page_title: Georgy Zhukov
section_title: Inter-allied diplomacy
hierarchical_section_title: Georgy Zhukov / Post-war service / Inter-allied diplomacy
caption_attribution_description: Marshal Zhukov decorates Field Marshal Montgomery with the Russian Order of Victory. Allied chiefs who attended the cermony at Gen. Eisenhower's Headquarters at Frankfurt are about to drink a toast. Center from left to right: Field Marshal Montgomery, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, Marshal Zhukov, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder. ID: HD-SN-99-02756 Русский: Маршал Жуков награждает фельдмаршала Бернарда Монтгомери орденом «Победы». Военачальники союзных сил, принявшие участие в церемонии, проходившей в штаб-квартире генерала Эйзенхауэра во Франкфурте, готовятся к тосту. В центре слева направо: фельдмаршал Монтгомери, генерал Дуайт Эйзенхауэр, маршал Жуков, верховный главнокомандующий Королевскими ВВС Великобритании сэр Артур Уильям Теддер.
context_page_description: Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He also served as Chief of the General Staff, Minister of Defence, and was a member of the Presidium of the Communist Party. During the Second World War, Zhukov oversaw some of the Red Army's most decisive victories.
  Born to a poor peasant family from central Russia, Zhukov was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army and fought in the First World War. He served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. Gradually rising through the ranks, by 1939 Zhukov was given command of an army group and won a decisive battle over Japanese forces at Khalkhin Gol, for which he won the first of his four Hero of the Soviet Union awards. In February 1941, Zhukov was appointed as chief of the Red Army's General Staff.
  Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Zhukov lost his position as chief of the general staff. Subsequently, he organized the defense of Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad. He participated in planning several major offensives, including the Battle of Kursk and Operation Bagration.
context_section_description: 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 the Japanese and rebuild Germany.
  Eisenhower seemed to be especially satisfied with, and respectful of, his relationship with Zhukov. 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." Zhukov and Eisenhower went on to tour the Soviet Union together in the immediate aftermath of the victory over Germany. During this tour Eisenhower introduced Zhukov to Coca-Cola. As Coca-Cola was regarded in the Soviet Union as a symbol of American imperialism, Zhukov was apparently reluctant to be photographed or reported as consuming such a product. Zhukov asked if the beverage could be made clear to resemble vodka. A European subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Export Corporation delivered an initial 50 cases of White Coke to Marshal Zhukov.
caption: Zhukov sharing a toast with Eisenhower, Montgomery and other Allied officials, June 1945
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