Fire_Raven

September 1941-While attempting to survey the area after he is transferred to Leningrad, Zhukov's plane is jumped by Luftwaffe fighters and crashes into Lake Ladoga. Zhukov and his staff are killed. What happens to the course of the war?

Sam-Nary

Lenningrad manages to hold out, much as it did in history, particularly as German units are pulled away to begin the push on Moscow. The Wehrmacht manages to barely fight its way into Moscow, but is soon repulsed when the Soviets commit their Siberian reserves, forcing the German army to pull back.

Subsequent fighting is also tougher without Zhukov's presence, BUT the Soviet Union did produce other capable officers, and by 1943, the Red Army has recovered from Zhukov's death to the point where the flow of history would return to its original path.

Belloc

I generally agree with this scenario. If anything Konev becomes the great Soviet commander of the war, and is the one rewarded as the conqueror of Berlin.

irishcrusader95

also agree with this, yet what of Stalingrad?, without Zhukov who was the main brain behind the encirclement operation would the battle have ended so decisively on soviet terms. i find it hard to say yet either way the situation would have been growing ever more pressing for the germans each month that it drags on.

pavelecwikl

Subsequent fighting is also tougher without Zhukov's presence

bartieboy

a bigger role for Fyodor Tolbukhin perhaps?

YoungDonDraper

Keep in mind that Zhukov was an important check on Stalin's meddling with the war effort. Very, very few commanders could stand up to him and say "No, we're retreating so we don't get destroyed," and at the beginning of the war that group was even smaller.

I don't think Leningrad would have fallen, simply because that wasn't a top priority for the Germans at the time.

However, it may have changed the outcome of the war. Zhukov was Stalin's fixer, he went where the fighting was going badly for the Soviets. Stalin may not have been able to resist holding reserves out of Stalingrad if it wasn't for Zhukov, which could easily have changed the entire war.

Also, at Kursk, Stalin wanted to abandon their defensive works and make a preemptive strike; only Zhukov was able to talk him out of it.

Without him, maybe someone else would have emerged, but without him there likely would have been at least a few extra disasters caused by Stalin's amateurish micromanagement.

sylla1

Naturally nobody could know, but in all likelihood it would have changed significantly.

Must agree with Max Hastings; Zhukov might well have the best tactician of the WW2 Allies overall.
Just check out his record on envelopment battles.

At Leningrad September 1941 his outstanding career was barely beginning; there would still been plenty of major battles and operations that could have changed in his absence.

Fire_Raven

That's what I wonder about is was there someone else that could handle the "politics" of the Soviet leadership at that time as effectively. Stalin,Beria and his subordinates in the military certainly kept Zhukov on his toes.

Sam-Nary

Ultimately, Stalingrad would have been a strategic victory. However, without Zhukov, it'd be likely that the retaking of Stalingrad would have been done by direct assault and it would only be after the Axis Satellite armies collapsed under the overall pressure that the Soviets would consider a major encirclment operation, resulting in a much longer and bloodier struggle.