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About this quote

What does it mean?
Zhukov notes the difficulty German commanders face in justifying their retreats to their own forces or leadership.
In plain terms
German generals struggle to explain why they are retreating.
What can you take from it?
Retreats damage command credibility and are hard to justify.

Where it applies

  • military command analysis
  • leadership challenges
  • historical military history

Putting it to work

  • studying command structure
  • analyzing military propaganda

Questions to consider

  • What makes a retreat hard to justify?
  • How does a retreat affect troop trust?

Another view

This reflects a Soviet perspective and may not capture German internal reasoning.

More from Georgy Zhukov

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  3. We will do all we can to insure peace... but if war is imposed upon us we will be together shoulder to shoulder as in the last war to strive for the happiness …

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