Who was Vyacheslav Molotov? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Skryabin

Died At Age: 96

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Polina Zhemchuzhina (m. 1921–1948)

father: Mikhail Skryabin

mother: Anna Nebogatikova

children: Svetlana Molotova

Political Leaders Russian Men

Died on: November 8, 1986

place of death: Moscow, Russia

Diseases & Disabilities: Heart Attack

Cause of Death: Alzheimer

Recommended For You

1

What was the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression treaty between the Soviet Union (represented by Vyacheslav Molotov) and Nazi Germany, signed in 1939.
2

What role did Vyacheslav Molotov play during World War II?

Vyacheslav Molotov served as the Soviet Foreign Minister during World War II and played a significant role in Soviet diplomacy and foreign relations.
3

What was the Molotov cocktail and how is it related to Vyacheslav Molotov?

The Molotov cocktail is an improvised incendiary weapon. The term was coined by Finnish soldiers during the Winter War with the Soviet Union, mockingly named after Vyacheslav Molotov.
4

What was the impact of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on Eastern Europe?

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact led to the division of Eastern Europe into spheres of influence between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, ultimately paving the way for the start of World War II.
5

How did Vyacheslav Molotov influence Soviet foreign policy during the Cold War?

Vyacheslav Molotov was known for his hardline stance and played a key role in shaping Soviet foreign policy during the early years of the Cold War, including the establishment of the Eastern Bloc.

Recommended Lists:

Russian Political Leaders

Childhood & Early Life

Molotov was born as Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Skyrabin on 9th March 1890 in a village named Kukarta in Vyatka Governorate in the Russian Empire. He studied at a secondary school in Kazan, and also assisted his father, who was a butler churner, in his business.

Continue Reading Below

Career

Vyacheslav Molotov joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1906. He was soon attracted to the radical Bolshevik faction of the organization, which was headed by Vladimir Lenin. He got involved with the party’s revolutionary activities for which he was arrested twice (in 1909 and 1915). He also had to spend a few years in exile.

He enrolled at the St Petersburg Polytechnic Institute in 1911. During his involvement with an underground Bolshevik newspaper named ‘Pravada,’ he got acquainted with Joseph Stalin for the first time.

Molotov eventually gained prominence during the Russian Revolution. After the Bolsheviks gained power in 1917, he was involved with several provincial party organizations over the next few years.

Rise to Power

Vyacheslav Molotov was sent to Ukraine in 1918 as the civil war was breaking out; however, as he was not a military man, he didn’t take part in the fighting. Two years later, he was appointed the secretary to the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Bolshevik Party. A year later, he was called to Moscow again by Lenin, and was put in charge of the party secretariat.

His tenure as the secretary was however heavily criticized by Vladimir Lenin as well as Leon Trotsky. After Joseph Stalin became the General Secretary of the Bolshevik Party, Molotov gave his full support to his mentor. He also became Stalin’s chief agent in agricultural policy. Molotov became a full member of the Politburo in 1926, and continued his work in the Secretariat till 1930.

In 1930, he was elected Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissioners, a post considered equal to that of a Prime Minister. In this post, Molotov used to oversee the collectivization of agriculture under Stalin’s regime. Like Stalin, he used force and propaganda as a tool to crush the resistance of the peasants to collectivization. Millions of peasants who owned property were deported to the gulags.

The death of Sergei Kirov, the head of the party organization in Leningrad, led to the Great Purge over the course of which 20 out of the 28 People’s Commisars in Molotov’s Government were executed on Stalin’s and Molotov’s orders. Whenever Stalin required Molotov to sign the death warrants of prominent purge victims, Molotov would always do so without questioning.

There is no record of Molotov trying to moderate the course of the Purge or trying to save individuals as some other Soviet officers did. Molotov is known to have approved 372 documented execution lists. Even after Stalin’s death, Molotov continued to support the Great Purge as well as the executions carried out by his government.

In 1939, Molotov became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, after succeeding Maxim Litvinov. He was involved with the signing of a treaty with Nazi Germany the following year, which was known as the ‘Molotov-Ribbentron Pact’. However, it was Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler who had decided the content of the treaty. It was a neutrality pact between the two nations, and an important part of the agreement was the secret protocol, providing for the partition of Poland, Finland as well as the Baltic States between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

Continue Reading Below

Molotov was also responsible for the negotiation of the wartime alliances with the Great Britain and the USSR in 1942. At the Major Wartime international conferences, he represented the USSR along with Joseph Stalin. He also headed the Soviet delegation to the San Francisco conference in 1945, which led to the UN’s establishment. Later, he represented the UN at the postwar foreign minister’s conferences till 1949, when he stepped down as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Later Years

In 1952, at the 19th Party Congress, Molotov was elected to the replacement of the Politburo, known as the Presidium. However, as he had lost Stalin’s favor, he was not among the members of the newly established secret body called Bureau of the Presidium.

After the death of Joseph Stalin, Molotov again served as the foreign minister from 1953. However, because of his poor relations with Nikita Khrushchev, he was dismissed from his government offices.

In 1961, Khrushchev carried out his de-Stalinization campaign and Molotov’s devotion to Stalin got him expelled from the party in 1962. All his party documents and files were also destroyed. He was later rehabilitated by Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko in 1984.

Awards & Achievements

Vyacheslav Molotov had received several awards and honors for his service to the Soviet Union. He was named a ‘Hero of Socialist Labour’ and awarded four Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the Order of the Badge of Honour.

He also received medals, such as the ‘Medal for the Defense of Moscow’ and ‘Medal in Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow’.

Personal Life

Molotov married Polina Zhemchuzhina in 1921. From 1932 to 1936, she served as the director of the Soviet National cosmetics trust. Later, she served as the Minister of Fisheries as well as the head of Textile Production in the Ministry of Light Industry.

As she was a supporter of Zionism, she was arrested for treason in 1948, and sentenced to five years in a labor camp. She was released in 1953, shortly after Stalin’s death. She was then reunited with Molotov and the couple lived together until her death in 1970.

Molotov passed away on 8 November 1986, after being hospitalized in the Kuntsevo Hospital in Moscow. He was 96 at the time of his demise.

Facts About Vyacheslav Molotov

Vyacheslav Molotov was known for his love of classical music and was a talented violinist.

Molotov had a fondness for gardening and spent much of his free time tending to his plants and flowers. He was particularly proud of his collection of rare orchids.

Despite his reputation as a stern and serious politician, Molotov had a playful side and enjoyed playing practical jokes on his friends and family.

Molotov was a voracious reader and had an extensive personal library that included works of literature, philosophy, and history.

Molotov had a deep appreciation for Russian folk art and often collected traditional handicrafts from different regions of the country.

Vyacheslav Molotov Biography

You wanted to know

What was the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?

What role did Vyacheslav Molotov play during World War II?

What was the Molotov cocktail and how is it related to Vyacheslav Molotov?

What was the impact of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on Eastern Europe?

How did Vyacheslav Molotov influence Soviet foreign policy during the Cold War?