79. Editorial Note
On October 26, TASS announced that Marshal Georgi K. Zhukov had been replaced as Minister of Defense by Marshal Rodion Ya. Malinovsky. The announcement provided no other details.
The initial appraisal by the Central Intelligence Agency of Zhukov’s removal was in a memorandum from the Assistant Director of the Office of Current Intelligence to the Deputy Director for Intelligence, dated October 26, in which he concluded that Zhukov’s removal was likely intended to allow him to concentrate more on political matters, that his political stature had not been reduced, and [Page 170] that he probably would continue as a leading member of the Soviet hierarchy. The memorandum concluded, however, that “the possibility cannot be excluded at this time that Zhukov was removed because of policy differences with Khrushchev or that Khrushchev moved against the marshal to eliminate his most obvious contender for supreme power.” (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, International File—USSR 1956–1957)
For Khrushchev’s recollection of the decision to remove Zhukov, see Khrushchev, Khrushchev Remembers, pages 11–18.