20 quotes
There are things in Russia which are not as they seem.
We proceeded from the knowledge that we would have to fight a battle-wise, strong and stubborn enemy.
The Memoirs of Marshal Zhukov (1971)
If you feel that the Chief of the General Staff talks only rubbish, my place is not here. Better to give me a command at the front where I can be of better use!
There's no smoke without fire.
If the nation only knew their hands dripped with innocent blood, it would have met them not with applause but with stones.
The mere existence of atomic weapons implies the possibility of their use.
And now German generals find it hard to explain away their retreat.
The longer the battle lasts the more force we'll have to use!
I find it rather difficult in the evening of my life to recollect everything that happened as time has erased from memory many things, especially relating to childhood and youth.
The Memoirs of Marshal Zhukov (1971)
The risks of war present no danger to those who are well prepared for it in advance and who are mindful of their place in the nation's defences. Confusion and panic usually appear wherever there is no adequate organizaton or appropriate leadership at a time of grim trials.
The Memoirs of Marshal Zhukov (1971)
The Battle for Moscow laid the firm foundations for the ensuing defeat of Nazi Germany.
Marshal Zhukov's Greatest Battles (1969)
The nature of encounter operations required of the commanders limitless initiative and constant readiness to take the responsibility for military actions.
Generalissimo Stalin directed every move... made every decision... He is the greatest and wisest military genius who ever lived...
It is a fact that under equal conditions, large-scale battles and whole wars are won by troops which have a strong will for victory, clear goals before them, high moral standards, and devotion to the banner under which they go into battle.
If they [the Germans] attack, we will defend. If they do not attack until winter comes, then we will and will tear them to shreds!
If we come to a minefield, our infantry attacks exactly as it were not there.
Winning depended to a large extent on the determination of the troops and the officers. The certainty that we were going to win kept up everyone's spirits, from privates to generals.
We will do all we can to insure peace... but if war is imposed upon us we will be together shoulder to shoulder as in the last war to strive for the happiness of mankind.
Here they found real war, but they were not ready for it. They were used to easy victories. This deprived them of flexibility on the one hand, of tenacity on the other. For them, war was merely maneuvers.
The greatness of heroic victory over Fascist Germany is in the fact that the Soviet Union did not defend the socialist state alone, but that it selflessly fought to defend the internationalist proletarian goal- defeat the bulk of the Nazi armed forces and deliver the peoples of Europe from occupation. The Soviet people have not forgotten other peoples' contribution to the victory over the common enemy. Our army and people remember and value the courage of the Resistance fighters.
The Memoirs of Marshal Zhukov (1971)