Vyacheslav Molotov

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (Russian: ????????? ??????????? ????????) (February 25, 1890 (O.S.) (March 9, 1890 (N.S.))–November 8, 1986), Soviet politician and diplomat, was a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protege of Joseph Stalin, to the 1950s, when he was dismissed from office by Nikita Khrushchev. He was the principal Soviet signatory of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact of 1939.

Early career

In 1916 Molotov became a member of Bolshevik Party's committee in Petrograd (as St Petersburg had been renamed), and when the February Revolution broke out in February 1917 he was one of the few Bolsheviks of any standing in the capital. Under his direction Pravda took a "left" position of opposition to the Provisional Government which was formed after the revolution, but when Stalin returned to the capital he reversed Molotov's line. When the party leader Vladimir Lenin arrived, however, he overruled Stalin. Despite this, Molotov became a protege and close adherent of Stalin, an alliance to which he owed his later prominence (and survival). Molotov became a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee that planned the October Revolution which brought the Bolsheviks to power.

Related Topics:
1916 - Petrograd - February Revolution - 1917 - Vladimir Lenin - October Revolution

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In 1918 Molotov was sent to Ukraine to take part in the civil war then breaking out, but he was not a military man and took no part in the fighting. In 1920 he became secretary to the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Bolshevik Party. In 1922, when Stalin became General Secretary of the Bolshevik Party, he recalled Molotov to Petrograd and made him a member of the party secretariat, which soon became the effective centre of power in the party. Under Stalin's patronage Molotov became a member of the Central Committee in 1921 and a member of the Politburo in 1926.

Related Topics:
1918 - Ukraine - Civil war - 1920 - 1922 - 1921 - Politburo - 1926

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During the power struggles which followed Lenin's death in 1924, Molotov was a loyal supporter of Stalin against his various rivals: first Leon Trotsky, later Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev, and finally Nikolai Bukharin. He became a leading figure in the "Stalinist centre" of the party, which also included Kliment Voroshilov, Lazar Kaganovich, Sergo Ordzhonikidze and Sergei Kirov. Trotsky and his supporters underestimated Molotov, as many others were to do. Trotsky called him "mediocrity personified," but his outward dullness concealed a sharp mind and great administrative talent. He operated mainly behind the scenes and cultivated an image as a colourless bureaucrat - he was the only Bolshevik leader who always wore a suit and tie, for example.

Related Topics:
1924 - Leon Trotsky - Lev Kamenev - Grigory Zinoviev - Nikolai Bukharin - Kliment Voroshilov - Lazar Kaganovich - Sergo Ordzhonikidze - Sergei Kirov

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