Why did Marshal Zhukov, and not Stalin, preside over the first Victory Parade in Moscow in 1945? According to legend, Stalin wanted to personally preside over the parade on horseback, despite never having learned to ride. Zhukov later wrote that Stalin invited him to his residence and asked if he had forgotten how to ride a horse. "No," Zhukov replied. "Then you will have to preside over the Victory Parade," Stalin responded, and he advised, not without implication, to preside over the parade on the white horse Kumir. The next day, Zhukov met Stalin's son Vasily, who secretly told him that due to his father's unskilled use of spurs, the horse reared up and his father fell off, bruising his shoulder.
"And what horse was Father training on?" Zhukov asked Vasily.
"On the white Arabian horse he recommended for you to use at the parade," Vasily repeated.
Zhukov ultimately conducted the Victory Parade triumphantly. Stalin, cruel and jealous of others' glory, soon had Zhukov demoted and stripped of influence.
#history #victoryday #stalin #zhukov #worldwar2 #victoryparade
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