Molotov, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich

(1890–1986)

   No one save Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin cast a longer shadow across the first fours decades of Soviet history than V. M. Molotov. Born Skryabin, Molotov joined the Bolshevik Party in 1905 and took the pseudonym “Molotov,” literally “hammer.” He became a member of the Communist Party Central Committee in 1921 and supported Stalin in his struggle for power. As a reward, he was made a member of the ruling Politburo in 1926. While Lenin was dismissive of his talents, referring to him as the best file clerk in Moscow, Stalin was a friend and patron, and the two vacationed together several times in the 1930s. Molotov became premier in 1930 and was one of Stalin’s chief lieutenants during the purges, cosigning hundreds of “death lists” containing the names of tens of thousands of people sentenced to be shot. These lists bear not only his name but also curses directed at the condemned. A grim Russian joke was that the initials V.M. stood not for Vyacheslav Molotov but rather for Vyshaya mera (Supreme Measure), or execution.

   In 1939 Stalin appointed Molotov commissar of foreign affairs and made him the coauthor of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Molotov was very realistic about German–Soviet relations, believing that the alliance could not last. He had the courage of his convictions and argued with Adolf Hitler during a state visit in 1940 about the future division of central Europe between Germany and the Soviet Union. It was Molotov whom Stalin selected to announce to the Soviet people the beginning of war with Germany. The statement ended: “Our Cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours.” During World War II, Molotov served as foreign minister as well as a member of the GKO (State Defense Committee). He was Stalin’s principal negotiator with the United States and Great Britain. Molotov was a consumer of intelligence, and he placed intolerable strain on MGB officers for purloined documents during negotiations with the British and Americans during and immediately following the war. As minister of foreign affairs, Molotov was the first head of the Komitet Informatsii (Committee on Information), which controlled the foreign intelligence assets of both the MGB and the GRU. Stalin became suspicious of Molotov and in his last days meant to purge his old friend. Molotov was stripped of his ministerial position. His wife, Polina, was arrested in the 1948, accused of corruption and sexual wantonness, and imprisoned in Central Asia. At the 19th Party Conference, Stalin attacked Molotov, accusing him of proposing that the Crimea be given to the Soviet Jews as a homeland. Stalin also attacked Molotov’s wife, maintaining that she had friends “who were not to be trusted.” Only Stalin’s death saved Molotov from execution, and he regained his position as foreign minister, representing the Soviet Union at international conferences several times.

   Molotov gradually lost power. He fought with Nikita Khrushchev over de-Stalinization and was banished to Mongolia as ambassador. In 1962 he was stripped of his Communist Party membership. In his dotage, Molotov and his wife bitterly defended Stalin to any who would listen. He repeatedly petitioned the Central Committee to reinstate his party membership, which they finally acceded to 18 months before his death. Molotov left some interesting biographical notes. A young acolyte copied down their conversations over several years, producing 140 Conversations with Molotov, one of the most revealing memoirs of the Stalinist period.