- In full:
- Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov
- Original name:
- Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Skryabin
- Born:
- February 25 [March 9, New Style], 1890, Kukarka [now Sovetsk], Russia
- Political Affiliation:
- Bolshevik
- Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Vyacheslav Molotov
-
Who was Vyacheslav Molotov?
Vyacheslav Molotov (1890-1986) was a Soviet statesman and diplomat. As a committed Bolshevik from 1906, he rose through party ranks, becoming prime minister in 1930 and foreign minister in 1939.
As foreign minister, Molotov negotiated the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact with Nazi Germany in 1939. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, he helped form Soviet alliances with Great Britain and the U.S. He attended Allied conferences and helped create the United Nations. Molotov's political disagreements with Nikita Khrushchev led to his dismissal in 1956. After unsuccessfully trying to depose Khrushchev in 1957, he was expelled from the Communist Party in 1962.
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What role did Molotov have in the Soviet government?
Vyacheslav Molotov was a key figure in the Soviet government, serving in numerous high-ranking positions. A committed Bolshevik from 1906, he rose through party ranks to become a member of the Central Committee and Politburo. Molotov served as chairman of the Council of Peopleās Commissars (prime minister) from 1930 to 1941. He then took on the role of foreign minister, a position he held (with a brief interruption) from 1939 to 1956. As foreign minister, he negotiated the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in 1939. During World War II, he was a member of the State Defense Committee and arranged Soviet alliances with the U.S. and Great Britain.
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During which years did Molotov serve as the Soviet Unionās foreign minister?
Vyacheslav Molotov served as the Soviet Union's foreign minister from 1939 to 1949 and again from 1953 to 1956. In May 1939, Joseph Stalin appointed Molotov to replace Maksim Litvinov as the Soviet commissar of foreign affairs. Molotov negotiated the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact with Nazi Germany in August 1939. After Stalin's death in March 1953, Molotov resumed the position of foreign minister. However, he was dismissed in June 1956 due to political disagreements with Nikita Khrushchev. Afterwards, in November, he became minister of state control.
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What was the MolotovāRibbentrop Pact, and why was it important?
The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, was an agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union, concluded just before the start of World War II. Signed on August 23, 1939, it divided eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence.
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin sought the pact to keep the Soviet Union at peace with Germany and buy time to strengthen its military, which had been weakened by purges in 1937. The pact stipulated that the two countries would not attack each other, support any third power that attacked the other, or join any group threatening either party.
A secret protocol divided eastern Europe into spheres of influence, assigning Poland east of the Narew, Vistula, and San rivers, as well as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland, to the Soviet sphere. Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet foreign minister, signed the pact with Nazi foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in Moscow.
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How did Molotov help shape Soviet foreign policy during World War II?
Vyacheslav Molotov significantly shaped Soviet foreign policy during World War II. As foreign minister, he negotiated the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in 1939, dividing eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Molotov arranged Soviet alliances with Great Britain and the United States. He also participated in the Alliesā conferences at Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam and at the San Francisco Conference, which created the United Nations. Molotov gained a reputation for his uncompromising hostility towards the West in his wartime dealings with the Allies and afterward.
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What was Molotovās influence on the Soviet Unionās relationships with other countries after World War II?
Vyacheslav Molotov served as the Soviet Union's foreign minister and key spokesperson during and immediately after World War II. In 1939, he negotiated the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact with Nazi Germany. He arranged Soviet alliances with Great Britain and the U.S. and attended Allied conferences.
After the war, Molotov gained a reputation for his uncompromising hostility towards the West. After Stalin's death, Molotov resumed his role as foreign minister but was dismissed due to political disagreements with Nikita Khrushchev in 1956.
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Vyacheslav Molotov (born February 25 [March 9, New Style], 1890, Kukarka [now Sovetsk], Russiaādied November 8, 1986, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) was a statesman and diplomat who served as foreign minister and the major spokesman for the Soviet Union at Allied conferences during and immediately after World War II.
Early revolutionary activities and rise to power
A member and organizer of the Bolshevik party from 1906, Molotov was twice arrested (1909, 1915) for his revolutionary activities. After the Bolsheviks seized power (1917), Molotov worked in several provincial party organizations. In 1921 he became a member and a secretary of the Central Committee as well as a candidate member of the Politburo. He staunchly supported Joseph Stalin after the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924, and in December 1926 he was promoted to full membership in the Politburo. He then assumed control of the Moscow Party Committee and purged the Moscow organization of its anti-Stalin membership (1928ā30). In 1930 he was made chairman of the Council of Peopleās Commissars (i.e., prime minister of the Soviet Union), a post he held until 1941.
Foreign minister during World War II
In May 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, Molotov was picked by Stalin to replace Maksim Litvinov as the Soviet commissar of foreign affairs. In this capacity he negotiated the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; August 1939) with Nazi Germany. In May 1941, when Stalin himself took over as chairman of the Council of Ministers (formerly Council of Peopleās Commissars), Molotov remained its first deputy chairman. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union (June 1941), he also served on the State Defense Committee (the special war cabinet). Molotov arranged the Soviet alliances with Great Britain and the United States and attended the Alliesā conferences at TehrÄn (1943), Yalta (1945), and Potsdam (1945) as well as the San Francisco Conference (1945), which created the United Nations. In his wartime dealings with the Allies and afterward, he earned a reputation for uncompromising hostility to the West.
The Russo-Finnish War and the origin of the Molotov cocktail
After he became minister of foreign affairs, Molotov authorized the illegal Soviet invasion of Finland, thus starting the Russo-Finnish War in late 1939. Molotov, skilled in propaganda, referred to the cluster bombs dropped by the Soviets on Finland as āfood parcelsā for starving Finns. The Finnish resistance was stronger than the Soviet Union expected, and the invasion lasted through the winter and into March 1940, when the vastly outnumbered Finns agreed to a peace treaty. Finnish fighters used incendiary weapons made from bottles filled with a mixture of tar, ethanol, and gasoline and stoppered with wicks, and the Finns christened them āMolotov cocktailsāādrinks intended to accompany Molotovās āfood parcels.ā The popularity and effectiveness of the weapons led to the global adoption of the term Molotov cocktail.
Conflict with Khrushchev
In March 1949 Molotov gave up the post of foreign minister, but, after Stalin died in March 1953, he resumed it, holding it until his political disagreements with Nikita Khrushchev resulted in his dismissal in June 1956. He was made minister of state control in November, but, when he joined the āantiparty groupā that unsuccessfully tried to depose Khrushchev in June 1957, he lost all his high party and state offices.
Molotov subsequently served as ambassador to Mongolia and as the Soviet delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna (1960ā61). In 1962, after engaging in more criticisms of Khrushchev, he was expelled from the Communist Party. He lived thereafter in undisturbed retirement in Moscow.