On the issue of a Zhukov "coup": he was implicitly and sometimes even explicitly accused of planning one when he was removed in October 1957. But the accusation seems quite clearly false. Brian D. Taylor in *Politics and the Russian Army: Civil-Military Relations, 1689-2000* writes (pp. 186-188):
"There were a host of accusations against Zhukov, including weakening Communist Party control over the military, creating a Zhukov 'cult of personality' in the army, and most seriously, trying to acquire unlimited political power and of 'Bonapartism.' Khrushchev told the October CC Plenum, 'in Zhukov's understanding, there is no place for the party...he was counting on the power of the army..This is nothing other than a military dictatorship, a military junta.' Khrushchev was even more direct in his memoirs, stating that 'Zhukov was striving to seize control...we were heading for a coup d'etat...We couldn't let Zhukov stage a South American military-style takeover in our country.'
"Other speakers echoed Khrushchev's claim about the political danger Zhukov represented. Presidium member Mikhail Suslov noted the impermissibiity in a socialist country of a 'general on a white horse 'saving' the country.' General M. V. Zakharov accused Zhukov of 'Napoleonic aspirations' and 'Bonapartism.'
"Khrushchev also claims that Moskalenko accused Zhukov of trying to seize power. According to Khrushchev, Zhukov replied, 'How can you accuse me? You yourself told me many times, 'Take power in your own hands. Just take it! Take power!' Khrushchev states that he believed Zhukov that Moskalenko had said this. He contends that no action was taken against Moskalenko because of his assistance in the arrest of Beria in 1953. Sergey Khrushchev and Viktor Grishin also believe this story. Sergey Khrushchev maintains that no action was taken against Moskalenko because he was known as a sycophant, who was quite capable of trying to suck up to Zhukov by telling him to take power and then turning around and accusing Zhukov of planning a coup to please Khrushchev.
"Still, it is hard to believe that Moskalenko would be allowed to remain the commander of the crucial Moscow Military District until 1960 if he had stated praetorian tendencies. He was later appointed head of the Strategic Rocket Forces. Moroever, as the Russian military historian V. A. Anfilov points out, Zhukov had nothing bad to say about Moskalenko in his memoirs; in fact, he had good things to say about Moskalenko. Zhukov presumably would have been more critical of Moskalenko if Moskalenko had accused him of planning a military coup in October 1957. Regardless, there is no evidence that, if Moskalenko did make such a statement to Zhukov, that Zhukov took the suggestion seriously.
"No evidence that Zhukov had any intention of trying to seize power was presented at the October Plenum. The best piece of evidence that Khrushchev could produce for the alleged plot was that Zhukov had taken steps to set up a central school for special forces (Spetsnaz) and had informed only two other officers, without acquiring CC approval. Khrushchev said accusingly, 'Beria also had his group of commandos.' In fact, every Military District had established Spetsnaz companies. Zhukov argued he simply was trying to create a better training method for the special forces, maintaining that he did not consider this a new question that needed party approval. Moreover, it is untrue that only Zhukov and two other officers knew of the existence of the school; plans for establishing the school were conducted through regular Ministry of Defense channels.
"The fact that Zhukov was not trying to seize power also is evident from ow he was treated at the time. Zhukov was not arrested, reduced in rank, or dismissed from the party. After Khrushchev's removal from power in 1964 the accusations of 'Bonapartism' against Zhukov were dropped. Recent archival revelations show that Zhukov remained distressed for years about this accusation. In private conversations with his wife, reported to Khrushchev by the KGB, Zhukov said he 'couldn't make peace' with the allegation. 'What facts are there? None,' Zhukov complained. 'If I had been trying to seize power, he noted, 'why wasn't I arrested?'..."
https://books.google.com/books?id=oanB4q0o2vsC&pg=PA186