistance brought the German attack to a halt with some German troops actually able to see the spires of the Kremlin off in the distance. A Soviet counteroffensive only a few days later threw the Germans back, but failed to achieve a decisive victory. Still, Moscow had some breathing room and the Germans took up defensive positions. As with Leningrad, the Germans had the idea of renewing the attack when the situation proved more favorable. But also as with Leningrad, the favorable situation never presented itself. The action now shifted to southern Russia and a decisive battle on the Volga River.

Next, the final installment on Marshal Zhukov.

* What the Russians called a "front" was what was termed an "army group" by western Europeans and Americans. An army group or a front was literally a "group of two or more armies serving in the same general area."

** Leningrad was the Soviet-era name for the northern city of Saint Petersburg, which had served as the capitol of Tsarist Russia since the times of Peter the Great, who had had the city built at great cost, including in lives. The Soviets returned the capitol to Moscow. With the fall of the Soviet Union came the renaming of the city as Saint Petersburg, but Moscow remains the capitol.

WORD HISTORY:
Yeoman-First the "yeo" part of this compound; the specifics for the "man" part will be covered in the next article. The ultimate origin of "yeo" is uncertain, but Old Germanic had "gawjan," which seems to have denoted a "piece of land near water; thus land ready for settlement and cultivation." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "gea," which meant "village, region of inhabitants." This then produced "geaman," "a settler, villager," and from this it later took on the meaning "a person who cultivates the land, a farmer." As large landowners became more common, the term was applied to "a common farmer who worked the land on a large estate." This association then led to "a person in the service of a noble." The term is rare in American English, but it is more common in British English, especially because of military units: "Yeoman Cavalry," which were volunteer cavalry used for the defense of England. Later the spelling was "yoman/yeman," depending upon dialect, before the modern spelling. "Yeo" still has some living relatives in other Germanic languages: German has "Gau," an old word for "an administrative region or district, like a county," dating back to Charlemagne (Karl der Grosse, in German), and resurrected by the Nazis for "an administrative district in the Nazi political system, both before and after they took power." It is pretty much confined to use in historical texts now; Dutch has "gouw," "a region or administrative district;" West Frisian was "gea," which means "region."

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Marshal Zhukov, Part Two

"Georgi Zhukov" Part 2

Zhukov moved up through the ranks and remained an officer in various cavalry units until he was sent to command some Soviet forces in Mongolia in the late 1930s. At that time, Japan occupied Korea and an undeclared war flared between Japan and the Soviet Union. Zhukov launched an offensive operation against the Japanese, in what was something of a Blitzkrieg operation, just a week or so before the German Blitzkrieg against Poland in 1939.* The Soviets defeated the Japanese, who were far more reluctant to cross the border thereafter. Zhukov became an instant hero in the Soviet Union. In 1940, Zhukov took command of Soviet forces along the border with Rumania, where Stalin moved forces into Rumanian territory to claim the area known as Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which then became part of the Soviet Union.

Zhukov was promoted to Chief of the General Staff and he intensified efforts to prepare for a German invasion.** On June 22, 1941 Hitler launched a massive invasion of the Soviet Union, codenamed "Operation Barbarossa."

* Just very briefly, a Blitzkrieg, literally "lightening war," was an offensive which used air power to strike enemy supply, communications, command and staging areas in the rear areas, as well as on the front lines, while fast moving armored vehicles and motorized artillery and motorized infantry were concentrated at key points to break through enemy positions, bypassing strong points, which were then taken on by the slower moving infantry, who consolidated the gains made by the motorized units. The fast moving motorized units disrupted enemy rear areas, spreading confusion and terror among enemy troops. The motorized columns often had the purpose of encircling large concentrations of enemy forces. Zhukov employed similar tactics against the Japanese.

** In August 1939, Hitler and Stalin reached agreement on a "non-aggression" pact, which also contained provisions for a division of Poland between the two dictators, as well as plans for other countries and territories in eastern Europe.

WORD HISTORY:
Snide-This word goes back to Indo European "sneit," which meant "to cut." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "snithanan," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "snithan," which then became "snithen," and which retained the "to cut" meaning. This gave English the now obsolete verb "snithe," meaning "to cut," and an adjectival form "snithe" which meant "cutting, sharp." "Snide" developed from these forms, and the meaning once meant "tricky," apparently from the idea of a person "being sharp, cunning." Today it is most commonly heard, at least in American English, in "snide remark(s);" that is "a sharp or cutting remark(s)." English borrowed "cut" which overtook forms of "snide" as the main word for "use of a sharp instrument to make an incision;" thus the little usage of the word. Not so in other Germanic languages (except Norwegian) where forms are quite common and usage much more prevalent: German has "schneiden," Low German has "snieden," Dutch has "snijden," West Frisian has "snije," Icelandic has "sníða" (essentially like "snitha"), Swedish has "snida," and Danish has "snide." All have a meaning "to cut," "to carve," or "to trim." Apparently a verb form has died out in Norwegian, as I could not find it, although I did find "snitt," a noun form, but it seems little used anymore. There are noun forms in other Germanic languages. German, for example, makes fairly extensive use of the base word in various forms: "Schnitt," means "a cut," and in the north of Germany a "Schnitte" means "a slice of something (often bread)," "Schneider" is a "tailor" ("cutter of cloth"), "Schneide" is the "blade of a knife," and "Schnitzel" means "clipping, chip, slice," and is famous as the "slice of meat, pounded thin, breaded and fried, with "Wiener Schnitzel" being specifically veal prepared that way.

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Marshal Zhukov

"Georgi Zhukov" Part 1
("Georgi" also transliterated at times as "Georgy" and "Georgii")*

Notes and Commentary:
First, the Soviet Union took over the former "Russian Empire," which was a multi-ethnic, multi-national empire. Because it was the "Russian Empire," citizens were often called "Russians," regardless of their actual ethnic background.** That terminology continued when the empire became the Soviet Union, and I will continue that terminology here to try to keep things simple, even if not politically correct. Second, while not popular, especially, but not exclusively, with super patriots of the political right in many western countries, we need to remember that the Soviet Union suffered more dead and casualties against Hitler and his allies than all of the western Allies combined. On the other hand, super patriots of the former Soviet Union don't like to hear how western countries helped them stave off defeat early on by supplying them with all sorts of war materials, especially tanks, trucks, etc. I'm just saying we all need to keep some perspective here. Also, I know some of my articles contain extensive footnotes, but I believe it is important to give some explanations about events or ideas. So often books or articles mention something, but the reader may not really know the meaning of that "something." I'm sure I haven't been perfect on this subject either, but I usually do try to give some basic definition to terms used, as well as to express opinions on a particular subject (Hey, it isn't called "Pontificating" for nuthin'...I mean nothing).

Zhukov was born to a poor farming family in the Kaluga area of Russia, southwest of Moscow. The harsh "you're on your own" philosophy of the Tsarist Russian Empire undoubtedly influenced his, and many other poor Russians, beliefs when revolution against Tsardom became likely. He served in the cavalry in World War One, where he further saw the huge differences between the the mainly peasant and worker soldiers and the noble and aristocratic officer corps.*** He was decorated for bravery during the war. He joined the Bolshevik Party after the Bolsheviks came to power by revolution in November 1917.**** He fought as part of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War,***** where he showed leadership qualities and rose to command a cavalry regiment.

*Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian (all Indo European languages, and therefore related to English further down the "family tree") and several other languages (some Indo European and some from other language families) use a different alphabet system called "Cyrillic." It was a writing (alphabet) system developed back in about the 900s (A.D.) and is named in honor of the Eastern Orthodox saint, Cyril. When someone "transliterates a word," they put it into the closest rendering of another alphabet system, and there are variations of how to do this; thus some spelling differences occur.

** Part of the neighborhood where I grew up had a sizable Ukrainian population, those Ukrainians being from the western part of the Ukraine, where Ukrainian Catholic was the predominant religion, not Eastern Orthodoxy, which dominates in the rest of the Ukraine. Understand, defining the "Ukraine" is not an easy issue, as borders have changed numerous times over the centuries, and even since World War One. When I was a kid, it was a part of the Soviet Union, and was called "the Ukraine," but since the break up of the Soviet Union it has become independent and is simply "Ukraine," without the article. Anyway, if you called one of the Ukrainians in my neighborhood a "Russian," most would quickly, but politely, correct you, but a few might even get downright hostile about it.

***Growing income disparity in America over the last three (plus) decades has been making it less and less possible for Americans to rise (or fall) through the social ranks. "Social mobility," as it is called, has declined markedly in the U.S., and the nation now lags behind many developed countries like Canada, Denmark, Finland, Australia, Spain, Germany, and France (based upon statistics from the "Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development"). As wealthy earners pass on wealth to their descendants, the nation has been losing its reputation as a "meritocracy;" that is, a system where people are rewarded, promoted, and paid according to their achievements, as opposed to aristocracy, where people are rewarded simply because of birth to aristocratic families. The push by American conservatives in the last few years to do away with inheritance taxes on wealthy Americans will only make matters worse, as even some wealthy individuals, like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, have noted. You would think the "free marketers" would oppose the elimination of inheritance taxes for the nonsense it is, but not so in many cases. If you notice the numerous European countries on the list above (they are not in any particular order, by the way), many American conservatives like to say, "We don't want to be like Europe." I wonder if this is what they mean? Let's be honest here, there is currently an exemption of 5 million dollars from such taxes (Federal, but there are usually state taxes, too). So, Uncle Randy leaves you $10 million. You get $5 million automatically (subject to whatever state law applies to you), and then you pay (currently) 35% Federal Estate Tax on the other $5 million, leaving you $3.25 million (again, subject to any state law pertaining to you). I have a sneaking suspicion you wouldn't turn down a grand total of $8.25 million because you had to pay a tax of $1.75 million. American conservatives say how unfair all of this is. The tax was once much higher, and should be again, but with a hearty exemption.

**** It is often called the "October Revolution" by Russians, as Russia used the Julian Calendar (developed by Julius Caesar; thus "Julian"), as opposed to the Gregorian Calendar (developed by Pope Gregory XIII) of western countries.

***** The Russian Civil War was fought between the Bolshevik Red Army and the White Army, a coalition of pro-monarchist and anti-Bolshevik forces, including foreign elements. The end of the war is a matter of opinion, as it took the Bolsheviks a few years to actually gain control of the country. Some historians say it ended in 1921, while others say 1923. I lean toward the latter.

WORD HISTORY:
Kremlin-The ultimate origins of this word are uncertain. It goes back to Old East Slavic "kreml" ("кремль") which had the notion of "separate; thus a fortress part of a city or town." This gave Old Russian "kremlinu" which later became "kremlin." English seems to have borrowed the word in the 1600s from either German or French. German had borrowed it initially from Russian as "Kremelin/Kremelien." While used for the citadel/fortress of any Russian city or town, the use of the term for the central part of Moscow dominated even a few hundred years ago, as it still does.