(2 of 2)
Obscurity & Comeback. After victory, to make sure that the army could not threaten the regime, Stalin shook up the command, and banished Hero Zhukov to Odessa and the Urals. Never again in Stalin's lifetime did Russia's top soldier hold a top command. But with Stalin's death, Zhukov came marching home. An uncertain new regime, needing the support of the Red army marshals, made him a Deputy Minister of Defense. After Beria's arrest, Zhukov took his seat on the Communist Central Committee. In last week's shuffle, Zhukov at last reached a position of first rank—though still lower than that of the party's watchdog of the military, Marshal Bulganin.